Buckeyes blast Cowboys in Alamo Bowl

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- After spending the past few days swarming the restaurants and shops along the picturesque Riverwalk, what really had Ohio State fans ready to party was Wednesday night's cakewalk in the Alamo Bowl.

A Buckeye football program stung by scandalous charges and staggered by one public relations hit after another rolled with those punches and flattened Oklahoma State 33-7 before 65,265 in the Alamodome for its third straight bowl victory under coach Jim Tressel.

It mattered little that Ohio State was playing without suspended quarterback Troy Smith or that most of the pre-game focus centered on the cash Smith took from a sanctioned booster whose identity was revealed on Tuesday.

The Buckeyes continue to own the Big 12 in post-season play, running their record to 5-0.

Justin Zwick, replacing Smith and making his first start in six games, threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez on OSU's third play from scrimmage and played most of the game with a sore hamstring. Mike Nugent kicked four field goals and shattered the school's all-time scoring record. And dazzling freshman Ted Ginn Jr. scored one TD and set up another en route to offensive MVP honors as the Buckeyes enjoyed their most lopsided bowl win since a 47-17 victory over BYU in the 1982 Holiday Bowl.

"I think our guys our proud of themselves and what this program is all about and they don't blink," Tressel said about the Buckeyes' ability to dismiss distractions. "When they have errors or bad fortune, they don't blink."

Momentum shifted in a blink as it took just three plays for Ohio State's defense to come up with its first turnover and just three plays for the Buckeyes to capitalize.

An interception by linebacker Bobby Carpenter in the right flat set Ohio State up at the Cowboys 28, leading to a 23-yard touchdown pass from Zwick to Tony Gonzalez at 12:02 of the opening period.

A 17-yard punt by the Cowboys quickly had Ohio State back in business at the Oklahoma State 41. On first down, Ginn drew a pass interference call in the end zone, putting the ball on the 26, but the Buckeyes couldn't take full advantage and settled for a 37-yard field goal by Mike Nugent.

The bigger news came two plays before Nugent's kick when Zwick got hurt on a roll-out pass. He came up clutching his left hamstring and was replaced at quarterback by Ginn, who gained one yard on a third-down keeper out of shot-gun formation.

Zwick's injury turned out to be nothing more serious than a tweak and he was able to return for the next series, which began at the Cowboy 48 after a second turnover by quarterback Donovan Woods, this time a fumble.

Again the Buckeyes capitalized, with Nugent's 35-yard field goal padding the lead to 13-0 with 5:55 left in the first quarter.

"(The hamstring) was pretty sore, but not sore enough to keep me off the field," said Zwick, who was 17 of 27 for 189 yards and no interceptions. "I'm pretty tired, though. When I wasn't on the field, I was on the (stationary) bike trying to keep my hamstring loose."

The Buckeyes all but put the game out of reach with two more scores in the second quarter.

A one-yard TD plunge by Lydell Ross was made possible by a simple pass reception that turned into another lightning bolt from Ginn. Seemingly hemmed in by three defenders along the left sideline, Ginn juked his way out of trouble and sprinted 42 yards to the Cowboys 9. Ross scored three plays later.

"I try to make something out of nothing," said Ginn, who finished with 118 yards total offense (40 rushing, 78 on six catches). "I can't lose yards. If I lost yards in high school, my dad (Glenville High coach Ted Ginn Sr.) would yell at me."

Nugent's third field goal, from 41 yards, made it 23-0 at halftime.

"We felt we needed to come out of the gate fast," Tressel said. "When you look out at a stadium filled with 65,000 people, someone has to seize control, and we wanted to make sure it was us."

Oklahoma State blew two chances to reverse momentum, missing a 23-yard field goal with 1:23 left in the half and botching a fake field goal attempt from the Ohio State 6 after Branden Joe fumbled on the Buckeyes' first play of the third quarter.

Ohio State turned around and marched 94 yards, with Ginn taking the shotgun snap -- something he did six times in the game -- and darting five yards up the middle to make it 30-0.

"I thought their football team was awfully good, and we knew it all along, " Cowboys coach Les Miles said, his team held to 286 yards. "Even with us hitting on all cylinders, it would have been a very difficult victory."

Originally published Thursday, December 30, 2004