Buckeye’s, Texas Roll; Irish Hang On
Ohio State took its first step toward a National Championship on Saturday with a 35-12 victory over Northern Illinois.
The Buckeye’s who scored 21 unanswered points in the first quarter were led by Heisman hopeful QB Troy Smith.
Smith was 18-25 for 299 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns were to Ted Ginn Jr. Ginn had four catches for 123 yards and returned two punts for 44 yards and two kickoffs for 25 more yards.
The lone bright spot for Northern Illinois came in a small package. 5-7′ Running Back Garrett Wolfe had 171 yards on 26 carries and accounted for Northern Illinois only touchdown of the game.
While it’s good to get that first victory under their belts, Ohio State knows next weeks game against Texas will be a much bigger test for their squad.
Texas Destroys North Texas in Opener
In his first game replacing Vince Young, Longhorn’s QB Colt McCoy led Texas to an impressive victory in their season opener in Austin. McCoy was 12-19 for 178 yards including 3 scores, 2 through the air and 1 rushing TD en route to a 56-7 thrashing of North Texas.
Texas was pitching a shut out in the first half holding North Texas scoreless while ringing up 28 points. North Texas’ only score of the game came in the third quarter when Brandon Jackson caught a 12 yard touchdown pass from Wilson.
The Longhorn’s returned 16 starters from last years National Championship team and including yesterdays win have now won 21 straight games.
Irish Hold On in Defensive Battle
It looked as though Notre Dame may lose their No. 2 pre-season ranking as quickly as they got it on Saturday. The Irish found themselves about to be shut out in the first half against Georgia Tech when Quarterback Brady Quinn ran it in from the 5 with 11 seconds left to go in the half.
The Irish Defense then took over in the second half, doing their job and holding the Yellow Jacket’s scoreless the rest of the way. Notre Dame added another touchdown in the third quarter from Running Back Darius Walker. That was all they needed as they hang on for a 14-10 victory in their season opener.
Quinn finished the game 23-38 for 246 yards and one rushing TD. Walker ran for 100 yards on 22 carries and had one TD.
The Irish are going to need to put some more points on the board next week if they hope to beat Penn State who won their season opener yesterday against Akron 34-16.
by: Anthony White – theSpread.com – Email Us
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