Courtesy of OhioStateBuckeyes.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State’s alternative black uniforms looked awesome Saturday night and the second-largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history – 108,423 – was into the “Dark Night in the Shoe” theme with about 95 percent of that total following their team’s lead by wearing black.
There was plenty of good news coming out of the 38-10 win over the Nittany Lions, including a nation’s-best 12th consecutive 100-yard rushing game by star running back Ezekiel Elliott (153 yards and boosting his career total over the 3,000-yard mark), a second consecutive 6-for-6 effort in the red zone by the Buckeye offense and a dominating performance by All-American end Joey Bosa, who had a season-high seven tackles, including three TFLs.
The win was also the 20th consecutive for Ohio State, and it marked the fourth time in the not-even-14-full-year head coaching career of Urban Meyer that he has guided his teams to a winning streak of at least 20 consecutive games. That’s an accomplishment that should be noted, because no other Division I or FBS coach has even had three 20-game winning streaks. Eight others have had two such streaks and 33 others have had one. Check out this list:
Multiple 20-Game Win Streak Coaches
Urban Meyer
20 – Utah (2003-04) & Florida (2005)
22 – Florida (2008-09)
25 – Florida (2010) & Ohio State (2012-13)
20 – Ohio State (2014-present)
Walter Camp
28 – Yale (1888-89)
27 – Yale (1890-92)
Robert Neyland
22 – Tennessee (1937-39)
20 – Tennessee (1950-51)
Tom Osborne
26 –Nebraska (1994-96)
22 –Nebraska (1982-83)
Joe Paterno
23 – Penn State (1968-69)
20 – Penn State (1993-95)
Barry Switzer
28 – Oklahoma (1973-75)
20 – Oklahoma (1986-87)
Bud Wilkinson
47 – Oklahoma (1953-57)
31 – Oklahoma (1948-50)
George Woodruff
34 – Pennsylvania (1894-96)
31 – Pennsylvania (1896-98)
Fielding Yost
29 – Michigan (1901-03)
26 – Michigan (1903-05)
Meyer enters the Rutgers game as the nation’s winningest active coach, with a winning percentage of .851 that is third-all-time in Division I history behind only Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy. His record is 149-26, including 45-3 at Ohio State.
Decker & Bell ESPN Midseason All-Americans
ESPN has come out with its midseason All-American team and two Buckeyes – senior left tackle Taylor Decker and junior safety Vonn Bell – were each selected to the team. Decker leads an offensive line that has positioned Ohio State as the No. 1 scoring and rushing team in the Big Ten and it is second in total offense. Bell ranks sixth in the Big Ten in passes defended with nine and he ranks fourth on the team in tackles with 37. He had a pick-6 vs. Hawaii.
Decker and Bell were joined by RB Ezekiel Elliott, DE Joey Bosa, LB Darron Lee and P Cameron Johnston and ESPN’s midseason all-Big Ten team.
Six Up for Academic All-American Honors
Six outstanding students (and fine football players) will appear on the CoSIDA – College Sports Information Directors of America – Academic All-America ballot when it comes out in the next couple weeks. Candidates must be at least a sophomore academically, with at least a 3.30 grade point average and a contributing member of the football team. The six Buckeyes to meet all the criteria for this prestigious honor are:
- Senior center Jacoby Boren (sustainable plant systems);
- Junior linebacker Joe Burger (industrial and systems engineering);
- Graduate student long snapper Bryce Haynes (biology);
- Sophomore defensive end Sam Hubbard (business administration);
- Senior linebacker Cam Williams (communications); and
- Graduate student Jack Willoughby (agricultural economics).
Boren earned second-team Academic All-America honors last season. The two-time Big Ten Conference Distinguished Scholar is also a candidate for the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete award.
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