September 16, 2006 Week 3 · Regular Season Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 37–7, at home over Cincinnati.

Home · Defending Holder

Ohio StateAP No. 1 37

Away · Challenger

Cincinnati 7

AP poll, week 3: Cincinnati unranked at Ohio State No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Ohio State came in 7 days into reign #260, which began with a win over Texas, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 9 more times before Florida took it on January 9, 2007, 122 days after the reign began.

For Cincinnati this was its first shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 2 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.

It was the first of 2 meetings between the two with the belt on the line; all-time Ohio State leads 2–0.

AI-Written

Recap

Cincinnati struck first with a touchdown drive capped by Dustin Grutza's 23-yard scoring pass to Jared Martin in the first quarter, but Ohio State's defense and special teams quickly took over the game. Aaron Pettrey's field goals kept the Buckeyes close early, and Troy Smith's passing attack came alive in the second quarter with a 12-yard touchdown to Ted Ginn Jr. that gave Ohio State the lead for good. Cincinnati's offense stalled in the second half, turning the ball over twice on interceptions while Ohio State added two more touchdowns, including a highlight 48-yard rushing score by Antonio Pittman in the fourth quarter, to cruise to a 37-7 victory and retain the belt.

Jared Martin 23-yard TD reception -- Cincinnati's only scoring drive, giving them early hope before Ohio State's defense settled in
Ted Ginn Jr. 12-yard TD reception in Q2 -- Ohio State's first offensive touchdown that shifted momentum and put them ahead to stay
Grutza interception to James Laurinaitis (Q2 0:35) and Malcolm Jenkins (Q3 1:59) -- Cincinnati's turnovers killed drives and gave Ohio State momentum
Antonio Pittman 48-yard TD run (Q4 9:57) -- capped a dominant fourth quarter that put the game completely out of reach

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Ohio StateCincinnati

Total yards444212

Rushing yards166-4

Passing yards302275

First downs2211

3rd down conv.4/123/11

Turnovers03

Penalties–yards7–605–23

Time of possession20:1916:21

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:26	Cincinnati	+20 yd	Dustin Grutza pass complete to Bill Poland for 20 yards to the Cincy 40 for a 1ST down.
Q1 8:46	Ohio State	+47 yd	Aaron Pettrey 47 yard field goal GOOD.
Q1 8:09	Cincinnati	+28 yd	Dustin Grutza pass complete to Derrick Stewart for 28 yards to the Cincy 48 for a 1ST down.
Q1 6:36	Cincinnati	+23 yd	Dustin Grutza pass complete to Jared Martin for 23 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 6:36	Cincinnati	+0 yd	Kevin Lovell extra point GOOD.
Q1 6:42	Cincinnati	+22 yd	Dustin Grutza rush for 22 yards to the OSU 23 for a 1ST down.
Q2 9:17	Ohio State	+43 yd	Aaron Pettrey 43 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 11:06	Ohio State	+22 yd	Antonio Pittman rush for 22 yards to the Cincy 31 for a 1ST down.
Q2 9:05	Ohio State	+53 yd	Aaron Pettrey kickoff for 65 yards returned by Dominick Goodman for 53 yards to the OSU 47.
Q2 3:00	Ohio State	+12 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Ted Ginn Jr. for 12 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 4:13	Ohio State	+32 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 32 yards to the Cincy 7 for a 1ST down.
Q2 3:00	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q2 0:35	Cincinnati	+2 yd	Dustin Grutza pass intercepted by James Laurinaitis at the OSU 20, returned for 2 yards to the OSU 22.
Q2 0:56	Cincinnati	+21 yd	Dustin Grutza pass complete to Dominick Goodman for 21 yards to the OSU 42 for a 1ST down.
Q3 7:10	Ohio State	+9 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Ted Ginn Jr. for 9 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 7:10	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q3 6:45	Cincinnati	+30 yd	Dustin Grutza pass complete to Brent Celek for 30 yards to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down.
Q3 1:59	Cincinnati	+0 yd	Dustin Grutza pass intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins at the Cincy 45, returned for no gain to the Cincy 45.
Q4 9:57	Ohio State	+48 yd	Antonio Pittman rush for 48 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 9:57	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q4 9:28	Cincinnati	+0 yd	Bill Poland pass intercepted by Anderson Russell at the OSU 43, returned for no gain to the OSU 43, Cincinnati penalty illegal forward pass on Mike Mickens declined, Ohio St penalty 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct on Anderson Russell accepted.
Q4 7:45	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q4 8:15	Ohio State	+27 yd	Justin Zwick pass complete to Robert Rose for 27 yards to the Cincy 9 for a 1ST down.
Q4 8:25	Ohio State	+36 yd	Justin Zwick pass complete to Ray Small for 36 yards to the Cincy 36 for a 1ST down.
Q4 7:45	Ohio State	+9 yd	Maurice Wells rush for 9 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 1:14	Ohio State	+52 yd	Ryan Pretorius 52 yard field goal GOOD.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Ohio State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	QBR
Troy Smith	21/30	203	6.8	2	67.7
Justin Zwick	2/3	63	21.0	0	99.8
Todd Boeckman	1/1	7	7.0	0	0.0
Rob Schoenhoft	1/1	5	5.0	0	0.0

Cincinnati

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Dustin Grutza	18/22	202	9.2	1	2	28.4
Nick Davila	2/2	14	7.0	0	0	46.1
Bill Poland	0/1	0	0.0	0	1	0.1

Rushing

Ohio State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Antonio Pittman	16	155	9.7	1	48
Chris Wells	5	18	3.6	0	8
Maurice Wells	3	9	3.0	1	9
Todd Boeckman	2	9	4.5	0	5
Troy Smith	4	0	0.0	0	3
Ted Ginn Jr.	1	-6	-6.0	0	0
Rob Schoenhoft	1	-19	-19.0	0	0

Cincinnati

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Greg Moore	3	14	4.7	8
Butler Benton	5	13	2.6	5
Doug Jones	1	4	4.0	4
Bradley Glatthaar	3	0	0.0	1
Nick Davila	1	-6	-6.0	0
Dustin Grutza	9	-29	-3.2	23

Receiving

Ohio State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Anthony Gonzalez	5	85	17.0	0	33
Ray Small	3	41	13.7	0	36
Rory Nicol	3	36	12.0	0	16
Ted Ginn Jr.	5	33	6.6	2	12
Brian Hartline	1	27	27.0	0	27
Brian Robiskie	1	19	19.0	0	19
Stan White Jr.	2	15	7.5	0	10
Chris Wells	1	10	10.0	0	10
Antonio Pittman	2	7	3.5	0	6
Roy Hall	1	5	5.0	0	5
Maurice Wells	1	0	0.0	0	0

Cincinnati

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Derrick Stewart	5	64	12.8	0	28
Brent Celek	3	39	13.0	0	30
Bill Poland	3	39	13.0	0	21
Jared Martin	1	22	22.0	1	22
Dominick Goodman	1	21	21.0	0	21
Earnest Jackson	3	14	4.7	0	5
Doug Jones	1	8	8.0	0	8
Greg Moore	1	5	5.0	0	5
Bradley Glatthaar	2	4	2.0	0	5

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Ohio State

Player	INT	YDS
James Laurinaitis	1	2
Malcolm Jenkins	1	0
Anderson Russell	1	0

Cincinnati

No recorded stats in this category.

Kicking

Ohio State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Aaron Pettrey	2/2	100.0	47	4/4	10
Ryan Pretorius	1/1	100.0	52	0/0	3

Cincinnati

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Kevin Lovell	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1

Punt Returns

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Ted Ginn Jr.	3	18	6.0	12	0

Cincinnati

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Derrick Stewart	2	3	1.5	3	0

Punting

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
AJ Trapasso	5	187	37.4	0	0	42

Cincinnati

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Brian Steel	8	262	32.8	0	0	40

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 262590194) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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