Ohio State defends the belt, 35–7, at home over Bowling Green.
AP poll, week 6: Bowling Green unranked at Ohio State No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Ohio State came in 28 days into reign #260, which began with a win over Texas, with 3 defenses already behind it; this was its 4th defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 6 more times before Florida took it on January 9, 2007, 122 days after the reign began.
For Bowling Green this was its 3rd shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 3 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.
It was the 2nd of 2 belt games between the two; going in, Ohio State led the belt series 1–0; all-time Ohio State leads 2–0.
Recap
Ohio State dominated Bowling Green from the opening kickoff, with Troy Smith throwing a touchdown pass to Rory Nicol just 11 minutes into the first quarter to establish early control of the belt. The Buckeyes' defense forced a critical interception when Vernon Gholston picked off Anthony Turner and returned it 9 yards to set up Antonio Pittman's second touchdown rushing score. Though Bowling Green managed a garbage-time touchdown pass from Turner to Corey Partridge in the third quarter, Ohio State's offense simply overwhelmed the Falcons in the second half, with Smith orchestrating a pair of devastating fourth-quarter scores including a 57-yard bomb to Ted Ginn Jr. that put the game completely out of reach. The final 35-7 margin reflected Ohio State's dominance throughout, as the Buckeyes' balanced attack and turnover-free performance proved too much for the visiting Falcons.
- Troy Smith to Rory Nicol TD (Q1 11:09) - Opened the scoring and set the early tone for Ohio State's control
- Vernon Gholston interception return (Q2 14:01) - Created a short field leading to Antonio Pittman's second rushing TD
- Troy Smith to Ted Ginn Jr. 57-yard TD (Q4 12:13) - Put the game decisively out of reach late in the fourth quarter
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.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull 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.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 11:09 | Ohio State | +4 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Rory Nicol for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 11:09 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 7:50 | Bowling Green | +50 yd | Sean Ellis 50 yard field goal BLOCKED. |
| Q1 9:45 | Bowling Green | +24 yd | Anthony Turner pass complete to Sean O'Drobinak for 24 yards to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 3:51 | Ohio State | +8 yd | Antonio Pittman rush for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 4:21 | Ohio State | +34 yd | Troy Smith rush for 34 yards to the BowlG 8 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 3:51 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 14:01 | Bowling Green | +9 yd | Anthony Turner pass intercepted by Vernon Gholston at the BowlG 30, returned for 9 yards to the BowlG 21. |
| Q2 12:13 | Ohio State | +8 yd | Antonio Pittman rush for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 12:13 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 11:08 | Bowling Green | +21 yd | Anthony Turner pass complete to Ruben Ruiz for 21 yards to the BowlG 45 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 6:21 | Bowling Green | +12 yd | Anthony Turner pass complete to Corey Partridge for 12 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 9:30 | Bowling Green | +20 yd | Anthony Turner pass complete to Corey Partridge for 20 yards to the OSU 25 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 6:21 | Bowling Green | +0 yd | Sean Ellis extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 14:03 | Ohio State | +11 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Ray Small for 11 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 14:03 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 12:34 | Bowling Green | +21 yd | Alonso Rojas punt for 48 yards, returned by Ted Ginn Jr. for 21 yards to the OSU 43. |
| Q4 12:13 | Ohio State | +57 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Ted Ginn Jr. for 57 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 12:13 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 11:50 | Ohio State | +23 yd | Ryan Pretorius kickoff for 63 yards returned by Vincent Corner for 23 yards to the BowlG 25. |
| Q4 8:23 | Ohio State | +24 yd | Justin Zwick pass complete to Robert Rose for 24 yards to the BowlG 41 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 2:39 | Bowling Green | +54 yd | Dan Macon rush for 54 yards to the OSU 26 for a 1ST down. |
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).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Ohio State
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy Smith | 17/20 | 191 | 9.6 | 3 | 0 | 93.5 |
| Justin Zwick | 4/9 | 57 | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 21.6 |
Bowling Green
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Turner | 16/24 | 179 | 7.5 | 1 | 1 | 52.5 |
| Tyler Sheehan | 0/2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
Rushing
Ohio State
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Pittman | 12 | 58 | 4.8 | 2 | 8 |
| Troy Smith | 7 | 54 | 7.7 | 0 | 34 |
| Maurice Wells | 7 | 18 | 2.6 | 0 | 5 |
| Chris Wells | 6 | 9 | 1.5 | 0 | 5 |
Bowling Green
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Bullock | 21 | 72 | 3.4 | 0 | 16 |
| Dan Macon | 3 | 63 | 21.0 | 0 | 54 |
| Anthony Turner | 7 | 11 | 1.6 | 0 | 11 |
| Freddie Barnes | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 | 5 |
| Corey Partridge | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
Receiving
Ohio State
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 10 | 122 | 12.2 | 1 | 57 |
| Roy Hall | 4 | 50 | 12.5 | 0 | 15 |
| Anthony Gonzalez | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 0 | 14 |
| Brian Hartline | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 0 | 24 |
| Ray Small | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 1 | 11 |
| Brian Robiskie | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Rory Nicol | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 1 | 3 |
Bowling Green
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Partridge | 4 | 49 | 12.3 | 1 | 19 |
| Ruben Ruiz | 3 | 37 | 12.3 | 0 | 20 |
| Sean O'Drobinak | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 0 | 24 |
| Chris Bullock | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 0 | 15 |
| Freddie Barnes | 3 | 14 | 4.7 | 0 | 6 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Ohio State
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon Gholston | 1 | 8 | 0 |
Bowling Green
No recorded stats in this category.
Kicking
Ohio State
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Pettrey | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5/5 | 5 |
Bowling Green
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sean Ellis | 0/1 | 0.0 | 0 | 1/1 | 1 |
Punt Returns
Ohio State
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 21 | 0 |
Bowling Green
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Partridge | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Punting
Ohio State
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Trapasso | 2 | 94 | 47.0 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
Bowling Green
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alonso Rojas | 5 | 147 | 29.4 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
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 262800194) · This game in the downloadable dataset