October 14, 2006 Week 7 · Regular Season Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 38–7, on the road at Michigan State.

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Michigan State 7

Away · Defending Holder

Ohio StateAP No. 1 38

AP poll, week 7: Ohio State No. 1 at Michigan State unranked · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Ohio State came in 35 days into reign #260, which began with a win over Texas, with 4 defenses already behind it; this was its 5th defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 5 more times before Florida took it on January 9, 2007, 122 days after the reign began.

For Michigan State this was its 12th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.

It was the 4th of 6 belt games between the two; going in, Ohio State led the belt series 3–0; all-time Ohio State leads 6–0. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State's dominant offensive performance secured the belt in East Lansing, as the Buckeyes built a commanding lead through the first three quarters. Troy Smith orchestrated an efficient passing attack, connecting repeatedly with Anthony Gonzalez and other receivers to set up five touchdown drives, including a spectacular 60-yard punt return for a score by Ted Ginn Jr. in the second quarter. Michigan State's offense struggled to generate consistent momentum, managing only 198 total yards and failing to mount any serious threat until a late touchdown by A.J. Jimmerson with 1:08 remaining made the final margin closer than the game itself. Ohio State's superior time of possession (20:21 to 15:02) and third-down conversion rate (10-16 vs 6-15) reflected their control throughout, and despite the Spartans' late-game activity, the Buckeyes never relinquished their grip on the belt.

Troy Smith to Anthony Gonzalez 12-yard TD pass late in Q2 — capped a sustained drive and extended Ohio State's lead to 21-0
Ted Ginn Jr. 60-yard punt return for TD in Q2 — turned field position advantage into points and showcased Ohio State's special teams dominance
Brian Robiskie 7-yard TD reception in Q3 — Ohio State's third consecutive scoring drive that put the game completely out of reach
Marcus Freeman interception of Drew Stanton in Q2 — Michigan State's offense failed when it mattered most, unable to capitalize on Ohio State's rare turnover

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

Michigan StateOhio State

Total yards198421

Rushing yards63182

Passing yards166239

First downs1320

3rd down conv.6/1510/16

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards4–455–40

Time of possession15:0220:21

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 9:12	Ohio State	+37 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Ted Ginn Jr. for 37 yards to the MSU 24 for a 1ST down.
Q1 6:12	Ohio State	+3 yd	Antonio Pittman rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 6:12	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q1 6:01	Ohio State	+20 yd	Ryan Pretorius kickoff for 60 yards returned by Demond Williams for 20 yards to the MSU 25.
Q2 13:23	Ohio State	+32 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 32 yards to the MSU 19 for a 1ST down.
Q2 12:09	Ohio State	+32 yd	Aaron Pettrey 32 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 11:45	Ohio State	+39 yd	Ryan Pretorius kickoff for 56 yards returned by Demond Williams for 39 yards to the MSU 48.
Q2 8:30	Ohio State	+23 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Robiskie for 23 yards to the MSU 46 for a 1ST down.
Q2 5:09	Michigan State	+60 yd	Brandon Fields punt for 51 yards, returned by Ted Ginn Jr. for 60 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 5:09	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q2 2:40	Michigan State	+3 yd	Drew Stanton pass intercepted by Marcus Freeman at the MSU 42, returned for 3 yards to the MSU 39.
Q2 1:51	Ohio State	+24 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 24 yards to the MSU 25 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:39	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q2 0:39	Ohio State	+12 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 12 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 10:43	Ohio State	+7 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Robiskie for 7 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 12:28	Ohio State	+29 yd	Anthony Gonzalez rush for 29 yards to the MSU 24 for a 1ST down.
Q3 10:43	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q3 10:32	Ohio State	+31 yd	Ryan Pretorius kickoff for 63 yards returned by Demond Williams for 31 yards to the MSU 33.
Q4 13:56	Ohio State	+23 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 23 yards to the MSU 7 for a 1ST down.
Q4 12:27	Ohio State	+22 yd	Ryan Pretorius kickoff for 61 yards returned by Demond Williams for 22 yards to the MSU 26.
Q4 12:52	Ohio State	+6 yd	Chris Wells rush for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 12:52	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q4 1:48	Michigan State	+21 yd	Brian Hoyer pass complete to Connor Dixon for 21 yards to the OSU 11 for a 1ST down.
Q4 1:08	Michigan State	+5 yd	A.J. Jimmerson rush for 5 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 1:08	Michigan State	+0 yd	Brett Swenson extra point 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

Michigan State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Brian Hoyer	11/14	81	5.8	0	0	53.1
Drew Stanton	8/16	54	3.4	0	1	2.8

Ohio State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	QBR
Troy Smith	15/22	234	10.6	2	89.0
Justin Zwick	1/1	5	5.0	0	94.7
Ted Ginn Jr.	0/1	0	0.0	0	1.0

Rushing

Michigan State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jehuu Caulcrick	15	45	3.0	0	10
A.J. Jimmerson	4	13	3.3	1	6
Kerry Reed	1	8	8.0	0	8
Jerramy Scott	1	7	7.0	0	7
Brian Hoyer	2	-4	-2.0	0	3
Drew Stanton	7	-6	-0.9	0	8

Ohio State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Chris Wells	12	53	4.4	1	10
Antonio Pittman	18	48	2.7	1	8
Anthony Gonzalez	1	29	29.0	0	29
Maurice Wells	9	26	2.9	0	12
Ted Ginn Jr.	1	16	16.0	0	16
Troy Smith	3	10	3.3	0	5

Receiving

Michigan State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Terry Love	4	44	11.0	21
T.J. Williams	2	22	11.0	12
Jerramy Scott	3	21	7.0	16
Kerry Reed	3	21	7.0	12
Jehuu Caulcrick	2	18	9.0	17
Devin Thomas	1	6	6.0	6
Dwayne Holmes	1	5	5.0	5
Ryan Allison	1	3	3.0	3
A.J. Jimmerson	2	-5	-2.5	1

Ohio State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Anthony Gonzalez	7	118	16.9	1	32
Ted Ginn Jr.	3	58	19.3	0	37
Brian Robiskie	4	54	13.5	1	23
Brian Hartline	1	5	5.0	0	5
Stan White Jr.	1	4	4.0	0	4

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Michigan State

No recorded stats in this category.

Ohio State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Marcus Freeman	1	0	0

Kicking

Michigan State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Brett Swenson	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1

Ohio State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Aaron Pettrey	1/1	100.0	32	5/5	8

Punt Returns

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Terry Love	2	5	2.5	4	0

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Ted Ginn Jr.	1	60	60.0	60	1
Anthony Gonzalez	1	0	0.0	0	0
Brian Robiskie	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Brandon Fields	8	323	40.4	0	0	51

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
AJ Trapasso	4	142	35.5	0	0	49

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 262870127) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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