Ohio State defends the belt, 44–0, at home over Minnesota.
AP poll, week 9: Minnesota unranked at Ohio State No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Ohio State came in 49 days into reign #260, which began with a win over Texas, with 6 defenses already behind it; this was its 7th defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 3 more times before Florida took it on January 9, 2007, 122 days after the reign began.
For Minnesota this was its 11th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.
It was the 3rd of 4 belt games between the two; going in, Ohio State led the belt series 2–0; all-time Ohio State leads 4–0. Every meeting →
Recap
Ohio State's defense dominated Minnesota from start to finish, intercepting three passes and forcing the Golden Gophers into a complete offensive breakdown. The Buckeyes scored on five of their first six possessions, with Antonio Pittman opening the game with a 9-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and adding another score in the third quarter, while Troy Smith contributed both a passing touchdown to Brian Robiskie and a rushing touchdown. Malcolm Jenkins' pair of interceptions, including one returned 29 yards to set up prime field position, helped Ohio State's defense strangle Minnesota's passing attack which managed only 149 yards. The shutout victory was never in doubt after Ohio State built a commanding lead by halftime, with the Buckeyes able to coast through the second half behind their dominant defense and efficient offensive execution.
- Antonio Pittman's 9-yard touchdown run in Q1 opened the scoring and set the tone for Ohio State's dominant offensive display
- Malcolm Jenkins' two interceptions, particularly the 29-yard return in Q2, gave Ohio State short field and crippled Minnesota's passing game
- Troy Smith's 21-yard rushing touchdown in Q3 on a 10-play drive extended Ohio State's lead and showed the Buckeyes' offensive versatility
- Minnesota's three turnovers (all interceptions) and only 182 total yards proved the complete offensive breakdown that sealed the belt retention
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 10:59 | Ohio State | +9 yd | Antonio Pittman rush for 9 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 10:59 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 7:31 | Ohio State | +31 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Antonio Pittman for 31 yards to the Minn 30 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 5:49 | Ohio State | +42 yd | Aaron Pettrey 42 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q2 3:49 | Ohio State | +18 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Robiskie for 18 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 3:49 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 2:17 | Minnesota | +29 yd | Bryan Cupito pass intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins at the OSU 36, returned for 29 yards to the Minn 35. |
| Q3 14:00 | Minnesota | +8 yd | Bryan Cupito pass intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins at the Minn 31, returned for 8 yards to the Minn 23. |
| Q3 12:46 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 12:46 | Ohio State | +21 yd | Troy Smith rush for 21 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 9:02 | Minnesota | +0 yd | Bryan Cupito pass intercepted by Jamario O'Neal at the Minn 41, returned for no gain to the Minn 41. |
| Q3 6:53 | Ohio State | +13 yd | Antonio Pittman rush for 13 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 7:18 | Ohio State | +32 yd | Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Hartline for 32 yards to the Minn 13 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 13:33 | Ohio State | +3 yd | Chris Wells rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 13:20 | Ohio State | +22 yd | Aaron Pettrey kickoff for 55 yards returned by Dominic Jones for 22 yards to the Minn 32. |
| Q3 0:55 | Ohio State | +20 yd | Chris Wells rush for 20 yards to the Minn 35 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 13:33 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 2:56 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 2:56 | Ohio State | +1 yd | Justin Zwick rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
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 | 14/21 | 183 | 8.7 | 1 | 0 | 90.5 |
| Justin Zwick | 3/4 | 35 | 8.8 | 0 | 0 | 99.0 |
Minnesota
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Cupito | 13/25 | 120 | 4.8 | 0 | 3 | 9.8 |
| Tony Mortensen | 2/3 | 15 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 92.5 |
Rushing
Ohio State
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Pittman | 21 | 116 | 5.5 | 2 | 13 |
| Chris Wells | 15 | 90 | 6.0 | 1 | 15 |
| Troy Smith | 6 | 43 | 7.2 | 1 | 21 |
| Maurice Wells | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 6 |
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Justin Zwick | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 |
Minnesota
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amir Pinnix | 14 | 46 | 3.3 | 0 | 10 |
| E.J. Jones | 6 | 8 | 1.3 | 0 | 6 |
| Justin Valentine | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Logan Payne | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bryan Cupito | 4 | -9 | -2.3 | 0 | 5 |
Receiving
Ohio State
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Hartline | 4 | 69 | 17.3 | 0 | 32 |
| Antonio Pittman | 2 | 47 | 23.5 | 0 | 30 |
| Anthony Gonzalez | 3 | 30 | 10.0 | 0 | 11 |
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 0 | 15 |
| Stan White Jr. | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 0 | 11 |
| Brian Robiskie | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 1 | 18 |
| Roy Hall | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 15 |
| Ray Small | 1 | -3 | -3.0 | 0 | -3 |
Minnesota
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Simmons | 5 | 48 | 9.6 | 0 | 14 |
| Eric Decker | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 0 | 12 |
| Logan Payne | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 0 | 9 |
| Mike Chambers | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 10 |
| Amir Pinnix | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 10 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Ohio State
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malcolm Jenkins | 1 | 29 | 0 |
| Antonio Smith | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Jamario O'Neal | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Minnesota
No recorded stats in this category.
Kicking
Ohio State
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Pettrey | 1/1 | 100.0 | 42 | 5/6 | 8 |
Minnesota
No recorded stats in this category.
Punt Returns
Ohio State
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Malcolm Jenkins | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 5 | 0 |
Minnesota
No recorded stats in this category.
Punting
Ohio State
No recorded stats in this category.
Minnesota
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Kucek | 5 | 186 | 37.2 | 0 | 0 | 47 |
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 263010194) · This game in the downloadable dataset