November 11, 2006 Week 11 · Regular Season Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 54–10, on the road at Northwestern.

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Northwestern 10

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Ohio State 54

AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State's defense set the tone early, with Brandon Mitchell returning an interception for a touchdown just 9 minutes into the first quarter to give the Buckeyes a commanding 21-0 lead. Northwestern struggled to move the ball consistently, turning it over five times throughout the game, but managed to stay somewhat competitive in the first half with a field goal and a touchdown pass to Tyrell Sutton that made it 21-10 by halftime. Troy Smith and the Ohio State offense proved too much to handle, with Smith connecting with Brian Hartline twice for touchdowns and Ted Ginn Jr. for another score as the Buckeyes methodically pulled away. By the third quarter, Ohio State had essentially put the game out of reach, with Smith finding Anthony Gonzalez for another touchdown to extend the lead to 54-10. The belt stayed in Columbus as Ohio State's defense and balanced offensive attack proved dominant against a Northwestern team that couldn't overcome the early deficit and turnover margin.

Brandon Mitchell's 46-yard interception return for a touchdown in Q1 gave Ohio State a 21-0 lead and deflated Northwestern's early momentum
Ted Ginn Jr.'s 34-yard touchdown reception with 0:03 left in the half extended Ohio State's advantage to 31-10 and essentially clinched the game
Northwestern's five turnovers, including two interceptions and a fumble forced by James Laurinaitis, prevented any comeback possibility
Troy Smith's four total touchdown passes demonstrated Ohio State's offensive firepower and ability to attack Northwestern's struggling defense

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

NorthwesternOhio State

Total yards297425

Rushing yards68231

Passing yards243203

First downs1722

3rd down conv.3/118/13

Turnovers52

Penalties–yards2–173–30

Time of possession16:2719:12

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 13:37	Northwestern	+22 yd	C.J. Bacher pass complete to Shaun Herbert for 22 yards, fumbled at the OSU 45, forced by James Laurinaitis, recovered by Brandon Mitchell at the OSU 45, tackled by James Laurinaitis.
Q1 13:28	Ohio State	+29 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 29 yards to the NWest 26 for a 1ST down.
Q1 11:28	Ohio State	+14 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Hartline for 14 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 11:28	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q1 9:25	Ohio State	+1 yd	Antonio Pittman rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 9:25	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q1 8:55	Northwestern	+34 yd	C.J. Bacher pass complete to Tyrell Sutton for 34 yards to the OSU 46 for a 1ST down.
Q1 3:38	Northwestern	+46 yd	C.J. Bacher pass intercepted by Brandon Mitchell at the NWest 46, returned for 46 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 3:38	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q2 13:59	Northwestern	+29 yd	Joel Howells 29 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 13:46	Northwestern	+22 yd	Joel Howells kickoff for 68 yards returned by Ted Ginn Jr. for 22 yards to the OSU 19.
Q2 10:53	Ohio State	+24 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Hartline for 24 yards to the NWest 35 for a 1ST down.
Q2 4:35	Ohio State	+9 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Hartline for 9 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 4:04	Northwestern	+26 yd	C.J. Bacher pass complete to Erryn Cobb for 26 yards to the OSU 49 for a 1ST down.
Q2 3:20	Northwestern	+23 yd	C.J. Bacher pass complete to Rasheed Ward for 23 yards to the OSU 14 for a 1ST down.
Q2 2:10	Northwestern	+8 yd	C.J. Bacher pass complete to Tyrell Sutton for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 1:58	Northwestern	+26 yd	Joel Howells kickoff for 65 yards returned by Ted Ginn Jr. for 26 yards to the OSU 26.
Q2 2:10	Northwestern	+0 yd	Joel Howells extra point GOOD.
Q2 0:44	Ohio State	+0 yd	Troy Smith pass intercepted by Sherrick McManis at the NWest 24, returned for no gain to the NWest 24.
Q2 0:03	Ohio State	+34 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Ted Ginn Jr. for 34 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 14:49	Northwestern	+37 yd	Joel Howells kickoff for 65 yards returned by Ted Ginn Jr. for 37 yards to the OSU 37.
Q3 12:02	Ohio State	+21 yd	A.J. Trapasso punt for 36 yards, returned by Brendan Smith for 21 yards to the NWest 31.
Q3 11:02	Northwestern	+5 yd	C.J. Bacher pass intercepted by Ross Homan at the NWest 44, returned for 5 yards to the NWest 39.
Q3 8:52	Ohio State	+6 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Anthony Gonzalez for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 8:52	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q3 1:43	Ohio State	+25 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Maurice Wells for 25 yards to the NWest 3 for a 1ST down.
Q3 0:15	Ohio State	+1 yd	Chris Wells rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 0:15	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q3 3:59	Ohio State	+33 yd	Chris Wells rush for 33 yards to the NWest 21 for a 1ST down.
Q4 4:08	Ohio State	+25 yd	Chris Wells rush for 25 yards to the NWest 8 for a 1ST down.
Q4 2:29	Ohio State	+4 yd	Todd Boeckman rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 2:29	Ohio State	+0 yd	Ryan Pretorius 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

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
C.J. BacherNorthwestern	17/28	212	7.6	1	2	27.8
Mike KafkaNorthwestern	4/8	17	2.1	0	0	2.2
Troy SmithOhio State	12/19	185	9.7	4	1	96.0
Justin ZwickOhio State	2/4	9	2.3	0	0	6.9
Todd BoeckmanOhio State	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	77.9

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Tyrell SuttonNorthwestern	12	57	4.8	0	13
Omar ContehNorthwestern	4	17	4.3	0	9
Terrell JordanNorthwestern	2	8	4.0	0	5
C.J. BacherNorthwestern	3	-2	-0.7	0	7
Mike KafkaNorthwestern	3	-12	-4.0	0	0
Chris WellsOhio State	11	99	9.0	1	33
Antonio PittmanOhio State	19	80	4.2	1	14
Maurice WellsOhio State	7	32	4.6	0	15
Troy SmithOhio State	5	15	3.0	0	11
Todd BoeckmanOhio State	2	5	2.5	1	4

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Tyrell SuttonNorthwestern	7	75	10.7	1	34
Shaun HerbertNorthwestern	4	57	14.3	0	21
Rasheed WardNorthwestern	4	38	9.5	0	23
Ross LaneNorthwestern	4	28	7.0	0	14
Erryn CobbNorthwestern	1	26	26.0	0	26
Eric PetermanNorthwestern	1	5	5.0	0	5
Brian HartlineOhio State	3	47	15.7	2	24
Ted Ginn Jr.Ohio State	2	40	20.0	1	34
Anthony GonzalezOhio State	2	34	17.0	1	28
Rory NicolOhio State	2	27	13.5	0	18
Maurice WellsOhio State	1	25	25.0	0	25
Antonio PittmanOhio State	1	6	6.0	0	5
Brian RobiskieOhio State	1	6	6.0	0	6
Roy HallOhio State	1	5	5.0	0	5
Jake BallardOhio State	1	4	4.0	0	4

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Sherrick McManisNorthwestern	1	0	0
Brandon MitchellOhio State	1	46	1
Ross HomanOhio State	1	5	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Joel HowellsNorthwestern	1/1	100.0	29	1/1	4
Aaron PettreyOhio State	0/0	0.0	0	5/6	5
Ryan PretoriusOhio State	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Brendan SmithNorthwestern	1	21	21.0	21
Larry GrantOhio State	1	9	9.0	9
Brian RobiskieOhio State	1	0	0.0	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Slade LarscheidNorthwestern	3	101	33.7	0	0	45
AJ TrapassoOhio State	2	77	38.5	0	0	41

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

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