First Look at Ohio State

Here is a first look at Police Dog U. The most obvious thing that jumps out -- they lead the Big Ten in virtually all defensive statistics.

The Original Crazy Man (right)

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Since losing 17-10 to Penn State on Oct. 8, to go 3-2 at the time, Ohio State has won five straight, beating:
-- MSU 35-24
-- Indiana 41-10
-- Minnesota 45-31
-- Illinois 40-2
-- Northwestern 48-7

(note: all stats below are Big Ten games only)

OSU's leading rusher, Antonio Pittman, is averaging slightly over 100 yards per game.

OSU has settled in on a quarterback this season, with Troy Smith averaging approx. 20 passes for 200 yards passing a game on 60% completions, while also being the Buckeyes' 2nd leading rusher, averaging approx. 12 carries for 55 yards per game.

Santonio Holmes is their leading receiver with approx. 4.5 catches per game, with Ted Ginn averaging 3.5.

Ginn is also averaging approx. 30 yards per kickoff return and 12 yards per punt return.

On defense, LB A.J. Hawk is averaging over 10 tackles per game, and Hawk and DE Mike Kudla lead the team in sacks with just under 1 per game.

OSU leads the Big Ten conference in most defensive stats:
-- scoring defense (approx. 15 points per game), total defense (approx. 280 yards per game),
-- pass defense (approx. 200 yards per game),
-- rushing defense (approx. 76 yards per game),
-- sacks (almost 4 per game),
-- opponents' 3rd down conversions (approx. 26%),
OSU also leads the conference in:
-- kickoff returns (Ginn's 30 per)
-- field goals (approx. 84%),
-- time of possession,
-- net punting (approx. 39 yards per punt).

On offense they are in the middle of the road, except passing efficiency where they are either 2nd or 1st. They average approx. a TD per game in the 1st and 4th quarters, and 1.5 per game in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.