College Football Notebook | Illini have attention of No. 1 Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State might not have been concentrating solely on Illinois when it struggled to beat the Illini last season.
The Buckeyes swear it won’t happen again - even as a date with archrival Michigan looms Nov. 17.
Why did the then-unbeaten Buckeyes have so much trouble in a 17-10 victory in Champaign, Ill., against a team that finished the season 2-10?
“I think we just got lazy, to be honest,” Ohio State receiver Brian Hartline said Tuesday. “Sometimes the Illinois name can get you. They were never a big powerhouse. We kind of got a little bit too complacent last year and confident at that point in the year. They caught us sleeping and we couldn’t snap out of it.”
Coach Jim Tressel said he didn’t foresee that being a problem Saturday, with the Buckeyes (10-0 overall, 6-0 Big Ten) again ranked No. 1 hosting an Illinois (7-3, 4-2) team having a turnaround season.
“This group really understands that we’ve got work to do,” Tressel said.
Ohio State was up 17-0 at halftime last year, when Illinois held the Buckeyes to lows in points, total yards and passing yards to that point in the season.
No one could blame the Buckeyes if they are peeking ahead. The Big Ten has become a two-team title race, with Michigan and the Buckeyes each unbeaten through six games.
The Wolverines play at Wisconsin in another marquee game Saturday, before next week’s annual rivalry game between Ohio State and Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Austin Spitler, backup linebacker and special-teams standout, said it is hard to focus on Illinois when the Michigan game is around the corner.
“Michigan’s always in the back of our minds - first day of camp to last game of the year - they’re always there because it’s such a big rivalry and such a big game for us,” he said.
Notes
• When a reporter started to ask about contract-buyout negotiations, Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione said, “Let me just stop you before you go any further, OK? I am not going to get into the rumor game with you guys.”
Sources close to the A&M athletic department have told The Dallas Morning News that Franchione, 56, probably will be removed as head coach after the season. He has a 31-27 record at the school, but is 3-15 against ranked teams.
Meanwhile, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville declined to discuss reports his name is high on the Aggies’ wish list of candidates if Franchione is fired. Tuberville is a former Texas A&M defensive coordinator.
• If interim athletic director Tom Osborne wants Bill Callahan out as Nebraska’s coach, he probably will have to fire him. Callahan said he would not resign before the season ends, even if he were offered a buyout worth more than he is entitled to by his contract.
“That term ‘resignation’ is not in our vocabulary,” Callahan said.
The Cornhuskers (4-6, 1-5 Big 12) go into Saturday’s final home game against Kansas State on their first five-game losing streak since 1958.
• Miami quarterback Kyle Wright - less than three weeks after suffering ankle and knee sprains - will be back under center Saturday when the Hurricanes host No. 23 Virginia in a game that will end Miami’s 70-year run of calling the Orange Bowl home.
• Two of USC’s best defensive players made unequivocal statements about their future plans.
Junior linebackers Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing both said they were “100 percent” certain they will skip the NFL draft in the spring and return for their senior seasons, The Orange County Register reported.