What They're Saying: Aftermath of the Sugar Bowl

Ohio State 31, Arkansas 26: Soo-weet | BuckeyeXtra
Whether their next game for Ohio State is in eight months, nine months or never again, the Suspended Five gave their school a tremendous parting gift last night. And one of the most obscure of the group came up with the biggest play. Shaking off 12 days of controversy and drama after the announcement of NCAA sanctions against several key players, and overcoming a valiant comeback effort by Arkansas, Ohio State posted a 31-26 victory in the Sugar Bowl. The win was the Buckeyes' first over a Southeastern Conference team in a bowl game in 10 tries, ending a 33-year drought.

"When you play in (Bowl Championship Series) games, you're going to play against great teams," coach Jim Tressel said. "For us to come up with this win - our guys are the best."

The Razorbacks (10-3) had cut a 28-7 Buckeyes lead to 31-26, then blocked an Ohio State punt. With 1:08 left, Arkansas was set up to serve OSU another helping of SEC humiliation. But two plays later, with 58 seconds left, defensive end Solomon Thomas - the only backup among the five players facing five-game suspensions - intercepted a Ryan Mallett pass. Arkansas had no timeouts, and the Ohio State celebration began. "I knew somebody had to (make a play)," Thomas said. "Through all adversity lies a blessing."

Ohio State holds on down the stretch, outlasts Arkansas, 31-26, for Sugar Bowl victory | cleveland.com
The Ohio State Buckeyes early on seized the Sugar Bowl so quickly and so emphatically Tuesday night, and then so stunningly almost watched it slip away, that for four hours there wasn't time to think or talk about anything but football. Not sanctions nor tattoos, no SEC domination nor Big Ten stumbles. There was just time for Ohio State fans to get nervous, and for the Buckeyes suspended for the start of next season to save Ohio State on this night. Nearly blowing a 21-point lead, the Buckeyes scrambled to hang on to a 31-26 win over Arkansas that wasn't an easy one -- but it was one.

"I think it's a big deal because Arkansas is a great team," OSU coach Jim Tressel said. "The fact that it happens to be an SEC team, that makes you maybe even a little bit prouder because you know how good that league is."

And on this night, it was about how good this game was. There were fumbles and deep passes and dropped passes and injuries and Terrelle Pryor rolling up yards (221 passing, 115 rushing) and Cameron Heyward chasing down Razorbacks, and when the Buckeyes climbed on their charter back to Columbus from New Orleans after their night in the Superdome, the zero was gone.

In a battle of quarterbacks of tomorrow, Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor seizes the night for the Buckeyes: Bill Livingston | cleveland.com
The streetcar heads for the quarterbacks now, not the Desire housing projects. Tennessee Williams wouldn't recognize the place, anyway. The Desire Projects in this city's hurricane-battered Ninth Ward are gone. On the St. Charles line, the streetcar rattles up from the Mississippi Riverbend stop, clattering past Tulane, where the Sugar Bowl once was played, rolling on by the stately mansions of Archie Manning, the Ole Miss legend, and Drew Brees, the leader of the NFL champion Saints. At Poydras Street, it is within sight of the Superdome. The quarterbacks of tomorrow came Tuesday night to the Superdome, the modern site of the Sugar Bowl.

They were Arkansas' Ryan Mallett and Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor. Many think this was Mallett's last game, that he will turn pro soon. For sure, this was Pryor's last game, at least for a while. Both gave fans something to remember particularly Pryor, who was named the Most Outstanding Player with 221 passing yards and 115 on the ground. Ohio State, racing to a three-touchdown lead in the first half, hung on for a 31-26 victory.

With his Sugar Bowl-saving interception, Ohio State defensive end Solomon Thomas gave Buckeyes' fans another reason to know his name | cleveland.com

With the five Ohio State players suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season, there were four offensive starters - All-Big Ten players, major recruits, NFL prospects, faces of the program - and there was that other guy. Backup defensive end Solomon Thomas. After his interception on the final Arkansas drive locked up the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night, fans have another reason to know his name.

"It's good to wash my name of negativity. It's really good," Thomas said after the Buckeyes' 31-26 win."A lot of people were offended because I hadn't even played and I sold my gold pants and sold my ring. They felt I was really a spoiled brat for selling my stuff that I haven't even earned. I got a lot of remarks about not even earning those gold pants. So it's not revenge, but it just shows we're all hard workers. The coaches just told me it was just a matter of time before my time comes."

His time came on a zone blitz, as the Buckeyes dropped two of their front four defenders - Thomas and Cameron Heyward - into coverage on second-and-10 from the 18-yardline. Heyward intercepted a pass on a similar call against Miami earlier in the season. "I still don't know where the receiver was," Thomas said. "But it might have been the receiver gloves I wear. I wear receiver gloves and linebacker gloves. We opt out of the defensive lineman gloves."

Effective up-tempo offense was the No. 1 plan of Ohio State's bowl prep: With Carmen Ohio video | cleveland.com
Ohio State worked on its no-huddle offense the entire bowl season and out of everything the Buckeyes did in their 31-26 Sugar Bowl win, nothing was better than the way the Buckeyes attacked the Arkansas defense in the first half.

"That was our No. 1 plan," OSU tight end Jake Stoneburner said. "We did it all bowl season. We wanted up-tempo, fast-paced, and we didn't think they'd be ready for that one. It really gassed them and we were able to make plays. "We saw on film how tired they got," OSU receiver DeVier Posey said, "and we felt like they were exhausted in the first half."

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said Monday that each team would do something the other didn't expect. With the up-tempo style, the Buckeyes employed something they were familiar with but that wasn't a staple of their offense. And they got exactly the reaction they wanted.

"They were really trying to catch us off-guard with the fast-paced offense," Arkansas middle linebacker Jerry Franklin said, "and we weren't able to communicate with the whole defense. It made us look like we were tired because guys weren't getting the right calls. "We really didn't see it that much on film at all."

By putting in the hard work in the Big Easy, Terrelle Pryor and OSU display a winning (and selfless) front: Bill Livingston | cleveland.com
On the winner's podium, scarlet confetti swirled around Terrelle Pryor, who was so sore and battered he had to be helped up to the stage in order to receive the victory salute. Almost lamed late in Ohio State's 31-26 Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas as it concluded Wednesday morning, forced from the game for one snap in the last half-dozen plays, the Buckeyes' quarterback seemed to symbolize the agonizing road his team had taken.

They call this city the "Big Easy," but that is chamber of commerce hokum. Little has ever been easy in a city that survived pirates, redcoats, the Civil War and Hurricane Katrina. Nothing was easy for OSU here. That was the point. That was the beauty of it.

"It's funny because you always hear stories about adversity and how, if you push through, lessons lie at the end," said second-string defensive end Solomon Thomas. "It's where you have such adversity, it's such a blessing and it's so drastic."

All-time coaching records in Ohio State-Michigan game; Jim Tressel is No. 1; Rich Rodriquez winless | cleveland.com
Rich Rodriguez leaves Michigan as the only football coach in more than a half-century to exit the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry without ever winning a game. Meanwhile, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel in 2010 improved his record against Michigan to 9-1, the best record by anyone who has coached at least twice in the Ohio State-Michigan game. Rodriquez went 0-3 against the Buckeyes.

The last coach to go winless was Ohio State's Wesley Fesler, who was 0-3-1 from 1947 through 1950. The only coach who lost more times than Rodriquez without winning is Ohio State's A.E. Hernstein, who was 0-4 from 1906-09.