Sept. 16, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -Ohio State took awhile to get untracked before Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. hooked up on two touchdown passes and the top-ranked Buckeyes rolled to a 37-7 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday.

Much like its win at Texas last week, Ohio State was overpowering when it had to be and always seemed to come up with a big play at the right time.

The defense held the Bearcats (1-2) to minus-4 yards on 22 attempts. The Buckeyes (3-0) had eight sacks for minus 59 yards.

Still, they didn't have a firm grip on the game until tailback Antonio Pittman raced 48 yards around left end for a score with 10 minutes remaining to push the lead to 27-7. Pittman finished with 155 yards on 16 carries.

Smith, who tossed passes to Ginn when both were at Cleveland's Glenville High, completed 21-of-30 passes for 203 yards before taking most of the fourth quarter off.

Ginn was limited to five catches for 33 yards, including touchdowns of 12 and 9 yards.

Linebacker James Laurinaitis, who had an interception and forced a fumble against Texas, ended a drive by the Bearcats by picking off a pass late in the half. Malcolm Jenkins and Anderson Russell also had interceptions for the Buckeyes, who open Big Ten play next week at home against Penn State.

Leading just 13-7 at the half, Ohio State got some breathing room on its second possession of the third quarter. Pittman had runs of 13, 6, 8 and 11 yards and Smith hit Anthony Gonzalez for 13 yards to give the Buckeyes a first down at the 9. Smith then found Ginn, who was crossing over the middle, ducking inside a potential tackler for the touchdown.

After Pittman's touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State cruised 72 yards in just 1:43 - with mostly subs on the field - to score on Maurice Wells' 9-yard run.

The opening half was not easy for the Buckeyes, who have a 12-2 record against the Bearcats and have not lost in the series since 1897.

Ohio State drove 28 yards after forcing UC to punt on its first possession, taking a 3-0 lead on Aaron Pettrey's 47-yard field goal.

Grutza tossed a 28-yard pass to Derrick Stewart on first down and later scrambled for 23 yards. Jared Martin then caught his first career pass for a 22-yard touchdown from Grutza. Kevin Lovell's kick gave the Bearcats a 7-3 lead.

Grutza finished 18-of-22 for 202 yards with two interceptions.

All Ohio State was able to muster in its next three possessions was another Pettrey field goal but the Buckeyes finally got untracked in the final minutes of the half.

Smith connected on all six of his passes for 79 yards in an impressive drive that put them on top to stay. The key plays were Smith's 33-yard gainer to Gonzalez, who was pulled down when Dominic Ross grabbed his jersey and held on tight, and the 12-yard TD pass to Ginn that capped the 80-yard march.

Amid all the big plays, Ohio State's offense was hurt by penalties. They were flagged eight times for 75 yards.