Mike Nugent kicks game winning 55-yard FG

Two seconds remained in a 21-21 game. Marshall had stood toe-to-toe with Ohio State’s big boys all day, and the Thundering Herd was looking to go to overtime and possibly end OSU’s 109-year winning streak over Mid-American Conference teams.

Ohio State kicker Mike Nugent kicks the game winner

The Buckeyes had taken over at their 45-yard line with 25 seconds left and no timeouts, and quarterback Justin Zwick had completed three passes and spiked the ball.

An illegal-shift penalty put the ball back on the Marshall 37, meaning Nugent was backpedaling the field to attempt a career-long 55-yard field goal.

The tension, the pressure, the chaos — none of that bothered the senior captain from Centerville.

He stepped up, slammed his right foot into the ball and sent it sailing safely inside the left upright, allowing the Buckeyes (2-0) to blow out a relieved breath and escape with a 24-21 victory.

"That’s his personality — very calm," said Carolyn Nugent, Mike’s mother. "I’m shaking right now — my knees are weak. But he gives me strength. He’ll say, ‘I want it. That’s what I want to do every game. I want the game-winner.’ "

Nugent’s kick bailed out his teammates, who committed four turnovers and did not force one. That puts OSU at minus-seven in turnover ratio this season.

"We’re lucky, I guess, because typically if you’re at minus-seven, you’re going to be 0-2," coach Jim Tressel said. "But that tells you that something else must be going substantially right."

Like Nugent, perhaps, who shrugged off his heroics.

"When you say, ‘What was your emotion when I won the game?’ I don’t think I won the game at all," he said. "I just kind of did my job when I was called upon. I think the best part about the game was how Justin handled the adversity he saw all game and took the guys down the field the last drive. That was unbelievable."

Indeed, Zwick suffered through an up-and-down day that saw him throw for 255 yards and three touchdowns in the first half but turn wild in the second half to keep the Thundering Herd (0-2) in the game.

Zwick threw two bad interceptions — one of which set up Marshall at the OSU 13 and resulted in the tying touchdown with 8:40 left in the game.

He played all but one series and ended 18 of 30 passing for 318 yards.

With time winding down, Zwick found his favorite target, Santonio Holmes (10 catches, 218 yards, two TDs), twice for 17 yards. Holmes got out of bounds both times, stopping the clock with 17 seconds left and the ball at the Marshall 38.

Zwick then hit tight end Ryan Hamby for 5 yards in the middle of the field. The clock wound under 10 seconds as Hamby struggled to free himself and hurry back to the line.

"(Marshall players) were laying on him a little bit," Zwick said, "so it took him longer than he wanted."

Hamby was still moving when Zwick spiked the ball, drawing the penalty.

But the increased distance did not deter Nugent.

"It kind of scared me at first," he said of his kick. "First it was going dead center, and then it faded out (left), and then it started going back in.

"I don’t know if that’s because I told it to. I was screaming at it."

By halftime, Zwick and Holmes already had hooked up for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Roy Hall caught Zwick’s third TD pass of the half, and the Buckeyes led 21-14.

Zwick said the Buckeyes noticed that Marshall’s safeties, crowding the line to stop the run, were vulnerable to deep throws.

Marshall had a chance to tie after a 16-play, 85-yard drive in the third quarter. The Herd ran on 14 of those plays, with Ahmad Bradshaw (17 carries, 81 yards overall) and Earl Charles (16 for 73) repeatedly bursting through the OSU defensive line for good gains.

But after being held to an apparent field goal try, Marshall was stopped scoreless when it tried a fake.

Zwick’s first interception led to Marshall’s tying drive. On that possession, Herd quarterback Stan Hill (22 of 34, 140 yards, one TD) threw incomplete on third-and-9 at the OSU 12, but Tressel decided to accept a holding penalty and give Marshall another chance — third-and-19 from the 23.

Hill promptly threw a scoring strike to Brad Bates to make it 21-21.

"We talked about it a little bit," Tressel said of accepting the penalty. "As it turned out, it wasn’t the best decision, but you have to make decisions and you have to do it in 20 seconds."

OSU dodged a bullet after Zwick’s second interception when Ian O’Connor missed a 35-yard field goal try that would have given the Herd the lead with 3:17 left.

Had Marshall won, it would have been the first MAC team to beat Ohio State since Akron did the trick in 1895.

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Posted by Ron at September 11, 2004 09:50 PM