12 2 13 lantern

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Monday December 2, 2013 year: 133 No. 113

the student voice of

The Ohio State University

www.thelantern.com

thelantern

one play, two points

NO CHANCE

DAN HOPE Oller reporter hope.46@osu.edu ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With 32 seconds left in the game, Ohio State — now the owner of a 24-game win streak, two consecutive victories against Michigan and the chance to play for a BCS National Championship — faced a play that could define its season. After Michigan (7-5, 3-5) scored a touchdown on a two-yard pass from redshirt-junior quarterback Devin Gardner to sophomore tight end Devin Funchess with just 32 seconds remaining in the game against OSU Saturday, the team likely could have sent the game to overtime by kicking a game-tying extra point. Instead, the Wolverines elected to try to win the game — and end the longest winning streak in OSU history in the process — by attempting a two-point conversion, leaving the Buckeyes to figure out how to prevent the score. But the play Michigan chose for its attempt was one OSU redshirt-freshman cornerback Tyvis Powell and his teammates had seen the Wolverines run before. Gardner took a shotgun snap at the 8-yard line, quickly set his feet at the 10-yard line and fired a throw to the end zone intended for senior wide receiver Drew Dileo. Powell saw the throw coming. He jumped Dileo’s route and intercepted the ball on the goal line, preserving a 42-41 lead that would hold through the end of the game. Powell was in position to make the play, he said after the game, because cornerbacks coach and special teams

coordinator Kerry Coombs had told him it was the play Michigan would run. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Coach Coombs is a genius,’” Powell said. The Buckeyes’ defense practiced against that play call in preparation for Saturday’s game, Powell said, because OSU believed it was Michigan’s “bread and butter” play for two-point conversions. “We prepared for it … it really happened,” Powell said. “All I can do is thank the coaching staff for that. They really helped us out and prepared us correctly.” Junior linebacker Ryan Shazier, too, said the OSU defense “pretty much knew what was coming.” “Off the film, we kind of noticed that they like to do that type of route, so we got in the right coverage,” Shazier said. “Tyvis (Powell) practiced that all week and he just made a play he needed to make.” In his first season on the field for the Buckeyes, Powell has seen significant playing time in all 12 games as OSU’s first-team nickel cornerback, but he acknowledged the interception was the biggest play he has made to date. “When we was in there taking a shower, I was talking to (backup redshirt-senior quarterback) Kenny (Guiton), and that’s when it clicked. It hit me, we really, like — that was our season on the line,” Powell said. But while the defensive players felt prepared to make the game-saving play, a number of offensive players, including junior tight end Jeff Heuerman, said they were nervous during the two-point conversion attempt. “It was such a crazy ending and everyone’s head’s still spinning,” Heuerman said after the game. That said, Heuerman said he and his teammates had “full confidence” in OSU’s defensive players and coaches. “Deep down inside, we felt pretty good about it,” Heuerman said. If there was any game this season where OSU (12-0, 8-0) could have doubted its defense, though, it might have been Saturday. Michigan’s six touchdowns and 603 total yards were the most against OSU in any of its 12 regular-season games. “We’re pretty disappointed (about those numbers) because we’re a lot better than that,” Shazier said. Although OSU might have known what was coming on the two-point conversion, Powell said Michigan caught the defense off-guard on a number of occasions throughout the game, especially in the first half. “They came out with a bunch of tricks and gadgets,” Powell said. “We was all just going out there

SHELBY LUM / Photo editor

Redshirt-freshman defensive back Tyvis Powell (23) intercepts an attempted two-point conversion in the Michigan end zone. OSU won against Michigan, 42-41, Nov. 30 at Michigan Stadium.

RITIKA SHAH / Asst. photo editor

Redshirt-freshman defensive back Tyvis Powell (23) lands after intercepting an attempted two-point conversion in the Michigan end zone. OSU won, 42-41, Nov. 30 at Michigan Stadium. trying to do too much, everybody trying to do other people’s jobs.” In a game in which the Buckeye and Wolverine offenses combined for 83 points and 1,129 total yards, OSU coach Urban Meyer said he was not surprised the opponent’s decided to attempt the two-point conversion. “I would have done the same thing,” Meyer said. “You go win the game right there. No question. Both offenses were kind of in that unstoppable mode.” Powell said he, too, agreed with Michigan’s decision to go for the lead.

“This is The Game,” Powell said. “You got to leave it all on the table. I’m not shocked at all they did that.” The win, combined with a loss Saturday for previously-undefeated then-No. 1 Alabama to then-No. 4 Auburn, enabled OSU to move up to No. 2 in the BCS standings, while Auburn is the new No. 3 and Alabama fell to No. 4. Those rankings put OSU in position to play for a national championship if the Buckeyes can hold off No. 10 Michigan State (11-1, 8-0) in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game. If OSU is going to defeat Michigan State – which ranks first nationally in total defense with 237.7 average yards allowed per game, compared to the No. 6-ranked OSU offense, which is putting up 530.5 yards per game – the Buckeyes’ defense is going to have play better, Shazier said. “I know they’re a really good team,” Shazier said of Michigan State. “Really good defense and their offense has been doing a lot better, week in and week out, and we just going to have to capitalize and do better this week in practice and just fix on the mistakes that we had this week.” OSU is set to take on the Spartans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Saturday at 8:17 p.m.

RITIKA SHAH / Asst. photo editor

Ohio State players celebrate after redshirt-freshman defensive back Tyvis Powell’s (23) interception. OSU won, 42-41, Nov. 30 at Michigan Stadium.

Photo illustration by KAYLA BYLER / Managing editor of design, photo by SHELBY LUM / Photo editor

Ohio State players huddle up before taking the field in a game against Michigan. OSU won, 42-41, Nov. 30 at Michigan Stadium.

Interim cheerleading coach named, head coach fired DAN HOPE Oller reporter hope.46@osu.edu Ohio State fired its head cheerleading coach last week after she associated herself and her team with two former assistant coaches who were terminated “for cause” after a sexual harassment investigation. The former head coach was also found to have demonstrated a lack of “leadership and courage” when faced with challenges during her tenure. Lenee Buchman, who had been OSU’s head cheerleading coach since July 2009, was terminated Nov. 25 for “several serious lapses of judgment and leadership,” according to an email sent to Buchman by OSU athletic director Gene Smith Nov. 22 that was obtained by The Lantern. The October Office of Human Resources report that discovered those lapses began after former cheerleader Cody Ellis said Buchman had retaliated against him by kicking him off the team for reporting sexual harassment. Problems found through the report included a failure on Buchman’s part to disassociate herself and the team

from the two former assistant coaches, Dana Bumbrey and Eddie Hollins. The two were fired in May after an OSU investigation found “sufficient evidence” both men had violated the university’s Sexual Harassment Policy. OSU’s Sexual Harassment Policy defines sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances” and “requests for sexual favors,” and includes “other physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature” when, among other conditions, it creates an “intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for working, learning or living on campus.” Findings of the HR report The HR report discovered Buchman participated in a cheer camp run by Bumbrey in August, more than two months after his termination. “Though I know that the camp was not run by Ohio State, you took our students and brand there with you,” Smith wrote to Buchman. “All the while, you knew the nature of the behavior Mr. Bumbrey had been engaged in, that Ohio State had dismissed him just a few months earlier and that the university had emphatically chosen to disassociate itself from him and his damaging behavior.” The HR report also determined, Smith wrote, that

when Hollins unexpectedly showed up at a cheerleading practice Sept. 9, Buchman did not approach Hollins or ask him to leave. “When an assistant that had been fired for sexual harassment shows up at a team practice, it is obvious what is expected of a head coach,” Smith wrote. Buchman was found innocent of retaliation against former cheerleader Ellis, though. Smith said he and Miechelle Willis, OSU’s executive associate athletics director for student services and sports administration, agreed Ellis’ dismissal was warranted. “We are both persuaded that the student’s past behavior — including persistent derogatory and offensive conduct toward teammates and others, the student’s negative attitude and other misconduct — all amply support the student’s dismissal from the team,” Smith wrote. An OSU athletics spokesman declined The Lantern’s request for additional comment from Smith Sunday. Buchman did not respond to The Lantern’s repeated requests for comment last week. While Buchman is no longer employed by OSU, she is still employed by the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators as its cheerleading coordinator.

Kenneth Baker, the OASSA’s executive director, said Tuesday he and the association’s board of directors have not yet determined whether Buchman will be retained. “At some point in time, we will have a recommendation from the board to me based upon Lenee’s continued employment at OASSA,” Baker said. “Until that time, it probably wouldn’t be wise on me or by me to comment (on whether Buchman should remain employed by the association).” The retaliation report John Camillus, the attorney of former OSU cheerleader Cody Ellis, told The Lantern his client, who was dismissed from the team by Buchman in August, reported to Smith and others in August that he felt Buchman retaliated against him for reporting sexual harassment. His allegations came after former assistant coach Eddie Hollins sent Ellis sexually suggestive text messages July 14, 2012. “I don’t believe that (Ellis’) attitude was 100 percent of the time, every day, always perfect,” Camillus said. “But that is true of virtually everybody on the team.

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