DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — For the third time this season, the Ohio State football team will play another school from Ohio. Normally, that hasn't gone well for the opponents.

The Buckeyes already have defeated Youngstown State 38-6 and Akron 20-2. Those two wins extended OSU's record against in-state opponents to 173-48-15, but it hasn't lost to another Ohio school since a 7-6 setback to Otterbein in 1921.

This year also marks the first time since 1926 that Ohio State has played three Ohio opponents in one season. That year, the Buckeyes topped Wittenberg (40-0), Ohio Wesleyan (47-0) and Wilmington (13-7).

Today, the opponent is Kent State, which will face the Buckeyes for just the second time.

"It definitely is part of what we believe in from a scheduling standpoint now that we're playing 12-game schedules," OSU coach Jim Tressel said of playing Ohio schools. "We want to play someone from out there in the country that we don't normally get to play like we did with Texas and Washington, and USC coming up and so forth, and the next thing that's important to us is home games.

"We have 36 sports, which is the largest in the country, and that's very, very important for us to be able to help with the comprehensive program, so we give the in-state people first opportunity, if their schedule allows."

The Buckeyes will play Youngstown State and Ohio University next season before facing Toledo in 2009.

Quick hits

• Tressel said he won't hesitate to play running back Chris Wells, even though he at times limps out of games with a gimpy ankle. "It gets stung occasionally," Tressel said.

• Linebacker Thaddeus Gibson didn't make the trip to Purdue last weekend for what Tressel said were "personal reasons."

• Tressel said freshman running back Brandon Saine, a Piqua product, should see more playing time today. He carried six times for 20 yards last week after returning from a knee injury.

• With a 6-0 start, OSU is one of just six teams already bowl eligible. The others are LSU, Cincinnati, Boston College, Hawaii and Arizona State.

• The Ohio State defense has limited opponents to three-and-out possessions 53.2 percent of the time this season. The unit also is the best nationally in scoring defense (7.2 points per game) and is second in total defense (210 yards per game).

• Two times this season, an OSU opponent has set a school record for punts in a game. Akron kicked 14 times in Week 2, and Purdue punted 12 times last week.

• When Ohio State played host to Kent State in 2002, Mike Doss and A.J. Hawk both returned interceptions for touchdowns in the first 22 minutes.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389

or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.