OHIO STATE (3-0) cruised to 43-7 win, 500th OSU win, Pryor sets OSU QB record

[mjp28]

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Behind a record-setting performance by quarterback Terrelle Pryor, No. 2 Ohio State cruised to a 43-7 win over Mid-American Conference member Ohio in an intra-state matchup at Ohio Stadium. Ohio drops to 1-2 with its second consecutive loss while Ohio State improves to 3-0 heading into its final non-conference game next Saturday vs. Eastern Michigan.

Ohio, trying for the 500th win in school history, was out of it early as the Buckeyes converted three first-half Ohio turnovers into 17 points and a 34-0 halftime lead. Tyler Moeller recorded his first career interception on the second play of the game, intercepting a Phil Bates pass. Later in the half both Cameron Heyward and Nathan Williams recovered Bobcat fumbles. Both players had interceptions in the Buckeyes' 36-24 win over No. 12 Miami last week.

Pryor, and the Ohio State defense, were clearly the stories of the day. Pryor completed 22-of-29 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns, plus he rushed for 35 yards and another touchdown, while improving his record to 22-3 as a starting quarterback. He completed a school-record 16-consecutive passes at one point in the first half, breaking the single-game record of 12 set by Jim Karsatos in 1985 against Wisconsin. Pryor also threw his first interception of the season late in the first half.

The Buckeye defense, which has given up only one touchdown on the season, limited Ohio to 158 yards of offense and seven first downs. Senior linebacker Ross Homan led with seven tackles and an interception.

"I thought our guys did a good job after an emotional and physical game a week ago," head coach Jim Tressel said. "I thought we prepared well and our guys had a lot of respect for Ohio as they should. A lot of them remember couple years ago when we played against them and it was a dogfight. We seized control of the game early and the biggest challenge you have is keeping execution at a high pitch. We played hard and got a lot of guys in the game, and again, we had 70 or so snaps from each side of the ball to study from and see if we can get better."

Ten different Buckeyes caught passes vs. the Bobcats. DeVier Posey had five catches for 62 yards, while Stoneburner had a career day with five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown and Dane Sanzenbacher also recorded five catches for 58 yards. Brandon Saine led the Ohio State rushing attack with 48 yards on 12 carries.

Pryor connected on a nine-yard touchdown pass to Saine in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead and on a five-yarder to Stoneburner in the second for a 27-0 advantage. He also scored on a 13-yard run and the Buckeyes are now 11-1 when he throws for a touchdown and rushes for a score. Dan "Boom" Herron also had two touchdown runs for the Buckeyes.

Devin Barclay converted on 2-of-2 field goals and is now 8-of-9 on field goals this season. The Buckeyes also did not record a penalty the entire game.

Devon Torrence also recovered a fumble for the Buckeyes, giving the Ohio State defense eight take-aways in the last two games. Sophomore defensive back Orhian Johnson forced Ohio's third fumble of the game to begin the third quarter. Homan recorded his first interception of the season on the following Bobcat drive for the fifth takeaway recorded by the Buckeye defense.

Heyward put the Buckeyes ahead 36-0 on a safety, tackling running back Vince Davidson for a four-yard loss in the south end zone 6:09 left in the third. Herron's second touchdown run followed the safety under a minute left in the third, making the score 43-0, on a 10-play 55-yard drive.

The Bobcats ended the shutout with less than seven minutes remaining in the fourth when quarterback Boo Jackson connected with Terrence McCrae for an 11-yard touchdown pass.

[ScarletBlooded]

From what I can sum up about this game...

Pros: Terrelle Pryor, when he's not under pressure or extreme duress, can tear up any defense in the nation. TP was definitely on point in passing and rushing yards and it shows well considering that he passed Archie Griffin's mark on overall yards gained. I'm kinda surprised by the overall score, this isn't the same, gritty Ohio team we battled a close game against back in '08. In fact we've played much stronger this time around. MVP of the game honors definitely go to the defense with numerous interceptions and fumbles coming our way, we were basically feeding off their turnovers. The Buckeyes played beautifully on Offense and Defense and that will serve us well in the long run.

Cons: Special teams has been our Achilles heel this season. Flag or no flag, Julian Posey (DeVier's older bro) ripped us a new one with an impressive Kickoff return and we can't afford to slack off on Special teams and let teams get ahead of us that way, we could incidentally give away a game if that situation isn't fixed. Terrelle Pryor, while he had a great game, wasn't perfect as it was marred by 2 interceptions that could have been avoided if he made a better decision to get rid of the ball or in a worse-case scenario, take a sack to avoid the turnover. TP has still improved overall and his rare moments of inefficiency is the least of our problems, special teams however is the majority.

Overall: Astounding win taking down Ohio U and with a couple of fairly easy games, our first test in my opinion is against Wisconsin next month so the Buckeyes have plenty of time to extend their dominance. 

[brooks1957]

Here's my take on Pryor so far this season, mjp & SB -

I think the Rose Bowl victory went a long, long way in cementing in Terrelle's mind that he doesn't HAVE to be the focal point on offense every play like he was in high school. I'm sure the coaches have been hammering that exact thought into his head since he arrived in Columbus - but translating that to his play on the field up until now has been an issue.

He is so much calmer this year. You can see he finally can trust his teammates to do their jobs. He knows he doesn't have to burn unnecessary energy trying to do it all. This transformation has allowed his God given athletic abilities, and they are substantial, to just flow into the game plan and not be forced. I think that is also what is commonly knowing as the game "slowing down" for a player.

I expect big games from Terrelle the next three weeks against Eastern Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. That will give his new style of play time to really take root before his next test against a stiffer defense - at Wisconsin on Oct.16.

No surprise, but I really like the "new and improved" Pryor.