Ohio State's offense completed just seven passes for 116 yards in its showdown with Michigan State on Saturday, but thanks in large part to a superb defensive performance and the broad shoulders of Chris "Beanie"
Wells, it sent the Spartans retreating to the beat of a 45-7 shellacking.
Freshman Terrelle Pryor needed only 11 pass attempts in the win over the Spartans, because, quite frankly, the Big Ten's No. 5 ranked defense simply couldn't stop the Buckeyes' ground attack. They finished the game with 52 carries for 216 yards - 140 of which came from Wells.
"Malcolm [Jenkins] was standing there on the sideline saying, 'Someone needs to step up, someone needs to step up, who's going to do it?'"
Pryor said. "I think the whole offense stepped up today and came up with some big plays."
The biggest of those plays came late in the first quarter with the Buckeyes already up 14-0 and the Spartans fresh off a three-and-out. On the first play of the drive, Pryor dropped back and launched a deep pass toward a streaking Brian Hartline, who, after realizing the ball was under-thrown, leaped high into the air in an attempt to out-jump two Spartan defenders. As soon as he plucked the ball out of the air, he was promptly greeted by the thrashing of the defensive backs, who ultimately sandwiched him in mid-air. The equalizing impact on both sides allowed Hartline to remain vertical and consequently, he was able to land on his feet. The junior receiver then sprinted off toward the end zone before getting tackled at the one-yard line.
Wells capped off the 57-yard drive with a touchdown run on the next play.
