In Ohio State's drive to win a fourth straight Big Ten championship, Minnesota provided a warm-up lap.
The Buckeyes had one final opportunity yesterday to test and tune, to try this and tweak that, before they make a critical road trip to Wisconsin next weekend.
In beating the Golden Gophers 34-21, Ohio State showed it likely has the gears, the acceleration and the overdrive it will need. The Buckeyes rushed for 279 yards in their conference opener - their highest total this season -and averaged 7.5 yards per carry.
Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor had 97 yards rushing and a couple of touchdowns, and junior running back Chris "Beanie"
Wells indicated that his restoration following a foot injury was successful as he added 106 yards while the 14th-ranked Buckeyes (4-1) built a 21-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Ohio State had runs of 38, 33, 28, 26, 21 and 17 yards in the game.
"I knew that was going to be a nice complement, with both Beanie and Terrelle back there,"
Ohio State junior wide receiver Brian Hartline said. "Those big running plays we had - those help a lot. That makes them respect the run, from both Terrelle and Beanie, and that should give us more options on offense."
The return of Wells, who had rushed for an Ohio State sophomore record 1,609 yards last season, provided a significant fuel injection for the Buckeyes.
"It helps with Beanie back, because he's got that burst. You just block a guy straight-up, and he just explodes past you,"
Ohio State offensive lineman Jim Cordle said. "It was nice to see him running like that again."
Wells was back and he demonstrated that with an exclamation point. He took his second carry of the game 28 yards with a burst of speed and then a cut to the outside that moved the Buckeyes to the Minnesota 33-yard line. Pryor then glided around the right side and flashed through the Gophers for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead just over two minutes into the game, following the first of three extra points by Ryan Pretorius.
"We really wanted to take it down the field on the first drive and we were really happy to do that,"
Pryor said. "I want to keep it going and I know I have to keep proving myself."
It was the first of two scores for Pryor, who also threw for a touchdown. Minnesota coach Tim Brewster, whose team came into the game ranked fourth in the country in turnover margin at plus-11 but gave up the ball three times to Ohio State, said he felt the turnovers and the big runs by Pryor and Wells made the difference.
"Football is a game of explosive plays and turnovers, and Ohio State won both of those battles, and that is why they won the football game,"
Brewster said.
Minnesota (4-1) had a great opportunity to even things up early in the game when defensive tackle Eric Small stripped the ball from Wells and recovered it at the Ohio State 24. But the mistake-plagued Gophers took a penalty and settled for a 33-yard field goal and a 7-3 deficit.
Pryor ripped off a 38-yard run to open the second quarter, and a 17-yard carry by Daniel "Boom"
Herron got the Buckeyes close. But Ohio State stalled at the four and took a 22-yard field goal by Pretorius for a 10-3 lead.
A Donald Washington interception midway through the second quarter set the Buckeyes up near midfield, and a 12-yard burst from Wells helped them advance to Minnesota's 26. A 44-yard Pretorius field goal made it a 13-3 Ohio State advantage.
With a little less than three minutes left in the first half, a third down completion from Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber to Jack Simmons resulted in a large scrum around the Gophers' 35-yard line. When things got sorted out, Anderson Russell had recovered a fumble for Ohio State at the Minnesota 35.
Wells exploded up the middle from there, vaulted a would-be tackler in stride and ran 21 yards to the 14. After running the ball down to the three, Pryor lobbed a perfect toss to Robiskie in the end zone for a 20-3 lead.
The Buckeyes made it 34-6 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter as the now backup quarterback Todd Boeckman hit Robiskie with a 31-yard touchdown pass. Minnesota added two late touchdowns to make the score more respectable, and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel wasn't pleased with what transpired as he cleared his bench.
"It was our goal to get a whole bunch of guys experience in the game, but I think we lost a little bit of our edge in the back half of the third quarter and some of the fourth,"
Tressel said. "We were ready to play this game and excited to start the Big Ten season. I thought we got a little sloppy, but our kids played hard and they understand that next week is step number two in the Big Ten."
