Ohio State 45, Northwestern 10
Refreshed and renewed
Buckeyes come off bye week to thump Wildcats
Saturday, November 8, 2008 3:05 PM
By
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
CRAIG HOLMAN | DISPATCH
Ohio State's Chris "Beanie" Wells won't be denied during a 55-yard TD run against Northwestern.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Two weeks after taking the blame for Ohio State's loss to Penn State, freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor took the reins at key moments today to lead the No.12 Buckeyes to a 45-10 victory over Northwestern.
He was a major part of OSU converting seven of 10 third-down conversions through three quarters, but it was a scrambling TD pass on a second down by Pryor that really made the point. It came late in the third quarter as he rolled right from the Northwestern 6-yard line and ran through two tackle attempts before spotting Rory Nicol crossing at the back of the end zone.
The second TD pass of the day by Pryor upped the OSU lead to 31-10 with 34 seconds left in the quarter and was the decisive blow in what had been a strange, late-morning, early afternoon game, offense-wise, for the Buckeyes.
For example, tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells netted negative-2 yards on his first six carries, but the sixth rush was a 2-yard plunge for a TD to cap the Buckeyes' opening possession. What helped was the 44-yard pass Pryor had thrown to Brian Hartline into a stiff wind in the cold, blustery conditions on a third-and-16 play.
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