(Story updated with notes and quotes.) OSU quarterback Terrelle Pryor threw for a touchdown and ran for one and Beanie Wells added two TD runs as the 12th-ranked Buckeyes routed host Michigan State 45-7. The win allows OSU to remain in at least a tie for the Big Ten lead with next week's night-game showdown with Penn State at Ohio Stadium.
So the stage is set.
And Ohio State, in week eight of the college football season, finally put its best foot forward.
The 12th-ranked Buckeyes jumped on host Michigan State for a 21-0 first-quarter lead on its way to a 45-7 rout of the 20th-rated Spartans before 77,360 Saturday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.
The win keeps Ohio State (7-1, 4-0) in a tie for first place in the Big Ten and sets the stage for quite a showdown next Saturday night as Ohio State hosts No. 3-ranked and unbeaten Penn State.
“Our kids came out playing hard,” said OSU coach Jim Tressel, whose Buckeyes won the turnover battle 5-0. “They played really physical. They were flying around and we knew it was going to be a physical game. We had the ball bounce our way a couple of times.
“We always say that if you’re going to win on the road you better win the turnover margin and be solid in your kicking game and be able to run the ball a little bit. I think we did the things we are always talking about wanting to do.”
Quarterback Terrelle Pryor enjoyed his biggest game as OSU’s starting quarterback. The freshman ran for 72 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. And he completed 7 of 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. He improved to 5-0 as OSU’s starter.
There was much speculation about the quarterback position after the way OSU’s offense sputtered with just 222 yards total offense and no touchdowns in last week’s lackluster 16-3 win over Purdue. Tressel revealed that Pryor asked him Friday to bench him if he had problems against MSU.
“I was dead serious,” Pryor said. “I told him, ‘Give me the ball in the first half and if I don’t move it, you better sit me down and put Todd (Boeckman) in.’ He said, ‘TP, I believe in you. You’ll do fine as long as you don’t turn the ball over.’ I needed that challenge because if I don’t do great, I’ll just be sitting down. Todd’s a great quarterback, too. He can move the ball.”
Tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells added 140 yards on 31 carries with two touchdowns.
“This was about people’s will and determination to get better and prove people wrong,” Wells said. “Guys are going out there to give it their all. When we’re playing out there with top level competition and you know what’s on the line, we can do it.”
It was obvious that OSU was going to make Michigan State stop the run. The Buckeyes ended up with 216 yards on the ground.
"We needed Beanie to pound it up in there," Tressel said. "They do such a good job of bringing pressure when they know you're passing. We didn't want to be in third-and-long a whole bunch. We needed for Beanie to keep his shoulders square. He had 140? Good for him."
Wide receivers Brian Hartline (one catch, 56 yards) and Brian Robiskie (two catches, 10 yards, one touchdown) and fullback Brandon Smith (three catches, 37 yards) each made big plays in the passing game for the Buckeyes.
“From what we did today, I think we definitely took a step forward,” Robiskie said. “I don’t know if we can say this is where we want to be. We listened to our coaches all week with what they wanted us to do. For us to come out here and do it, it says a lot about the progress we’re making.”
Ohio State came into the game 111th in red zone touchdowns with just eight TDs in 20 trips inside the 20-yard line. But in this game, OSU was inside the 20 four times and scored touchdowns each time.
When told his team scored all four time in the red zone, Tressel said, "We did? Hallelujah! Some things went our way today. We did some good things. We made some things go our way, but the ball bounced a little bit our way. We've got to get better. If we walk out of here thinking, 'Oh, boy, we're wonderful,' that team coming in next week is pretty good now."
The OSU defense did a number on the Spartans (6-2, 3-1) and standout running back Javon Ringer. Ringer, a graduate of Dayton Chaminade-Julienne, came into the game second nationally in rushing yards per game at 158.9 yards per game and as the nation’s leader with 14 touchdowns. He was held to 67 yards on 16 carries.
“We put a lot of emphasis on trying to stop Javon,” said OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis, who led the Buckeyes with 11 tackles and 1-1/2 sacks. “We knew he was a great player and a great runner. We just made some plays and got some bounces. Our D-line has been growing and they had another great performance today.”
Tressel added, "We were able to keep him from going crazy, which he does so often."
OSU cornerback Donald Washington, who had a big fumble return to set up an OSU touchdown, said the Buckeyes were motivated by alleged comments from Ringer on ESPN’s College Game Day show earlier on Saturday. Ringer supposedly told ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit that he hoped the Spartans would beat Ohio State “by four or five touchdowns.”
“I didn’t hear him say it, but we had heard and it was announced that … it was kind of like bulletin board material,” Washington said. “Anytime anybody says what they’re going to do to your defense, we kind of took that to heart. That gave us more motivation. If they’re going to beat us by four touchdowns, that means they’re going to score all over our defense.
“We take pride in holding teams to not scoring a lot.”
MSU quarterback Brian Hoyer also struggled, completing 5 of 13 passes for 27 yards with an interception. He missed part of the second half due to an injury. Backup Kirk Cousins was 18 of 25 passing for 161 yards with one touchdown and an interception. He lost a fumble, which OSU’s Thaddeus Gibson returned 69 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
That was one of two defensive touchdowns for the Buckeyes. Safety Jermale Hines returned a fumble 48 yards for a score with 15 seconds left in the game. OSU amassed 160 yards in fumble returns over the course of the game.
“It was obviously not a very good game today,” said MSU coach Mark Dantonio, a former OSU assistant under Tressel. “We had an inability to tackle, we had turnovers and we lost a very good opportunity, I think, to make an impact on this country. The most important thing to me is how we’re going to refocus and play next week.”
As It Happened
Ohio State had the ball to open the game and things did not look well when return man Lamaar Thomas fumbled the kick and OSU opened on its own 8-yard line. But on second-and-9 from the OSU 9, Pryor executed a fake and rolled around left end for a 32 yard gain at the OSU 41. The drive stalled out, but OSU was able to back Penn State up to its own 20 after A.J. Trapasso’s 53-yard punt went into the end zone for a touchback.
On the ensuing possession, Hoyer tried to hit Ringer with a third-down dump pass. But OSU defensive tackle Dexter Larimore sniffed out the play, forcing an MSU punt. OSU’s Ray Small returned the punt 9 yards to the MSU 47.
The Buckeyes needed four plays to find the end zone. After a false start penalty, Wells went left and then reversed his field, picked up a block from Pryor and got a 20-yard gain down to the MSU 32. Two plays later, Pryor threw to DeVier Posey in the right flat for a 13-yard gain down to the 18. On first down there, Pryor faked a give to Wells and nearly every MSU defender bought the fake. He rolled around left end, eluded the only MSU defender in the area and cruised for the 18-yard touchdown that put the Buckeyes up 7-0 with 8:25 left in the first quarter.
“When he hits the edge, you know he can run,” Dantonio said. “They got blockers up on us, the defensive end didn’t take the guy the first time. He should have stayed square. We had a guy in position to make the play and he didn’t make the play.”
On MSU’s ensuing series, Hoyer threw a lateral to Keshawn Martin on a bubble screen. Martin had first-down yardage to the OSU 39. But OSU safety Kurt Coleman, who slipped on the catch, recovered and knocked the ball out from Martin. OSU’s Washington caught the fumble on a bounce and rolled 44 yards the other way before Hoyer and MSU’s Charlie Gantt dragged him out of bounds at the MSU 17 with 7:08 left in the first quarter.
“I saw Kurt slip and I saw him get back up,” Washington said. “I saw him wrap the guy up. Next thing I know, the ball is just bouncing around in front of me. It just happened so quick.”
The Buckeyes needed five plays to find the end zone. Two Wells runs netted 11 yards and put the ball at the 6. He appeared to score on first down there, but OSU linemen Steve Rehring and Michael Brewster were flagged for an illegal chop block. That backed OSU back to the 21. Pryor got 11 yards of it back with a first-down gallop. Pryor then found Robiskie for a 3-yard pass play.
Finally, on third-and-goal at the 7, Pryor faked a give and rolled to his right. He stayed alive and tossed the ball over the defense to a wide open Robiskie in the end zone for the 7-yard touchdown that made it 14-0 with 4:33 left in the first quarter.
“Terrelle rolled out to the right,” Robiskie said. “It was a designed rollout. Normally, I am a little later in the progression. But because of how they played it, he was able to find me in the back of the end zone.”
MSU then went three-and-out on the next series. Again, a third-down dump pass from Hoyer to Ringer was snuffed out by corner Malcolm Jenkins and defensive tackle Nader Abdallah for a 4-yard loss. Small’s ensuing 19-yard punt return gave OSU possession at the OSU 43 with 3:00 left in the first quarter.
On first down there, Pryor stood in under blitz pressure and heaved the ball deep to Hartline. He went up over MSU’s Otis Wiley and hauled in the pass at the 25. He then bounced off MSU’s Danny Fortener and was on his way toward the end zone until MSU’s Chris L. Rucker recovered and made a shoestring tackle at the MSU 1. The play was originally ruled a touchdown, but upon review the ball was placed at the 1. Still, it was a 56-yard pass play.
“It was kind of like a shock kind of thing,” Hartline said. “You go up in the air against two guys and you think you’re going to go down. They must have been going for the ball because I came down on my feet and I was like, ‘Oh, man, it’s time to run.’ I tried my best to get it in the end zone, but I guess it wasn’t in the cards.
“Terrelle did a good job there. They brought a corner blitz that Beanie picked up. I was one-on-one with the safety and he threw it to me. It was a fun play.”
On first down at the 1, OSU went with the Jumbo package with tight ends Rory Nicol and Jake Ballard and fullback Smith all in the game together. Wells took the give and plowed in behind right guard for the 1-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead with 2:44 left in the first quarter.
Michigan State missed a huge opportunity late in the first quarter as Small was hit on a punt return inside the OSU 10 and fumbled. It appeared that several Spartans were in position to recover, but backup linebacker Austin Spitler – playing his first game in several weeks due to injury – somehow recovered it for the Buckeyes at the OSU 3. The Buckeyes got a first down and punted the ball away, giving the Spartans the ball on their own 39. But MSU went three-and-out and could not capitalize on the good field position.
And, to make matters worse, the Buckeyes extended the lead with a nine-play, 77-yard scoring march to go up 28-0. Pryor converted a third down with a 7-yard run where he rolled over MSU corner Jeremy Ware. Wells ripped off a 25-yard gain around left end before Pryor hit fullback Smith with pass back across the gain for 20 yards and a first down at the MSU 12.
On third-and-10 from the 12, Wells took a delayed handoff on a draw. OSU left tackle Alex Boone sealed off the edge and Brewster sealed off the middle. Wells barreled through the gigantic lane and stiff-armed MSU’s Fortener on his way into the end zone for the 12-yard touchdown that put the Buckeyes up 28-0 with 6:34 left in the half.
OSU had one more chance before the break when Coleman intercepted a pass near midfield with 1:02 left. But Pryor lost 12 yards on a pair of runs and the Buckeyes let the first-half clock elapse.
That capped a first 30 minutes where the Buckeyes had 274 yards and 12 first downs to 60 yards and three first downs for the host Spartans.
Michigan State finally got on the board to open the second half. Cousins replaced the injured Hoyer, who suffered a hand injury late in the first half. He directed an eight-play, 85-yard scoring march. He hit B.J. Cunningham for a 17-yard gain and Mark Dell for 32 more. A pass interference penalty on OSU’s Chimdi Chekwa moved the ball to the 2. On second-and-goal from the 3, Cousins hit Gantt for the 3-yard touchdown. MSU had trimmed the lead to 28-7 with 10:51 left in the third quarter.
Ohio State extended its lead with a defensive touchdown early in the fourth quarter. On third-and-11 from the OSU 23, Cousins dropped to throw and was blitzed by Jenkins who knocked the ball loose. Gibson recovered the fumble and rolled 69 yards the other way for a touchdown and a 35-7 lead with 14:41 left in the game.
“I was going inside and Malcolm (blitzed) on top of me,” Gibson said. “Once I saw the ball, I just grabbed it and started running for my life. It was the greatest feeling ever.”
OSU’s Aaron Pettrey tacked on a 40-yard field goal for a 38-7 lead with 5:27 left in the game.
The final touchdown came as Cousins hit Blair White with a pass. But he was popped by OSU’s Devon Torrence and fumbled. Hines snapped up the loose ball and rolled 48 yards the other way for the touchdown and a 45-7 lead with 15 seconds left.
Also Notable * Wells went over the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this season and the 13th time in his career.
In three career games with the Spartans, Wells has run for 414 yards on 74 carries with four touchdowns.
* Laurinaitis, who led OSU with 11 tackles and 1-1/2 sacks, now has 32 tackles and 3-1/2 sacks all-time against MSU.
* Coleman recorded his third interception of the season. Brian Rolle had his first career interception on the game’s final play.
* With starting defensive end Lawrence Wilson out for the season with a knew injury, junior Robert Rose made his first start of the season in his place. Larimore made his third start of the year at defensive tackle.
* Dantonio is now 0-4 as a head coach against Tressel. Dantonio spent three years (2004-06) as the head coach at Cincinnati before moving on to MSU last year. He made his head coaching debut in 2004 against OSU, which downed Cincinnati 27-6. In 2006, OSU defeated Cincinnati 37-7. Last year, OSU prevailed over Dantonio’s first MSU team 24-17.
Tressel said he empathized with his friend and former colleague.
“I don’t like the fact that we got that (touchdown) near the end,” Tressel said. “There is no question that he’s doing what needs to be done at Michigan State. I know he’s going to come back. They have their arch-rival (Michigan) next weekend and they will be ready to go.”
The loss was the worst by margin in Dantonio’s tenure at MSU. His Spartans had not lost a game by more than seven points last year or this season.
* Tressel's record with the Buckeyes now is 80-17 (.824) and his career record is 215-74-2. Tressel's 215 wins are the third-most among active FBS coaches, just ahead of Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer with 214 entering Saturday.
Tressel is the fastest Ohio State coach to reach 80 wins.
* Ohio State now leads the all-time series 27-12, including 13-5 in East Lansing. OSU has won the last seven games in the series, dating to a 1999 loss (23-7) in East Lansing.
* Under Tressel, the Buckeyes have now compiled a conference record of 49-11 (.817). That includes a mark of 23-7 (.767) in conference road games.
* OSU is now 126-101-2 all-time against ranked opponents, including 38-40-7 when on the road against a ranked team. Under Tressel, OSU is 32-10 against ranked foes, including 11-5 on the road against ranked teams.
* MSU has now lost its last nine games against ranked teams. That mark includes an 0-4 record under Dantonio against ranked teams.
In games where OSU and MSU were both ranked, OSU now leads the series 9-4. The last time that happened was in 2005, when No. 15 OSU rallied for a 35-24 win over No. 16 MSU in Columbus.
* The 6-1 start was the best for Michigan State since it opened 7-1 in 2003. This was only the third time since 1967 where MSU has won six of its first seven games.
* Ohio State hosts Penn State next Saturday in just the eighth-ever night game at Ohio Stadium. OSU is 6-1 in previous home night games with the lone loss to Texas in 2005. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series with PSU 12-11, including 7-0 against the Lions in Ohio Stadium since they joined the Big Ten in 1993.
“It’s a big game,” Tressel said. “We’re all going to be wired up. It’s going to be an exciting situation.”
* Here are video highlights of the game (courtesy of ESPN and produced by ScoutingOhio.com):
http://scoutingoh.com/Bucknuts_2008_OSU_MSU_Highlights.htm
* Here is our photo gallery of OSU-MSU:
http://www.bucknuts.com/news/articles/2008/10/18/ohio-state-michigan-state-photo-gallery
