No. 2 Ohio State Defeats Ohio, 43-7 – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Video: Highlights | Head Coach Jim Tressel | Ohio State Players
Audio: Ohio Head Coach Frank Solich
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.
