Written by Dan Wismar

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Terrelle Pryor threw three first half touchdown passes and added 63 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground, and the Buckeye defense stifled Indiana's spread offense, as Ohio State won their 15th straight over the Hoosiers, and their 16th consecutive Big Ten road game on Saturday night in Bloomington, 33-14.

Brandon Saine got his first ever start as a Buckeye at tailback, and responded with 113 yards on 17 carries, doing most of his damage in the first quarter with 71 yards, as OSU ran out to an early 10-0 lead. The 24-7 OSU lead at halftime could easily have been larger had it not been for two missed field goal attempts from short range by Buckeye kicker Aaron Pettrey.

Pettrey connected on a 46-yard attempt to open the scoring for Ohio State, but later in the half hit the right upright on a 35-yard attempt and then hooked one wide left from 29 yards out to waste a good OSU drive.

The Hoosiers ran their spread, no-huddle offense throughout, but managed just one sustained drive in the game, starting after the first Pettrey miss, and moving 80 yards in eight plays to cut the Buckeye lead to 10-7 early in the second quarter, hitting on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Ben Chappell to Tandon Doss.

But Pryor and the Buckeyes struck back with a vengeance to snuff out any Hoosier momentum  with a lightning quick touchdown drive to push the lead back out to ten at 17-7. After Ray Small took a reverse handoff from Brandon Saine on the kickoff return and ran it out to the OSU 45-yard line, it took just three snaps for the Buckeyes to score again.

Pryor rushed for 14 yards on the first play, and then hit Dane Sanzenbacher for an 18-yard gain down to the Indiana 23. On their third straight first down play, Pryor fired a 23-yard laser to DeVier Posey on a post pattern for the touchdown, and the Hoosiers never got any closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Roadkill

The win over Indiana was Ohio State's 16th consecutive road victory in conference play, and gives the Buckeyes a shot at tying Michigan's Big Ten record of 17 straight in two weeks, when they travel to Purdue. But before that milestone can be achieved, a much tougher test awaits Tressel's troops when undefeated Wisconsin (5-0) comes calling at the Horseshoe this Saturday.

Spreading it Around

Pryor had a first half as good as any he has had thus far in his young OSU career, with the three TD passes and 75 rushing yards before intermission. He ran the option effectively, keeping the ball and turning it upfield several times for good yardage, and as he usually does, found open field after being flushed out of the pocket on designed pass plays.

He was less effective in the second half, missing on a couple of third down pass attempts over the middle with inaccurate throws, but he finished 16-27 passing for 153 yards and the three TD's.

Pryor found seven different receivers on his nine first half completions, and made it eight different Buckeyes with a reception when Lamaar Thomas caught a pass in the second half. Two true freshmen recorded their first touchdown catches as Buckeyes, as Duron Carter made a sweet catch on a quick slant from 5 yards out for the first OSU touchdown, and then fullback Zach Boren broke the ice on an 8-yard pass from Pryor to give the Bucks their 24-7 lead before halftime.

Scoreless Streak Ends

The shutout streak by the Buckeye defense ended at nine quarters when the Hoosiers scored early in the second, but after briefly appearing vulnerable to the spread and the 5-wide receiver sets of the Hoosiers, the Silver Bullets proceeded to blank Indiana for nearly three quarters, sacking Ben Chappell three times and recording a safety after a muffed snap on a punt attempt at the goal line.

The OSU defense forced Chappell to be near perfect as a passer by completely stuffing the Indiana running game, holding the Hoosiers to 36 yards rushing in the first half, and a meager 61 yards in the game. And Chappell wasn't even close to perfection, getting picked off twice by the swarming Buckeyes. After missing a couple of chances to expand on their 17-7 lead in the second quarter, Chappell gave them an extra chance with just over two minutes remaining when he deposited a short throw over the middle right in the gut of Buckeye defensive tackle Todd Denlinger, who rambled down to the Indiana 38-yard line, setting up the TD pass to Boren.

The defensive contributions came from a variety of sources, including a strong game by Rob Rose, who had 2 tackles for loss (a safety and a sack) and sacks by Austin Spitler and Nathan Williams. Anderson Russell had six tackles and a pick on an overthrown ball by Chappell, and Ross Homan returned to action after missing some time last week, and tied for the team lead with six total tackles.

Chappell finished the game 20 of 34 passing, for 210 yards and two touchdowns, the second one on the game's final play after a fumbled snap by the second team OSU offense gave Indiana the chance for their meaningless late score. Receiver Tandon Doss was the best Indiana player on the field, grabbing six balls for 96 yards and the first IU touchdown, and sharing kickoff return duties with Ray Fisher.

The kickoff return was the most effective Indiana play on this night, and the Buckeye offense made sure they had numerous opportunities to run it. Fisher and Doss averaged over 31 yards on five returns and just missed breaking a couple of them for longer gains.

Two Buckeyes sustained injuries in the game...defensive tackle Dexter Larimore suffered what appeared to be a knee sprain, but Tressel said after the game that it didn't appear to be serious. And tight end Jake Ballard left late in the first half with an undisclosed problem, and didn't play in the second half. 

Links:

OSU Official Game Stats