Illini are in rearview mirror; Buckeyes look to Michigan

By KEN GORDON

Ohio State had its best ground production in more than three years en route to a 30-20 victory over Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — One man stood between Terrelle Pryor and daylight, so he stiff-armed him out of the way and scampered to freedom.

Never mind that the recipient of Pryor’s shove was Brian Robiskie, an Ohio State teammate. Robiskie is a receiver, which means that on this cold, blustery day on the Great Plains, he was purely decorative.

“I said, ‘Man, my bad, I’m just trying to make a play and you were in the way,’ ” Pryor said he told Robiskie afterward.

Pryor and Chris “Beanie” Wells both cracked the 100-yard rushing barrier as the Buckeyes had their biggest ground game in more than three years en route to a cleansing 30-20 win over Illinois in Memorial Stadium.

The victory was redemption for an Illini upset of then-top-ranked OSU a year ago, and ensured that the 10th-ranked Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten) can clinch a share of the Big Ten title next week with a win over 3-8 Michigan.

And if Michigan State beats Penn State, OSU would head to the Rose Bowl.

“As soon as we got back to the locker room, there was no [bowl] talk, no Big Ten championship talk, it’s all about Ohio State and Michigan,” receiver Brian Hartline said.

In getting to that point, the Buckeyes went leather-helmet era on the reeling Illini (5-6, 3-4). They attempted only 10 passes, including three after the first play of the second quarter.

Once OSU took a 16-7 lead, it was all trains and no planes for the Buckeyes.

A lot of that was because the game-time temperature was 40 degrees, with an 18 mph breeze that gusted up to 25, making the wind chill 32.

“You knew that you would have a lot better chance at winning if you were able to run today,” OSU coach Jim Tressel said. “You could pass it some, but you better try not to make a living on that. You didn’t want do anything to stop the clock, and incompletions stop the clock.”

In that sense, then, the Buckeyes were a resounding success. Pryor was 6-of-10 passing for 49 yards and a TD. So out of 62 offensive plays, OSU had just four clock-stoppers, er, incompletions.

OSU rushed for 305 yards, the most since racking up 317 on Nov. 12, 2005, against Northwestern. Wells had 143 yards on 24 carries — including a spectacular full-speed leap over safety Donsay Hardeman — and Pryor added a career-high 110 on 13 carries.

The Buckeyes put themselves in ideal position to execute their game plan by quickly turning a 7-7 tie into a 16-7 lead.

OSU cornerback Malcolm Jenkins blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety and the Buckeyes converted the ensuing free kick into a 43-yard drive, capped by Wells’ 3-yard TD run.

From there, OSU survived a slew of big plays by the Illini, who actually outgained the Buckeyes, 455 total yards to 354. Illinois recorded 20 plays of 10 yards or longer, by eight different players.

The difference was turnovers. Quarterback Juice Williams threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 48 yards, but he lost a fumble and was intercepted once.