Sunday, November 21, 2010
Associated Press
IOWA CITY, Iowa
Fourth down, 10 yards and most likely the season was on the line for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes put the ball in Terrelle Pryor’s hands, and he used his legs to help them escape from Iowa with their Rose Bowl hopes intact for another week.
Dan Herron rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with 1:47 left and No. 8 Ohio State rallied to beat Iowa 20-17 on Saturday.
Pryor threw for 195 yards and a touchdown for the Buckeyes (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten), including a crucial 14-yard run on fourth down to keep the game-winning drive alive.
The win kept Ohio State tied with Wisconsin and Michigan State atop the Big Ten standings heading into next week’s showdown with rival Michigan in the Horseshoe. It also preserved the Buckeyes’ chances for at least a share of the Big Ten title for a record-tying sixth year in a row.
“I was going to run the whole time,” Pryor said. “I found running room, had some good blocking. I just cut it up and went and got the first.”
No. 21 Iowa (7-4, 4-3) went ahead 17-10 early in the fourth quarter on freshman Marcus Coker’s 1-yard TD run. But Devin Barclay’s 48-yard field goal brought the Buckeyes within 17-13, and Pryor engineered a 76-yard drive despite DeVier Posey’s drop of a sure TD pass.
Ricky Stanzi had 195 yards passing and a touchdown for the Hawkeyes, who’ve allowed a go-ahead winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of each of their defeats.
The game went to the fourth quarter tied at 10. The Buckeyes blinked first — then rallied behind Pryor for its 12th win in 13 tries over the Hawkeyes.
Pryor threw an errant ball over the middle that was tipped, picked off by Shaun Prater and returned to the Ohio State 27-yard line. Coker, in for a struggling Adam Robinson, followed a 26-yard run with a 1-yard plunge to put the Hawkeyes ahead 17-10 with 11:53 left.
Barclay pulled Ohio State within 17-13 with a 48-yarder with 7:38 left, and the Buckeyes forced the Hawkeyes into a quick three-and-out.
That’s when Pryor redeemed himself.
Posey, who had blown past the coverage, had the ball slip right through his hands with 4:02 left to set up 4th-and-10.
It could have been a crushing play for the Buckeyes, but Ohio State coach Jim Tressel took Pryor aside and got him focused after Posey’s frustrating drop.
Pryor scrambled 14 yards to pick up a first down the Buckeyes had to have, and five plays later Herron was in the end zone.
“Yeah, I was mad. But, I mean, we had a 4th-and-10 to get or we were going to lose another game. I hate losing with a passion,” Pryor said.
Pryor proved it, finding Dane Sanzenbacher for 24 yards to the Iowa 2 with 2:49 left, and Herron’s touchdown put the Buckeyes ahead for good.
Iowa’s all-time leading receiver, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (Cardinal Mooney), was held to two catches for 38 yards in his final game at Kinnick Stadium.