Buckeyes bounce back in big way

By Doug Lesmerises

Cleveland Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS

Ohio State’s 49-0 dismantling of Purdue on Saturday was so effortless, it had to produce one obvious reaction among the Buckeyes and their fans.

What happened at Wisconsin last week?

“Obviously, I think Wisconsin is a little bit better [than Purdue],” Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor said, “but I think we should have beaten [the Badgers]. We walked in like we were going to beat them without a problem and we got a reality check. Nine out of 10 times, we beat Wisconsin, but on that one day when it all mattered, they beat us.”

The Buckeyes bounced back, avenging both the 31-18 loss to the Badgers and last year’s 26-18 upset at Purdue, while blasting to a 42-0 halftime lead and posting their first shutout of the season.

No. 10 Ohio State [7-1, 3-1 Big Ten] outgained the Boilermakers 489 yards to 118, but instead of gaining style points in jockeying for No. 1, they only repositioned themselves as they wait for lots of help in the national title picture.

“Obviously Wisconsin was better on that day. It’s hard to say if we played as well as did today if it would have been different,” senior defensive tackle Dexter Larimore said. “It’s something you can’t change, but you’d like to. You’d like to say, ‘Why don’t we replay that [Wisconsin] game?’ but that’s not reality. So the big thing is you’ve got to focus on what you can change. I think it was a building block for our team, and we learned a lot from it.

“I think it was something that affected the team, which was good to see. Champions are affected by losses. So now I think we’ll be a better team, and we’re going to be more ready for what’s to come.”

Next is a visit to 1-7 Minnesota, a bye week, and a home game with 4-3 Penn State before what looks like the next real test, at 6-2 Iowa on Nov. 20. The Hawkeyes lost to Wisconsin, 31-30, at home Saturday, so undefeated Michigan State controls the Big Ten race, with the Badgers and Buckeyes at 3-1 and the Hawkeyes and Purdue at 2-1. The Buckeyes remain at the edge of the larger national picture.

“A lot of things can happen and a lot of teams can get beat,” Pryor said, “so whoever’s in the other pool, just sit back and relax because I think it’s going to be a ride. The next five or six weeks will be crazy.”

This day at Ohio Stadium, by comparison, was rather dull. Ohio State grabbed the early momentum by the throat, taking a 21-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter.

“We didn’t make some of the errors that we’d made a week ago and our opponent didn’t make some of the plays that they’d made a week ago,” coach Jim Tressel said, “and we got ahead of them.”

Pryor threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns, to Dane Sanzenbacher, his only work during two series in the second half consisting of one pass that was intercepted. Dan Herron ran for 74 yards and two touchdowns as the Buckeyes picked up on the offensive balance they found during two second-half touchdown drives at Wisconsin.

“I think that played a big part in it,” Herron said. “We ran the ball pretty good in the second half [last week] and wanted to start that off in the first half today, just anyway we could put points up on the board and make something happen.”

The Boilermakers [4-3, 2-1] were overmatched and the Buckeyes were more than happy to overwhelm after watching a regular loop of last season’s loss to the Boilermakers on tape during the week. Offensive guard Justin Boren in no uncertain teams said the Buckeyes were angry.

“Losing last week was not something we took lightly,” Boren said. “I think it gives everyone confidence and we’ll just move forward.”