Ohio State Takes Care of Business

Two years ago, the No. 3 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes struggled against a pesky Ohio Bobcats squad and came away with a narrow victory in Columbus.

Fast forward to Saturday, and this time the 2 nd ranked Buckeyes took care of business with an impressive and dominating 43-7 victory.

Following last week’s bruising 36-24 victory over the Miami Hurricanes, OSU didn’t have a let down on their way to improving their record to 3-0.

Once again, it was the Buckeyes opportunistic defense and stud quarterback Terrelle Pryor leading them.

Pryor absolutely picked apart OU's defense completing 22 of 29 passes for 235 years, including a school-record 16 consecutive completions during a span in the game. Oh, and he ran for another 35 yards and a touchdown.

Setting up Pryor was the defense which forced five Bobcat turnovers supplying the Bucks offense with great field position.

On their second play from scrimmage, the OU coughed up the ball when quarterback Phil Bates' pass to the left sideline was tipped by Devon Torrence into arms of Tyler Moeller. Devin Barclay's 32-yard field goal made it 3-0 five plays later.

Ohio didn't pick up a first down on its next three possessions, either, and after the punts, the Buckeyes scored on Pryor's 9-yard pass to Brandon Saine, Pryor's 13-yard untouched scramble and another Barclay field goal.

Next came back-to-back turnovers, a Bates fumble recovered by Ross Homan and then a botched option pitch picked up by Cameron Heyward. In brisk succession came a 5-yard touchdown pass from Pryor to tight-end Jake Stoneburner and Boom Herron's 3-yard run increased the lead to 34-0.

Defensive end Cameron Heyward even provided points, tackling a ball-carrier in the end zone for a safety.

Coming into the game, the Buckeyes red zone production hasn’t necessarily been on point. However, Saturday’s game showed improvement in that regard.

A week after scoring touchdowns on just three of eight trips inside the opposing 20, the Buckeyes had five TDs and two field goals in seven trips.

Although the offense and defense put together another solid performance, the Buckeye special teams still continued to have difficulty at points giving up a 99-yard kickoff return to Julian Posey (called back for an illegal block), along with having a punt blocked.

Coach Jim Tressel is well aware that in order for the Buckeyes to have any aspirations of playing for a National Championship, the Scarlet and Grey will need to be sharp at all three facets of the game.

The track to that title game continues for the Buckeyes next Saturday as they welcome the Eastern Michigan Eagles into Columbus.

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