Pryor rallies Buckeyes past Badgers

MADISON, Wis. - It was the wrong choice for Wisconsin and exactly the choice Ohio State was looking for when it beat Wisconsin 20-17 on Saturday night.

OSU freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor was rolling to his left with just more than a minute to play in the game when he faked a pitchout to tailback Chris Wells.

Wisconsin safety Jay Valai had to make a choice in a split second. Did he go for Pryor or did he guess that he was going to pitch the ball to Wells?

Valai chose Wells. That opened a lane for Pryor, who sprinted 11 yards to the end zone for the game-winning touchdown with 1:08 to play.

Malcolm Jenkins' interception of Wisconsin quarterback Allan Evridge's pass at the Badgers' 27-yard line on their first play after OSU's score clinched the game for the Buckeyes.

"It was a tough football game. Wisconsin played its hearts out, Ohio State played its hearts out. It was a battle," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

Wells rushed 22 times for 168 yards, including a 54-yard run and a 33-yard touchdown run on Ohio State's first possession.

Pryor statistics were modest, but he came up big on the game-winning drive.

He hit 13 of 19 passes for 144 yards, with no passing touchdowns and an interception. He rushed 15 times for 20 yards.

But on Ohio State's game-winning 80-yard drive, which began with 6:26 to play, he hit Brian Hartline for passes of 27 yards and 19 yards before delivering the game-winning score.

"Terrelle didn't have everything go his way but he kept hanging in there," Tressel said. "Every snap he gets, he learns from. He was under duress tonight. They were going to make him do things with lots of people in his face."

No. 18 Wisconsin (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) took a 17-13 lead with 6:31 to play on a 2-yard run by P.J. Hill.

That brought back memories of the Badgers' 17-10 win over Ohio State in 2003 in Camp Randall Stadium, the last time the Buckeyes played at Camp Randall Stadium. But this time, Ohio State got the final word and broke Wisconsin's 16-game home winning streak. It was the first home loss of Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema's career as the Badgers' coach.

After trailing 10-7 at halftime, No. 14 Ohio State (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) drew even at 10-10 on a 21-yard field goal by Ryan Pretorius with 7:43 left in the third quarter. OSU went up 13-10 on a 34-yard field goal by Pretorius with 10:52 left in the game.

One of the keys to the win was that Ohio State's defense stepped up its game in the second half, allowing only 92 yards after giving up 236 in the first half. It was especially tough on Evridge, who was just 2 of 9 for 17 yards in the second half.

John Clay rushed for 69 yards on 10 carries and P.J. Hill had 16 carries for 63 yards. Evridge was 13 of 25 for 147 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

Ohio State made it look almost easy on its first possession of the game. The Buckeyes went 71 yards in six plays, the last 33 on a touchdown run by Chris Wells, in just over three minutes after the opening kickoff, to take a 7-0 lead.

The Buckeyes also moved the ball effectively on their second possession, but an interception by Wisconsin's Allen Langford at the Badgers' 4-yard line stopped that drive.

OSU got good field position again when Thaddeus Gibson stripped the ball from Wisconsin QB Evridge and Ross Homan recovered at the Badgers' 46-yard line on the first play of the second quarter.

But after that drive stalled, so did Ohio State's offense. And Wisconsin's offense, which had been dormant early, caught its second wind.

The biggest turnaround belonged to Evridge. After a 2-for-5 start in the first quarter for 18 yards, he hit 9 of 11 for 112 yards in the second quarter.

Wisconsin marched 91 yards on a 15-play, 8-minute drive to tie the game 7-7 with 4:35 to play on a 9-yard scoring pass from Evridge to tight end Mickey Turner.

Then, after recovering a fumble by OSU wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher, the Badgers got a 20-yard field goal from Philip Welch on the last play of the first half to go up 10-7.