Buckeyes win and worry

COLUMBUS - Ohio State's football players don't have to think about going to class for three more weeks, but they got an outside-the-classroom lesson about Sir Isaac Newton's principle that for every action there is a reaction during a 43-0 win over Youngstown State on Saturday.

For example ...

Action: Jumping out to a 26-0 halftime lead and dominating YSU. Reaction: Loud cheering.

Action: Inserting much-hyped and much-anticipated freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor into the game for his first college action late in the first quarter. Reaction: Loud cheering.

Action: Watching Heisman Trophy candidate, tailback Chris Wells, go down with a scary looking injury in the third quarter. Reaction: Silence in Ohio Stadium. Absolute silence.

Wells suffered a foot injury as he accelerated to take a handoff from quarterback Todd Boeckman with 7:14 left in the third quarter.

He left the sideline on a golf cart, but later walked back to the OSU bench, wearing a protective boot on his injured right foot.

X-rays were negative but the injury was still being diagnosed after the game, coach Jim Tressel said.

Looking ahead to this Saturday's game with Ohio University, Tressel said, "We simply follow what the doctors tell us to do. If he (Wells) can go, he can go. If he can practice, he can practice. If he can't practice, obviously we wouldn't use him."

Ohio State did what was expected in a match-up of a team with national championship hopes against an NCAA Division I-AA team.

The Buckeyes scored on all six of their possessions in the first half. They rolled up 495 yards total offense and held Youngstown State to 74 yards.

Boeckman was 14 of 19 for 187 yards and two touchdowns on a day when both his backups, Joe Bauserman and Pryor, played early and often.

Wells rushed for 111 yards on 13 carries and started the scoring for OSU with a 43-yard touchdown run before his injury.

Youngstown State's most successful drive against the Buckeyes' defense ended at Ohio State's 45-yard line.

Until Wells was hurt, the biggest concern about the OSU's performance was that maybe it could have finished some of those drives that ended in five field goals (four by Ryan Pretorius and a 54-yarder by Aaron Pettrey) with touchdowns instead.

Boeckman connected with Brian Robiskie for a 31-yard touchdown pass and threw a 25-yard scoring strike to freshman DeVier Posey. Maybe his best throw of the day was a 47-yarder to Brian Hartline, as Boeckman was being hit by a pass rusher in the first quarter.

Pryor got his first college touchdown with an 18-yard run in the fourth quarter and was 4 of 6 for 35 yards passing. He rushed for 52 yards on nine carries.

It was a solid beginning to a long journey for OSU.

"We know what we want to accomplish. Today was the first step toward reaching those goals and I think we did a good job," senior linebacker Marcus Freeman said.

Youngtown State coach Jon Heacock said, "This (Ohio State team) is one heck of a team that has a lot of great talent. We got tired. The defense was out there a lot. Our team was humbled today."

NOTES:

NICE STREAK: Ohio State has won 30 straight openers at home and is 103-12-4 overall in opening day games.

MORE STREAKS: Robiskie has caught a pass in 25 straight games and Hartline has caught one in 19 straight games.

A RARE SHUTOUT: Ohio State's shutout was its first since a 44-0 win over Minnesota in 2006. It was the third shutout in Tressel's eight seasons at OSU and the Buckeyes' first in a season opener since 1977.

TAKE A REST: Tressel often says the punt is the most important play in football, but A.J. Trapasso did not have to punt on Saturday. The last time Ohio State did not have to punt in a game was last season at Penn State.