Wells ignites Buckeyes past Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. - It might be a stretch to say a one-sided game had a turning point, but Chris Wells' 55-yard touchdown run early in Ohio State's 45-10 win over Northwestern on Saturday just might come close to qualifying.

Ohio State was coming off a 13-6 loss to Penn State in a game when its offense performed as if there were an invisible fence at the line of scrimmage, failing to score an offensive touchdown for the third time this season.

Saturday's game was tied 7-7 when Wells took a handoff and ran into what looked like half of Northwestern's defense before he'd taken more than a couple of steps.

But the Ohio State fans - who made up at least half the sellout crowd of 47,130 at Ryan Field - who looked away, sighed and thought, "More of the same," missed what came next.

Wells bounced off the pile of bodies, sprinted for the end zone and finished the run off with a trademark stiff-arm to shed the last defender with a shot at him.

That gave OSU a 14-7 lead a minute into the second quarter. It went on to build a 24-7 halftime lead, then added three second-half touchdowns for its 28^th win in its last 29 games against Northwestern.

The Wildcats (7-3, 3-3 Big Ten), playing without injured starting quarterback C.J. Bacher and without their top two tailbacks, couldn't keep up once No. 12 Ohio State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) got started.

Wells rushed for 140 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns and freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor threw for 197 yards and three touchdowns to lead an OSU offense that produced 441 yards.

"I think overall the offense did pretty good," Wells said. "Today could have been better. It wasn't a perfect day but it was a pretty darn good one."

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Wells' run gave his team a little extra confidence.

"It gives you a surge of confidence even if on a particular play you didn't block them that great. You scored the touchdown so you're happy," he said.

Ever since Pryor's fumble set up Penn State's go-ahead score two weeks ago, some people had wondered how he would bounce back from that first big dose of adversity at the college level.

He began to answer that question early when his 44-yard completion to Brian Hartline set up OSU's first touchdown, a 2-yard run by Wells just over four minutes into the game.

He finished the game with touchdown throws of 15 and 34 yards to Brian Robiskie and a 6-yarder to tight end Rory Nicol, on which Pryor eluded three would-be tacklers before delivering the ball.

"I think I progressed a lot. I felt real comfortable in the pocket even when they were sending blitzes," Pryor said. "I feel like I progressed from last week but there's a lot more I want to accomplish and get better at to help this team win."

Tressel said, "I thought Terrelle did some good things. It was a windy day, it wasn't the easiest day to throw the ball. Every time he gets out there he gets better."

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald was impressed with Pryor's performance.

"He's a very talented player. And that is what big-time players do in big games. They step up and make plays," he said.

"It won't break my heart if we don't play him again," he said, alluding to the fact that Pryor could be in the NFL by the next time Northwestern plays Ohio State in 2011.

Northwestern backup quarterback Mike Kafka threw for 177 yards and rushed for 83 yards on 29 carries after rushing for a Big Ten quarterbacks-record 217 yards against Minnesota last Saturday.

But after carrying 10 times for 35 yards and scoring Northwestern's only touchdown on its opening drive, he was not particularly effective. Part of that was that Ohio State knew he was not a threat to throw the ball downfield.

"We knew if he was in he was going to run the ball," OSU defensive back Anderson Russell said.

Ohio State sacked Kafka four times, two of them by freshman Nathan Williams, who got extra playing time because Thaddeus Gibson was experiencing soreness in a knee. The Buckeyes' defense also got an interception from James Laurinaitis and forced and recovered two fumbles.