Pryor living up to the hype for Buckeyes

COLUMBUS - With Purdue next on the schedule for Ohio State, one thing is very clear: The Terrelle Pryor Introductory Tour is going a whole lot better than the Joe Tiller Farewell Tour.

Pryor, the football Buckeyes' freshman quarterback, passed yet another test when he led a game-winning scoring drive in the final minutes of a 20-17 win at Wisconsin on Saturday night.

It was his first road start. And when challenged by a daunting atmosphere, by a teammate and even by coach Jim Tressel, he delivered big plays on the big drive and scored the winning touchdown himself on an 11-yard run with just over a minute to play.

Just before the Buckeyes' final drive began, coach Jim Tressel told Pryor, "All right, Terrelle. Big Drive."

Pryor took notice. "When Coach Tress says something like that, it's special," he said.

Tailback Chris Wells' words to the freshman quarterback were more dramatic.

"I told him this is a man's world and you're stepping into manhood," Wells said.

Pryor remembered another line at the end of Wells' challenge. "He said, ‘What are you going to be, a man or a kid?'"

The answer seemed apparent, but Pryor said he is still learning. "I grew up fast, but there is still a lot of proving to do," he said. "At various moments in the game, you could see I was young. I threw some young passes, I did some young things."

OSU (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) and Pryor will take on Purdue (2-3, 0-1 Big Ten) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Ohio Stadium in its next challenge.

The Boilermakers' coach Joe Tiller announced this would be his final season after last season.

So far, the farewell tour hasn't gone well for Tiller or his team.

During a 20-6 loss to Penn State over the weekend, Tiller pulled both his veteran quarterback Curtis Painter and place kicker Chris Summers and replaced them with younger players.

Painter, who has thrown for 1,225 yards this season, will keep his starting job even though his replacement Joey Elliot was on the field for Purdue's only touchdown against the Nittany Lions. Summers' demotion appears to be permanent.

Running back Kory Sheets leads Purdue in rushing with 498 yards on 93 carries. The Boilermakers have struggled to find a big-play receiver in their pass-heavy offense, though.

Greg Orton leads the team with 30 catches for 330 yards, but has scored only one touchdown. Desmond Tardy has 25 catches for 393 yards and has scored twice.

NOTES:

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME: If not for a quick reaction by Brian Robiskie to cover a fumble during Ohio State's game-winning drive, the Buckeyes might have been looking at their second loss of the season.

Five plays into the drive, Pryor hit Brian Hartline with a 27-yard pass down to Wisconsin's 35-yard line, but the junior wide receiver fumbled as he was going down. Robiskie fell on the ball just ahead of a Wisconsin defender.

"You have to give a lot of credit to Brian for catching the ball and trying to fight for some extra yardage. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Robiskie said. "As you look back, that could have been an ugly turning point for us."

HOMAN UPDATE: Coldwater's Ross Homan tied James Laurinaitis as Ohio State's leader in tackles with 10 against Wisconsin. He also recovered a fumble for the second straight game.

Wisconsin's power running game meant Homan played most of the game because Ohio State seldom had to use five defensive backs.

"We knew coming in it was going to be power football, nose to nose, toes to toes. We had to be more physical than them. It was a big challenge. It was an old-fashioned power football game," Homan said.

CONFIDENCE RESTORED: Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said Ohio State proved something to itself with the comeback win at Wisconsin.

"We got over the hump and now it's time to continue to rise. It proved a lot to us. We can look in the mirror now and know we can fight with the best teams and we can win a hard-fought game," he said.