OSU, Wells clear a hurdle

COLUMBUS - Chris Wells cleared the first hurdle in his comeback from a foot injury when Ohio State opened its Big Ten football season with a 34-21 win over Minnesota on Saturday.

He cleared it spectacularly.

Ohio State's standout tailback, who had missed the last three games after being injured in the Buckeyes' opener, gained 106 yards on 14 carries and helped energize an offense that had struggled without him.

That wasn't the spectacular part, though. That came during a 21-yard gain late in the second quarter, when he hurdled over Minnesota safety Kyle Theret, who was on the ground in front of him.

Not bad for a guy who hadn't played in three weeks. Not bad for a guy whose right foot was still aching. Not bad for a guy who says he's probably still only 75 percent of full strength.

That leap had more to do with footwear than his foot, though, Wells said.

"I had on those big old cleats. I had on lineman cleats. I couldn't really make a move, so the only thing I could do was jump in the air," he said. "It was something that just happened at the moment. I had to get out of the way and I did that."

Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins got more excited about the play than Wells when he watched it from the sidelines.

"The first thing I thought, was ‘That's going to be on ESPN later.' It's good to see him back and making plays like that," Jenkins said.

No. 14 Ohio State (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) needed just a little more than three quarters to get Minnesota out of its way.

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 34-6 lead early in the fourth quarter before the Gophers (4-1, 0-1 Big Ten) scored twice late in the game to make it look closer than it was.

"I thought our kids came out and played hard. We were ready to play this football game," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "I thought we lost a little bit of our edge in the back half of the third quarter and some of the fourth."

Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. He was 8 of 13 for 70 yards passing and gained 97 yards on eight rushing plays. Pryor had a 33-yard touchdown run and another non-scoring play of 38 yards.

Todd Boeckman got into the game for two series and was 5 of 9 for 65 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie, who also caught a TD pass of eight yards from Pryor.

The Buckeyes rolled up 414 yards total offense, more than 100 yards better than they had done in any of the three games without Wells.

During the big tailback's absence, Ohio State's offensive line had come in for some criticism. But it got a conditional vote of confidence from Tressel after Saturday's game.

"From where I was, I thought it was solid," he said.

OSU's defense forced three turnovers, two of which set up points late in the first half that allowed the Buckeyes to break the game open.

After Donald Washington's interception with seven minutes left in the second quarter, Ohio State got a 44-yard field goal from Ryan Pretorious. Then after Anderson Russell's fumble recovery at Minnesota's 35-yard line, Robiskie's first touchdown catch of the day put OSU up 20-3 at halftime.

Tressel called the fumble recovery, followed by the touchdown, "huge."

Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said, "Football is about explosive plays and turnovers and Ohio State won both of those battles. That's why they won the football game."

The Gophers quarterback, Adam Weber (23 of 36 for 187 yards), said, "They were always a few steps ahead of us."

Wells' toe probably became the most famous toe in Ohio the last three weeks. Ohio State released little information about it, only increasing the curiosity about what was wrong and when he would return.

All the attention caught Wells off guard. "It was like a soap opera. I was shocked," he said.

"It's aching," he said about the foot. "I'm not 100 percent and actually I don't expect to be the rest of this season. It's something I'm going to have to work through and get better as the season goes on."

NOTES:

HOMAN SECOND IN TACKLES: Sophomore linebacker Ross Homan, of Coldwater, had 10 tackles. That was second on the Buckeyes to James Laurinaitis, who had 12. He also had a fumble recovery.

BURRIS GETS START: Kenton graduate D.J. Burris started at offensive guard for Minnesota.

ONE-SIDED SERIES: Ohio State has beaten Minnesota 22 of the last 23 times the two teams have played and has won 41 of the 48 games between the two.