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Pryor bounces back from loss to Penn State, delivers big game
By Nancy Armour
Associated Press
Published on Sunday, Nov 09, 2008
EVANSTON, ILL.: With Northwestern's defense coming at him on a third-and-16 and his receivers bottled up, Terrelle Pryor calmly stayed in the pocket, waiting, waiting and waiting for what seemed like minutes before finally letting fly for a 44-yard pass.
If anyone wondered how the freshman would rebound from the gut-wrenching loss to Penn State, that play on Ohio State's first possession was quite an answer.
The freshman phenom showed the savvy of a veteran Saturday, throwing for three touchdowns and turning several jams into big plays as No. 12 Ohio State routed Northwestern 45-10. Pryor got some help from Chris ''Beanie'' Wells (Garfield), who broke free for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
''I felt real comfortable today,'' said Pryor, who completed 9-of-14 passes for 197 yards. ''I have a lot more I want to accomplish and get better at. Keep progressing. Keep progressing.''
It was Ohio State's fourth victory in a row over Northwestern, and it delighted the sellout crowd that appeared to be two-thirds Buckeyes fans.
More important, the win keeps the Buckeyes' chances alive for a fourth consecutive Big Ten title. Ohio State (8-2, 5-1) needs to win out and get some help from Penn State and Michigan State, who play each other in the season finale.
Mike Kafka got another start for Northwestern (7-3, 3-3) with C.J. Bacher still nursing a hamstring injury. But Kafka couldn't duplicate his big day from last week, when he set a Big Ten quarterback record with 217 yards rushing. Kafka finished with 83 yards rushing and a touchdown, and was 18-of-27 passing for 177 yards, but the short-handed Wildcats were no match for the bigger, stronger Buckeyes.
''There's not a guy hanging his head in our locker room,'' Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said. ''We got what we deserved.''
At least this one was closer than the past three games, when Ohio State outscored Northwestern 160-24. And that was with Ohio State scoring after a fake punt in the fourth quarter and again with 7 seconds left.
''I've got nothing to say about that,'' Fitzgerald said, when asked whether the fourth-quarter scores were poor sportsmanship. ''We need to go out and play better for us to win, and we didn't do that.''
Pryor apologized to his teammates after the loss to Penn State, saying his mistakes cost them the game. His fumble set up Penn State's go-ahead touchdown, and the Nittany Lions sealed the victory with an interception. With last weekend's bye giving him an extra week to stew about the loss, some wondered how the freshman would recover.
Quite nicely, thank you.
''I was so down on myself,'' Pryor said. ''I needed this two-week break.''
Pryor was sacked once, but never came close to a turnover. Several times he found himself in spots that would have made most other quarterbacks throw the ball away or, worse, turn it over. He always managed to come up with the big play, particularly on third downs. The Buckeyes converted 8-of-13 chances on third down.
''That's what he can do,'' Wells said. ''The thing about Terrelle is that he's a guy that always wants to get better.''
Pryor's most impressive escape came on Ohio State's fifth scoring drive, when he was chased from his own 32 all the way back to about the 20 on third-and-8. Northwestern linebacker Quentin Davie even got a hand on him, but Pryor shrugged him off. After scrambling forward for a few yards, he lofted a pass to Brian Hartline down the sideline for a 46-yard gain, his longest throw of the day.
Three plays later, Pryor connected with Rory Nicol for a 6-yard touchdown that put Ohio State ahead 31-10.
''It was a windy day. It wasn't the easiest day to be throwing the ball around,'' Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. ''He did some good things. Every time he is out there, he is going to get better.''
Wells hasn't been as explosive as he was last year, missing three games with a foot injury, and he was held to just 55 yards in the loss to Penn State. But he broke loose in a big way against the Wildcats, matching his entire output against Penn State on one scoring run in the second quarter that turned the game in Ohio State's favor.
Taking the ball from Pryor, Wells ran into a pile at the line of scrimmage, but he found a hole, rumbled through it and had an open path to the end zone. Northwestern cornerback Jordan Mabin (Nordonia) finally caught up to Wells at about the 3-yard line and got a hand on the big back's shoulders. That had all the effectiveness of a gnat, as Wells brushed him off and continued into the end zone, doing a little hop over the goal line to give Ohio State a 14-7 lead.
''They hit me and I bounced back and I just kept my feet moving,'' Wells said. ''I kept the effort and I got a great outcome.''
OSU-Michigan at noon
Michigan (3-7, 2-4) and Ohio State will kick off at noon Nov. 22, the Big Ten Conference announced Saturday night.
ABC will televise the rivalry game to a national audience.
EVANSTON, ILL.: With Northwestern's defense coming at him on a third-and-16 and his receivers bottled up, Terrelle Pryor calmly stayed in the pocket, waiting, waiting and waiting for what seemed like minutes before finally letting fly for a 44-yard pass.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Hiram, GA
Posted 09:51 AM, 11/09/2008
Go Bucks!
Hiram, GA
Posted 09:52 AM, 11/09/2008
Go Bucks!
San Diego, CA
Posted 11:11 AM, 11/09/2008
Andre Ware, one of the announcers, complained about the fake punt and the touchdown run in the waning seconds. First of all, the fake punt was with about 11 or 12 minutes in the game and OSU up by 3 scores. That's perfectly legit. A team can score 3 times in that amount of time easily. The touchdown run was with the second string back, with the second string line on a play up the middle designed to get the game over. Northwestern quit on the play.
It's ironic that Ware would complain because his college coach, Jack Pardee, used to run up the scores regularly at Houston, with Ware passing the ball all of the time late in the game!
