No. 1 Ohio State hung on — something it wasn’t able to do with the football.
The Buckeyes built a comfortable lead and then gave up two touchdowns off turnovers late in the third quarter but slipped past Michigan State 24-17 Saturday.
“When your foot is on that jugular, you have to kill that fool,” offensive tackle Kirk Barton said. “You don’t just back off, let him stand up and punch you a couple of times.”
The Buckeyes built their big lead on two touchdown passes by Todd Boeckman, the running of Chris Wells (221 yards, TD on 31 carries) and a bruising defense.
But in the span of four plays, it was 24-14 when Boeckman flipped a pass under pressure that Otis Wiley picked off and returned 54 yards for a TD. Three plays later, Boeckman was sacked by Jonal Saint-Dic and fumbled, with linebacker Sir Darean Adams scooping up the ball for a 25-yard run to make it 24-14.
“It’s disappointing when you’re going along and your defense is pitching a shutout and you give up 14 points,” coach Jim Tressel said. “I’m not happy that those 14 points count against our defense.”
On the defense
Penn State finally found a way to win on the road. Force turnovers, convert them into points and let a hefty defensive linemen charge toward the end zone.
The Nittany Lions recovered four second-half fumbles, turning three into short field goals and using the final one to run out the clock for a 36-31 victory.
Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis lost three fumbles in the final 22 minutes. He lost one when he didn’t tuck the ball cleanly and defensive end Maurice Evans ran smack into him for a sack. Lewis lost it again on the Hoosiers’ next offensive play when Evans grabbed him.
The 269-pound Evans scooped up the first one and ran 55 yards, without a shoe, to the Indiana 13 before being dragged down. He was teased by his teammates for failing to score.
“I was hearing about it as soon as I got to the sideline,” he said.
They’re still talking about …
James Hardy, Indiana’s 6-foot-7-inch receiver, who outjumped a Penn State defender in the fourth for a 7-yard TD catch that gave him a school record 31 in his career. Jade Butcher had the previous mark of 30, set in 1969. Hardy finished with 14 catches for 142 yards, two scores.
The number
6. In a 31-6 loss to Purdue, Iowa scored its fewest points against the Boilermakers since a 21-0 defeat in 1976.
Audible
“I think this is probably the worst of our losses, just morale-wise. … When you’re a Division I program and you’re in the Big Ten, you have to win these games.”
— Quarterback Adam Weber after Minnesota’s 27-21 loss to Division I-AA North Dakota State. The 1-7 Gophers will miss a bowl game for the first time since 2001.
