Wells’ ankle just fine
Any concerns about sophomore running back Chris “Beanie” Wells’ ankle were quickly erased Saturday when he broke off a 47-yard run on the second play of the game.
And his 36-yard scamper the following drive.
| Chris Wells rushed for a career-high 221 yards and one touchdown Saturday. |
Not to mention the time he reversed the field and turned a busted run play into a 27-yard first down to set up junior quarterback Todd Boeckman’s 50-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Brian Robiskie.
In fact, more concern should be directed toward his back rather than his ankle. Wells carried the team to its eighth win of the season after toting the ball 31 times for 221 yards. And with the Buckeyes up by just a touchdown with 3:37 left on the clock, he proceeded to pound the ball seven consecutive times to wipe away all three Michigan State time-outs and seal the victory.
“We knew for us to be a good team, we were going to need Beanie to be a warrior, a workhorse,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “That’s what he wants to be. That’s what we want him to be. We feel as if Mo (Wells) and Brandon (Saine) can also be a part of things, but we feel as if Beanie can be the guy that totes it in moments like that last couple drives, and our backs were against the wall a number of times, it seems like, when we started on the two and the four and the five or whatever.”
Tale of two halves
It’s a wonder what really happened in the Buckeye locker room at halftime, because the team that left it sure wasn’t the same as the one that entered.
The former held a 17-0 lead, holding the high-powered Spartan offense to just 74 yards. It had no fumbles and no interceptions. Boeckman was near perfect after completing his first 11 passes of the game, going into the half 12-for-16 for 125 yards. Factor in Well’s 112 yards on the ground and it was without a doubt a game of complete dominance.
Yet the team that took the field in the third quarter had a completely different persona. The ball suddenly had the makeup of a bar of soap. No one was able to apply a firm grasp on the pigskin – except for the Spartans, who returned both an interception and a fumble for touchdowns on consecutive Buckeye drives.
The only constant between the two halves was the play of Wells and the defense.
“Based on the second half, we obviously didn’t finish the way we wanted to,” senior tackle Kirk Barton said . “It’s hard to go out there with your family after a game like this, when you’re outclassing a team, and all of a sudden they come back because you give them a couple easy bunnies. Our defense has been lights out, as they have been in every game, and our offense was doing a couple stupid things.”
Three is magic number for Buckeye defense
Three yards.
That’s the total net yards surrendered to the Spartan running game in the second half, the same running game that was ranked eighth in the nation with 242.7 yards per game. In all the mayhem caused by the offensive blunders, it was the play of OSU’s defense that was overlooked and crushed the Spartan’s upset bid.
“I thought our guys came out, played (a) very, very solid first half and defensively I thought we played solid the whole game,” Tressel said. “Offensively, unfortunately, we gave away 14 points, which you can’t do if you want to be the Big Ten champions, but fortunately our defense is who they are today.”
The 17 points surrendered to the Spartans is also deceiving, as the defense only gave up three of the points. When the Spartans scored the other 14 points, it was the offense on the field.
The Spartans managed just 185 yards of total offense, nearly 300-yards less than its previous average of 467 a game. They were also sacked four times.
“I think we played well on defense, we did a lot of good things,” junior cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. “Offensively we’ve got to keep the ball in our hands, it put us in the hole kind of, made it a better game than it should have been. It’s a win, but every time you come out and win in the Big Ten, it’s a great win.”
Matt Gottfried can be reached at [email protected].
