Ohio State beats Minnesota, 38-7
October 24th, 2009 at 10:12 pm by Displaced Cleveland Fan
Maybe you noticed that I didn’t update following last week’s embarrassing loss to Purdue. That wasn’t just because they lost. It was a hectic weekend here, so I didn’t really feel motivated to post a reaction to the game.
What last week’s game did was end any shot the Buckeyes had to play for a national title. I know, it was a long shot. And with the way the offense has played the past few weeks, they didn’t deserve it. But they were at #7 going into last week’s match-up against the Boilermakers. This week, when the first BCS standings came out, Ohio State was at #19. No way they reach one of the top two spots.
But this team can still reach a BCS bowl. They still have games against Iowa (#6) and Penn State (#13). If they win these games, as well as their remaining games against New Mexico State and Michigan, they’ve got a shot. So all is not lost, especially if the offense plays as well as it did today.
So on to today’s game against Minnesota.
Everyone’s going to talk about the offense. But first, look at the defense. The Buckeyes defense is the reason why they’re 6-2 right now instead of 4-4. Today they held the Golden Gophers scoreless through the first three quarters. They picked up four sacks and forced four turnovers (2 INT’s, 2 fumbles). Another solid performance by the defense.
On the offensive side, the team’s problems have been primarily attributable to QB Terrelle Pryor. He’s still young, and sometimes doesn’t seem to be developing quite and fast as we would like. But he was much better in this game. Against Minnesota he was 13 for 25 passing for 239 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 104 yards and a touchdown. If he can keep progressing through this year, he could be very dangerous for opposing defenses next year.
The score of this game was not even close. Looking at the box score, it’s easy to see why. Ohio State dominated Minnesota today.
- Score: 38-7
- First downs: 27-17
- Rushing yards: 270-123
- Total yards: 509-286
- Turnovers: 1-4
Despite the lopsided win, don’t expect the #19 Buckeyes to move up more than 1-3 spots in the BCS standings. #10 Miami lost to unranked Clemson. #16 Brigham Young lost badly to #8 TCU. #18 Utah needed overtime to beat unranked Air Force. Any or all of those teams could fall below Ohio State when the new standings come out. Best case scenario, the Buckeyes will be #16 going into next week’s game against New Mexico State.
-dcf
Tags: Minnesota Golden Gophers, Ohio State Buckeyes, scores, Terrelle Pryor
