Pryor, No. 2 Buckeyes bop Bobcats, 43-7

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Terrelle Pryor picked apart Ohio University's defense with a school-record 16 consecutive completions on Saturday and No. 2 Ohio State scored early and often to steamroll the Bobcats 43-7.

It was a walk in the park for the Buckeyes (3-0) after last week's bruising 36-24 win over then-No. 12 Miami.

The victory over the turnover-prone Bobcats (1-2) improved Ohio State to 41-0-1 since it last lost to another Ohio college, a 7-6 setback to Oberlin in 1921.

Pryor, who also ran for a touchdown, completed 22 of 29 passes for 235 yards and two scores with two interceptions. Dan Herron ran for two touchdowns and Ohio State's defense had five takeaways.

Two years ago, the Bobcats led 14-12 heading into the fourth quarter before the Buckeyes pulled out a 26-14 victory. But this game — with Ohio getting $850,000 to provide the opposition — was never in doubt after the Buckeyes racked up 17 points in each of the first two quarters.

On their second play from scrimmage, the Bobcats coughed up the ball when Phil Bates' pass to the left sideline was tipped by Devon Torrence to Tyler Moeller. Devin Barclay's 32-yard field goal made it 3-0 five plays later.

Ohio didn't pick up a first down on its next three possessions, either, and after the punts, the Buckeyes scored on Pryor's 9-yard pass to Brandon Saine, Pryor's 13-yard untouched scramble and another Barclay field goal.

Next came back-to-back turnovers, a Bates fumble recovered by Ross Homan and then a bobbled option pitch picked up by Cameron Heyward. In rapid succession came a 5-yard pass from Pryor to tight end Jake Stoneburner and Herron's 3-yard run to push the lead to 34-0.

In front of a crowd of 105,075, Pryor hit on 16 passes in a row — most of the receivers were lonesome they were so open — until he underthrew a wide-open Dane Sanzenbacher over the middle, with Hilton Dawson III tipping the ball away late in the half. The previous mark of 12 consecutive completions was set by Jim Karsatos in 1985 against Wisconsin.

A week after scoring touchdowns on just three of eight trips inside the opposing 20, the Buckeyes had five TDs and two field goals in seven trips. Defensive end Cameron Heyward even provided points, tackling a ball-carrier in the end zone for a safety.

Not everything was rosy for the Buckeyes, however. They continued to have difficulty on special teams — giving up a 99-yard kickoff return to Julian Posey (called back for an illegal block), along with having a punt blocked.

Pryor, who ran for 35 yards on 8 carries, also was picked off twice on looping, medium-length passes over the middle, both intercepted by Donovan Fletcher.

The Bobcats didn't get on the board until an 11-yard pass from Boo Jackson to Terrence McCrae midway through the fourth quarter. Jackson had been at quarterback two years ago when the Bobcats had given the Buckeyes a game.