Article published October 06, 2008 Buckeyes saved the last dance for Pryor
The Buckeyes also needed to weather several near disasters as freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor orchestrated the winning scoring drive against Wisconsin. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Jim Tressel will never be accused of being the 2008 version of Don Cornelius.
All the current Ohio State coach and the former host of Soul Train have in common is that they both wear wire-rimmed glasses.
But late on Saturday evening, Tressel found himself standing in front of a bunch of kids who were dancing their hearts out, a position where Cornelius made a pretty decent living for himself as the host of the popular dance show.
Late Saturday, instead of being distracted or intimidated by a stadium full of 80,000 fans at Wisconsin doing their traditional dancing to "Jump Around" at the start of the fourth quarter in a tense, tied game, the relaxed Buckeyes just danced along.
Locked in a 10-10 slugfest at the time, Ohio State maintained its cool and went on to win the crucial Big Ten game 20-17 by retaking the lead twice in the final period. The Buckeyes mounted the winning drive in that highly-charged atmosphere and scored with just over a minute left in the game.
NEW FRANK'S RANT
Ohio State senior linebacker James Laurinaitis said the Buckeyes expected to be in a wire-to- wire sumo match with the Badgers, but that the spontaneous dance on the sideline between quarters showed him that his team was relaxed and enjoying the moment.
"It's a tough place to play and the crowd there is something else, but it was a fun atmosphere," Laurinaitis said. "We saw the fans getting into the "Jump Around" tradition, and we saw the guys on our sideline jumping around, just kind of having fun with it. Things would go wrong, but the guys on the sideline weren't even fazed. We just kept fighting."
The Buckeyes (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) needed to go the full 15 rounds to hand Wisconsin its first home loss in its last 17 games played at Camp Randall Stadium. Ohio State took a 13-10 fourth quarter lead with just under 11 minutes left in the game on a 34-yard field goal by Ryan Pretorius, and then saw Wisconsin (3-2, 0-2) move right down the field for a touchdown and a 17-13 advantage with 6:31 to play.
Tressel credited his seniors with keeping the team on track as the momentum surged back and forth.
"You could see it in their eyes - they were saying we're gonna get this done, we're gonna be fine, we just gotta keep fighting," Tressel said. "If you're going to win a tough battle like this on the road, your older guys are going to have to stand in front with the shields, and they did."
The Buckeyes also needed to weather several near disasters as freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor orchestrated the winning scoring drive.
Pryor fumbled the ball near midfield and took a five-yard loss recovering his own drop early in the drive, and then after a 27-yard completion to Brian Hartline, the ball came loose again and Brian Robiskie was able to recover for the Buckeyes at the Wisconsin 35.
A short time later, Pryor took a sack for a four-yard loss to the Badgers' 28, but he hit Ray Small for a 13-yard completion before runs by Pryor and Chris "Beanie" Wells got the ball to the 11.
From there, Pryor ran the option against an ill-prepared Wisconsin defense and found a clear seam into the end zone. His winning touchdown runcame with just over a minute to play in the game.
"We were fortunate to be able to take it down on that last drive," Tressel said.
"Terrelle didn't have everything go his way, and they were going to make him do things with lots of people in his face but he kept hanging in there. We made enough mistakes to make it hard on ourselves but I'm awfully proud of the way we fought."
Laurinaitis said there wasn't any trepidation on the Ohio State sideline about having the freshman QB Pryor thrust into such a difficult situation.
"Terrelle just showed that he has great mental toughness. Things went wrong, and even on that last drive things went wrong, and as a young kid you can get frustrated," Laurinaitis said.
"But there's a reason why he's here at Ohio State and he proved that by leading the offense down there, and then putting it in the end zone."
Contact Matt Markey at: mmarkey@theblade.com or 419-724-6510. Permanent Link
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