No. 17 Ohio St. rips New Mexico St. 45-0
October 31, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—Ohio State needed a tuneup. New Mexico State needed$850,000.
Both got what they wanted Saturday, when Dane Sanzenbacher caught twotouchdown passes and Terrelle Pryor threw for one and ran for another in the No.17 Buckeyes’ 45-0 victory.
The game was a respite for Ohio State (7-2), which closes the regular seasonwith pivotal Big Ten games at Penn State, against Iowa and at Michigan.Tempering the win was the possible loss of kicker Aaron Pettrey, who left withan apparent knee injury.
New Mexico State (3-6), last among all Bowl Subdivision teams in totaloffense, mustered 62 yards total against the 13th-best defense. To compound theproblems, the defensive front for the 44-point underdogs was outweighed byalmost 50 pounds by the Buckeyes’ offensive line.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, frequently criticized for hisultraconservative play-calling, had his team onside kick after its firsttouchdown and later called a double-reverse wide receiver pass that resulted inDeVier Posey’s 39-yard touchdown hookup with Sanzenbacher.
Pryor, who didn’t play in the second half, completed 11 of 23 passes for 135yards. The sophomore quarterback also ran for 83 yards on nine carries, scoringon an 8-yard run before taking off his pads and watching the rest of the gamefrom the sideline.
The Buckeyes poured it on in the third quarter, when Brian Rolle fell on amuffed Aggie snap that bounced into the end zone and Dan Herron rumbled 53 yardsthrough a hole as wide as the hash marks.
Ohio State got off to a slow start offensively but had more than enoughfirepower for a 28-point second quarter that put the game out of reach.
On the first play of the period, Pryor took a shotgun snap and sprintedthrough a gaping hole at right tackle, going untouched.
Pettrey kicked onside on the ensuing kickoff and was all alone in the middleof the field, waiting for the ball to go the required 10 yards, before fallingon it. A pass interference call—even though Pryor overthrew Posey by severalyards in the end zone—helped set up his scoring strike to Sanzenbacher.
After the teams traded three turnovers in the span of six plays, Pettreybadly missed his second 52-yard field goal attempt of the half. The Buckeyeswere only 1 of 5 on field goals and also had a bad punting day.
Pryor then pitched the ball to Herron, who pitched back to the left-handedPosey, who set his feet and threw a 40-yard spiral to Sanzenbacher for a 21-0lead.
Pettrey kicked the extra point and was covering the ensuing kickoff when hewas blocked on his right knee and lay for several minutes on the field. He washelped off and spent the next few minutes on an observation table behind theOhio State bench. He later stood on the sidelines in a warmup suit withoutcrutches.
Backup kicker Ben Buchanan didn’t dress after suffering from an illness allweek. Third-stringer Devin Barclay added the point-after after another passinterference call led to Brandon Saine’s 3-yard TD run with just under a minuteleft in the half.
It was the first time in three years that Ohio State scored 28 points in aquarter.