With a national record spring attendance of 95,722 fans in the Horseshoe on Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes demonstrated that they have the talent on offense to move the ball and score against one of the better defensive units in the country. With two first half touchdowns, one to Ray Small and one to Taurian Washington, Terrelle Pryor showed off a stronger arm, pocket presence, and touch that gives Ohio State confidence in an offense that struggled at times last year.
By Steve Patterson
An Early Field Creates a Lead
An early Joe Bauserman turnover lead the Gray squad to an Aaron Pettry field goal in the first period to get things started in Columbus on Saturday. The 2nd quarter of the annual Ohio State Spring Game featured a decent running game for the Scarlet but a missed field goal by Ben Buchanan kept the score 3-0 in favor of the Gray. Quarterbacks wore black jerseys in the first quarter to protect them from contact.
Pryor Makes two Great Plays
With the start of the 2nd quarter the quarterbacks were live and Tyler Moeller sacked Pryor for 13 yards on the first play the quarterbacks were live. With 2:30 minutes remaining in the half Pryor slung a pass downfield 44 yards to an open Taurian Washington in the end zone to put the Gray up 10-0. Covering Washington for the Scarlet was the first team starting corner back Chimdi Chekwa.
In the best trick play of the game Aaron Pettrey recovered his own on-sides kick after the long touchdown. Then with only 31 seconds remaining, Ray Small caught a pass from Pryor down the sideline, made two cuts to get by defenders, and sprinted into the end-zone. At the half, the Gray was up 17-0. One of the bright spots for the Scarlet was the play Tyler Moeller at linebacker who was all over the field and made consistent tackles play after play.
2nd Half
Brandon Saine had a nice run up the middle to start the 2nd half for the Gray putting them within range for a field goal. And Pettrey kicked the field goal for the Gray increasing their lead to 20-0. Devon Barkley for the Scarlet kicked a field goal shortly thereafter putting their first points on the board, 20-3. But the Scarlet could not contain the running backs for the Gray as Marcus Williams got loose in the secondary for a big run with Tyler Moeller catching him from behind within the 15. This lead to a Pettrey field goal from 23 yards away making the score 23-3.
Uneventful Finish
The 2nd half wasn't as exciting as the first with Pryor sitting on the sidelines and some fans heading back to their cookouts on campus. The Scarlet made one last attempt to score but Bauserman, who struggled most the day, was intercepted at the goal line with 2:30 left in the game. The good news is there were no Injures. The final score was 23-3 for the Gray. Coming into the match-up both sides seemed equally staffed with the Scarlet possibly having a better offensive line. But the great plays by Pryor to end the first half were too much for the Scarlet to overcome.