What They're Saying: Ohio State - Iowa Aftermath

Game Recaps

Ohio State 20, Iowa 17: Pryor sets up winning touchdown with a season-saving keeper | BuckeyeXtra
DeVier Posey lay on the Kinnick Stadium turf, having dropped maybe the surest potential touchdown pass he ever had. Just above him stood Brutus Buckeye. The mascot threw his hands up in resignation and shook his oversized head. It would now be fourth down with 4:02 left in the game, with Ohio State trailing Iowa by four. Brutus didn't even extend a hand to help Posey up. Good thing for the Buckeyes that they had more resilience.

On the next play, quarterback Terrelle Pryor ran 14 yards to convert the fourth-and-10. Three plays later, Dane Sanzenbacher made a leaping 24-yard catch to the 2-yard line. And two plays after that, Daniel Herron bulled into the end zone for the touchdown that enabled Ohio State to win 20-17. It was the Buckeyes' first fourth-quarter comeback win of the season, and it preserved their chances at winning at least a share of a sixth straight Big Ten title if they beat Michigan next week. "We fought like crazy and never gave up," coach Jim Tressel said. "The tide turned away from us a little, but those guys kept fighting. "But we were fortunate. Our guys played like crazy and didn't play perfect, but usually you're more fortunate when you keep fighting, and our guys never stopped."

Ohio State overcomes its mistakes and the Hawkeyes in 20-17 victory over Iowa | cleveland.com
Ohio State receiver DeVier Posey was lying on his back next to the end zone, Ohio State mascot Brutus Buckeye on his hands and knees beside him. Both were in shock. Maybe this was where Ohio State's season ended for all intents and purposes, what began with national title hopes 12 weeks earlier now fading away after the potential 50-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass at Kinnick Stadium slipped through Posey's hands with just over four minutes to play Saturday. Five straight Big Ten titles, five straight BCS bowls, perhaps that ended this year.

Ohio State fans were ready to check the ticket prices at Disney World for a potential Orlando jaunt to the Capital One Bowl. "I don't know, man, it's a play you run over 100 times and I caught a lot of deep balls in my career," Posey said. "That one just got away from me. It humbles you, something like that, and it happens to the best of us. ... My mind was in 300 different places at that time."

Fellow receivers Dane Sanzenbacher and Corey Brown came to check on Posey, he was sprawled out for so long. "I can feel for him being in that situation and my first thought wasn't go get another play," Sanzenbacher said. "We were making sure he was all right, because he's a huge part of our offense and we've got one more shot at this thing and we want him in the game ready for the next play."

Defense dominates Iowa late | BuckeyeXtra

After Iowa kept itself in the game for more than three quarters yesterday, the Ohio State defense, led by John Simon, finally responded in a 20-17 win. "We just knew it was going to be a war today; Iowa is a great team," said Simon, a sophomore defensive tackle. "We knew when the time comes, we were going to have to step up and handle the adversity, and I think we did a nice job." After the Buckeyes cut the Hawkeyes' lead to 17-13 with 7:38 to play, Simon had a sack on first down and then batted down an attempted screen pass. "Everyone did their jobs on that play to a 'T,' and we were able to get the offense the ball back," Simon said.

They forced a three-and-out that led to a punt and gave Ohio State the ball for its 76-yard winning touchdown drive. Then, when Iowa returned the ensuing kickoff to its 36, the defense responded again. On first down, safety Jermale Hines popped running back Adam Robinson so hard on a would-be screen pass that Robinson needed treatment before being helped off the field. On second down, Simon chased quarterback Ricky Stanzi out of the pocket, forcing a throwaway. On third down, Cameron Heyward worked free for a 12-yard sack. "It's about time," said the self-deprecating Heyward, whose season sack total is 2.5. "To get a sack like that is critical."

Big moment, crucial catch | BuckeyeXtra

Dane Sanzenbacher will testify that there is nothing like having a clear mind when a big catch is needed. And that's what the Ohio State receiver took into his moment in the spotlight yesterday in Kinnick Stadium. Maybe a shot at a sixth straight Big Ten championship was hanging in the balance, but Sanzenbacher smiled when asked whether anything like that was going through his mind as he leaped to catch a 24-yard pass from Terrelle Pryor that put Ohio State in position for the winning touchdown in a 20-17 victory over Iowa. "It's at a point where obviously we know it's a big point in the game, and from my perspective, if that ball is in the air close to me in that situation, I've got to go up and get it," Sanzenbacher said. "If the coaches trusted me enough to call the play, if (Pryor) trusted me enough to throw it up there, I've got to go try to do something."

Sanzenbacher landed with his left foot just inside the sideline, and it took a review by officials to confirm that Ohio State had earned a first down at the Iowa 2-yard line. Two plays later, running back Daniel Herron finished the 12-play, 76-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge behind fullback Zach Boren and the left side of the offensive line with 1:47 to play.

Editorials

When the game was on the line, Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor took matters onto his own feet: Bill Livingston | cleveland.com
On fourth-and-10 at midfield, the ball would go to the quarterback, and it would stay there. There was no place else in the world Terrelle Pryor wanted it. "I was going to run all the way," said Pryor, who made the play of Ohio State season's in a comeback 20-17 victory over Iowa Saturday. Run on fourth-and-10? This is a play with an order of difficulty that should rank between the rock and the hard place, or the devil and the deep blue sea, or slim and none. Surely, someone needed to rethink this in a timeout.

There was no stoppage, however, no matter how grave was the situation. Ohio State had to have a touchdown, down four points. Iowa had been so sharp with the ball all game, so OSU coach Jim Tressel gave no thought in the last four minutes to pinning the Hawkeyes back with a punt, playing defense, and then getting the ball back for one more shot. "We had no choice," Tressel said. This was the last shot. And Pryor was through passing the ammunition.

Close to the vest, Jim Tressel's decisions pay off for Buckeyes: On The Clock with Ohio State | cleveland.com
On the clock with the Buckeyes in a Big Ten showdown. 

4:17 p.m.: Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was conflicted. So he took the safe route. On fourth down from the Iowa 1, trailing, 7-0, early in the second quarter, Tressel called a timeout and then opted for an 18-yard field goal from Devin Barclay. "There was a lot of yelling at each other," Tressel said. "I thought it was important to get some points away from home against a good defense. And I think the fact that there was a little bit of divided opinions, I think when you have divided opinions you usually go on the side of conservatism. "That was the problem, I was divided. I'm allowed to do whatever I want. But I was back and forth. And it worked out that we needed those three." In a 20-17 win, the Buckeyes wouldn't have won without them.

Or the next three points from Barclay.

6:03 p.m.: This time Barclay didn't turn and run off the field. "We were still losing," Barclay said. "I'm not that out of it." A year ago, Barclay's 39-yard field goal in overtime against Iowa gave the Buckeyes a victory and set off a wild celebration as Barclay ripped off his helmet and led his teammates in a charge across the field. This time, his career-long 48-yarder may have only cut the Iowa lead to 17-13, but it might have been even more impressive in a bit of swirling wind at near the end of Barclay's range of comfort. "I was hitting good balls in warmups and I felt like it was a makeable kick," Barclay said. "The snap and hold were perfect all day, so I had plenty of confidence going in." The points turned out to be huge, especially since Iowa kicker Mike Meyer had missed a 40-yarder in the second quarter.

Bob Hunter commentary: It was a brilliant run by Pryor | BuckeyeXtra
It was one of those gloomy times when fourth-and-10 seemed like fourth-and-forever. Ohio State's championship season had just slipped through DeVier Posey's hands in the end zone. Terrelle Pryor had just jerked his helmet off and appeared seconds from doing his best impersonation of a hydrogen bomb. With the ball at midfield and Iowa leading 17-13 with 4:02 left in a game in which the Buckeyes offense had herked and jerked like an old pickup, what were their chances of making it on fourth-and-10?

If you're on the Ohio State side, this is one of those places where you're oh-so grateful that Pryor is your quarterback, because even if Pryor can make you crazy with his inconsistency, it's obvious he can do things almost no one else can. It was time for a little magic, but first coach Jim Tressel had to defuse the bomb. "I went to the sideline and Coach saw me," Pryor said. "Nothing against DeVier. He's one of my best friends and I love him to death, but when you see a drop I'm so competitive, I was mad at first and I went to the sideline, and Coach calmed me down. I had to jump back up and get everything right mentally and try to get the first down."

The operative word is "try." Remember, it's fourth-and-10. "You want to get him back with options," Tressel said. "You send five receivers out, so you have five options there, plus you have the option he may run it. That's about as many options as you can get for a fourth-and-10, and we had no choice."

Notebook: OSU spreads it around | BuckeyeXtra
Ohio State did not follow its usual offensive script yesterday, particularly for a November game on the road. In Ohio State's 20-17 win over Iowa, tailback Daniel Herron ended up with 20 carries, but that was a deceiving statistic. He carried the ball on the Buckeyes' final six plays, including four to run out the clock. For most of the game, the Buckeyes tried to spread the field.

The result was a diverse offense that featured more called runs for quarterback Terrelle Pryor (he finished with 15), and much less of OSU's typical late-season I-formation, tailback-heavy approach. "We moved people around a little bit different than we have," coach Jim Tressel said. "We wanted to get it to the tight end some and (throw it to) the backs. We wanted to make them tackle in space." Tressel calls games by feel at times, too. If Herron is effective, he'll keep getting the ball. But the Hawkeyes - who entered with the Big Ten's top-ranked run defense - limited Herron's space, particularly on cutbacks.