Pete Alpern
and Tim Gebhardt
The Chronicle-Telegram
COLUMBUS — Chris Wells lowered his shoulder and continued to drive, without feeling the faintest hint of fatigue.
Late in the fourth quarter, no one would have blamed Wells if he was lacking some of his usual spark. The sophomore back had easily eclipsed his high for carries in a game. And he had long passed his high for yardage.
Still, Wells kept moving the pile — and the chains. He had his best performance at Ohio State during Saturday’s 24-17 victory over Michigan State, logging 31 carries for 221 yards.
“I felt so strong at that point,” he said. “I felt like I could have carried the ball another 30 times. I feel great now — but it’ll hit me tomorrow.”
Wells provided his strongest evidence yet that he can be a workhorse back. Late in the fourth quarter, when the Spartans closed to within one possession of tying the Buckeyes, coach Jim Tressel called seven consecutive running plays for Wells. He moved the football 36 yards, forcing the Spartans to exhaust their remaining two timeouts, as time ran out.
“We knew that for us to be a good team, we were going to need Beanie to be a warrior — a workhorse,” said Tressel. “We feel as if Beanie can be the guy that totes it in moment like that last drive. Our backs were against the wall and he had some big runs for us.”
Wells wasted little time in establishing his presence. On Ohio State’s second offensive play of the game, he burst 47 yards down the sideline to set up the Buckeyes’ first touchdown.
When faced with a 4th-and-1 late in the second quarter inside the red zone, Wells ran off-tackle, brushed off two defenders and dove into the end zone for a 5-yard score.
“It’s nice because on this team I don’t have to carry the load,” said Wells. “The offensive line just opened the holes and I ran through them. It makes it easy.”

Heisman connection

Last week’s record-setting punt return of 90 yards by Brian Hartline broke the previous mark set by Robert Demmel against Iowa during the 1950 season. Demmel returned a punt 87 yards during OSU’s 83-21 romp.
It was that game that established Elyria High grad Vic Janowicz’s credentials for the Heisman Trophy. Janowicz returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown along with sending two kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, recovering two fumbles on defense, ran and threw for touchdowns and kicked three extra points in the first five minutes of the game.
For the game, Janowicz finished with two rushing touchdowns and passed for four others — including two to EHS classmate Tony Curcillo. It’s been called the greatest individual performance in the history of college football.

The ‘D’ gets an A

Offenses just don’t have a chance against Ohio State’s defense.
Through seven games, teams have gone three-and-out 45 times including 13 straight times by Akron. Michigan State fared a little better, but still found itself punting five times after three successive plays to bring the season total to 50.
“It’s all about opportunity,” Ohio State defensive back Malcolm Jenkins said. “Every time we get the ball in our offense’s hands we have a chance to score. The more chances you give the offense to put points up, the better your chances of winning are. We want them with the ball as much as possible.”

Mrukowski mark

It was announced in the press box that Todd Boeckman set the mark for consecutive passes completed with 12, but he merely tied the record held by Elyria grad Bill Mrukowski, Mike Tomczak, Jim Karsatos and Craig Krenzel. Mrukowski did it in 1961.
Boeckman completed his final two passes last week against Kent State and his first 10 Saturday against Michigan State before misfiring.  

Ranking ranklings

History had been on the Spartans’ side when the Buckeyes have been ranked No. 1.
Michigan State knocked off Ohio State 16-13 in 1974 and, more recently, 28-24 in 1998. However, the Spartans are 3-13-1 in games played against the nation’s top-ranked team.

Buckeye bits

• The Buckeyes aren’t wasting much time asserting their superiority over opponents. They’ve scored on six of eight opening drives this season, and own scoring margins of 80-2 in the first quarter and 82-17 in the second quarter.
• The Buckeyes own an 18-game Big Ten winning streak, which matches the best in Ohio State history and is two from the all-time league record set by Michigan from 1990-92. 

The goat

Todd Boeckman, Ohio State QB
The senior turned the ball over twice, with Michigan State scoring on both plays, in a span of less than a minute after Ohio State had a comfortable 24-0 lead with 6:52 remaining in the third quarter.
Boeckman was picked off by Otis Wiley for a 54-yard return, then fumbled on the next series when sacked for a 7-yard loss by defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic. The ball bounced in the arms of SirDarean Adams for a 25-yard return. The two plays pulled the Spartans within 10 points, 24-14.

The hero

Chris Wells, Ohio State RB
“Beanie” turned in the best rushing performance of his college career. Wells consistently got Ohio State out of bad field position with his timely explosive plays and helped preserve the lead on the Buckeyes’ final drive of the game. On top of everything else, he managed to recover his own fumble that occurred right after Boeckman’s turnovers.

The turning point

Surviving the scare
Saturday’s game should have long been decided before Ohio State’s offense took over possession with 3:38 remaining clinging to a precarious 7-point lead. The Spartans defense scored twice and their offense managed to kick a late field goal to get Michigan State within a touchdown of the Buckeyes. But the Spartans decided against trying an onside kick, and the Buckeyes offense responded with two key first downs to run out the clock and escape with a victory.
— Tim Gebhardt

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