COLUMBUS — While this year’s Ohio State team will always be known as the first to win five straight over Michigan, it is junior running back Chris “Beanie” Wells who has continuously stuck a dagger in the Wolverines’ hearts during the streak.
During his freshman season, Wells broke off a 52-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give the Buckeyes a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 42-39 victory. Last season, he scored both touchdowns — one a 62-yarder in the third quarter — in Ohio State’s 14-3 win in Ann Arbor, Mich. On Saturday, Wells continued the streak of massive runs against Michigan, breaking loose for a 59-yard score in the first quarter to kick-start the Buckeyes offense.
“My father always told me that big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games,” Wells said. “Today was a big-time game and I made a big play.”
Wells finished with 134 yards on just 15 carries, his eighth 100-yard game of the season and 16th of his career. The performance, which was shortened when Wells’ hamstring tightened up on him early in the second half, allowed Wells to pass Keith Byers — who had 3,200 yards between 1982-85 — for fourth place on Ohio State’s all-time rushing list with 3,276 yards.
Wells had already passed Pepe Pearson, Carlos Snow, Michael Wiley, Antonio Pittman, Admiral King grad Raymont Harris and Calvin Murray during the season.
“It’s an honor and a blessing just to be a part of something like that,” Wells said. “It felt great (to have a good day). Coach (Jim) Tressel always preaches that every yard versus Michigan is worth 2 yards.”
Wells has been the Buckeyes’ personal whipping stick against Michigan and didn’t back down from that role when asked if there was ever a time during Saturday’s 42-7 rout that he may have felt bad for the Wolverines.
“I don’t think you can feel bad for them, honestly,” he said. “This is a heated rivalry that’s been going on for God knows how long. You just can’t feel bad for those guys.

Boeckman delivers

Senior Todd Boeckman will be the first to tell you how tough this season has been on him. A year after leading Ohio State to an outright Big Ten title and a national championship game appearance, the quarterback was yanked from the starting lineup after three games and replaced with freshman Terrelle Pryor.
“It hurts anytime you lose your job to someone else,” Boeckman said. “When I lost my starting spot earlier this season, it felt like one of the worst things that has ever happened to me.”
But Boeckman is a team captain and continued to meet at the 50-yard line for the pregame coin flip, talk to the media during postgame news conferences and support Pryor during the final nine games of the year.
“I didn’t want to go out there and hurt the team,” Boeckman said.
Boeckman got into Saturday’s game late and completed all three of his passes for 64 yards and a touchdown. He connected for an 18-yard score with Brian Hartline early in the fourth quarter, then wowed the Ohio Stadium crowd with a 46-yard bomb to Brian Robiskie to convert a third down.
“It felt really good to get out there,” Boeckman said. “It was a pretty emotional day for me. It was Senior Day, and I went out and hugged my parents before the game.”
Boeckman got loud cheers from the fans when his name was announced before the game and even louder ones during his on-field heroics. While the applause felt good, nothing felt better than becoming one of just a handful of fifth-year seniors on this year’s team to become the first Ohio State football players to earn five sets of gold pants — the award given to a Buckeye when he’s part of a team that defeats Michigan.
“That’s something you’ll never forget,” Boeckman said. “We beat Michigan five times in a row and were able to have five pairs of gold pants.”

Buckeye bits

This year’s senior class is 43-7, tying them for the most wins in the program’s history. The
1995-98 and 2002-05 classes also had 43 victories — a mark this year’s team can break with a bowl win.
• Tressel improved to 7-1 against Michigan, which is the best all-time winning percentage against the Wolverines by an Ohio State coach and second in overall wins. Woody Hayes leads that category with his 16-11-1 mark against the Wolverines.
• Ohio State improves to 42-57-6 all-time and 23-27-2 in Columbus against Michigan. Since 1934, Ohio State leads the series 36-35-4, and hasn’t lost to the Wolverines at Ohio Stadium since a 38-26 defeat in 2000.
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. 

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