Columbus (AP) — Most of the 105,017 fans had filed out of Ohio
Stadium before they encountered their only disappointment of the day.
Dane
Sanzenbacher tied two school records by catching four touchdown passes
from Terrelle Pryor, and No. 2 Ohio State poured it on to beat Eastern
Michigan 73-20 on Saturday — the most points by the Buckeyes in 60
years.
The biggest cheers throughout the day came when it was
announced that Arkansas was leading top-ranked Alabama. The Crimson Tide
came from behind to win 24-20, the only damper on an otherwise
glittering afternoon for the Buckeyes.
After all, there was
certainly no drama at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes (4-0) scored on their
first six possessions against the 44 1/2-point underdogs, who lost their
16th game in a row.
Pryor completed 20 of 26 passes for 224 yards
and the four scores, rushed seven times for 104 yards and a touchdown
and also caught a 20-yard scoring pass from his former high school
teammate, Jordan Hall, late in the third quarter. Sanzenbacher had nine
catches for 108 yards.
Eastern (0-4) did put together three long,
impressive scoring drives against an Ohio State defense that had
surrendered just two touchdowns coming in. But the Eagles were
overmatched at almost every position, and Jaamal Berry added a 67-yard
TD run for Ohio State, the redshirt freshman's first in his promising
college career.
It took just three plays on each of Ohio State's first two possessions to make it 14-0.
After
Eastern began with a three-and-out, Pryor ran left and then cut back to
the middle of the field on a 53-yard scramble to open the scoring. The
Eagles punted again before Pryor hit passes of 9 yards to Brandon Saine
and 25 yards to DeVier Posey to set up a Sanzenbacher's catch on a
31-yard crossing pattern for the score.
Dan Herron took a pitch
around left end for a 7-yard score after Devin Barclay's 42-yard field
goal to put the Buckeyes ahead 24-0 after a quarter.
Pryor later hit Sanzenbacher on scoring tosses of 9, 7 and 8 yards.
The Buckeyes lost cornerback Chimdi Chekwa to a back injury early in the game.
The
Eagles, winless under second-year coach Ron English, forged a 75-yard
march to start the second quarter that resulted in Dwayne Priest's
2-yard TD run. Alex Gillett completed all five of his pass attempts on
that drive, then later hit half of four passes in a 73-yard scoring
drive capped by a 13-yard pass to Kinsman Thomas. Gillett later hit Don
Scott on a 32-yard scoring pass.
Sanzenbacher's four touchdown
catches tied the school mark shared by Terry Glenn (against Pittsburgh
in 1995) and Bob Grimes (in 1952 against Washington State). Grimes' four
TD receptions was the only other time a quarterback and receiver hooked
up on four scoring passes in the same game.
It was the most points by the Buckeyes since an 83-21 victory over Iowa in 1950.
The
big offensive day also marked the most points scored by Ohio State in
coach Jim Tressel's 10 years, the previous high coming in a 58-7 victory
over Northwestern three years ago.