Pryor's fourth-down scramble rescues Ohio State
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Fourth down, 10 yards and most likely the season was on the line for Ohio State. The Buckeyes put the ball in Terrelle Pryor's hands, and he used his legs to help them escape from Iowa with their Rose Bowl hopes intact for another week.
Dan Herron rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with 1:47 left and No. 9 Ohio State rallied to beat No. 20 Iowa, 20-17, yesterday.
Pryor threw for 195 yards and a touchdown for the Buckeyes (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten), including a crucial 14-yard run on fourth down to keep the winning drive alive.
The win kept Ohio State tied with Wisconsin and Michigan State atop the Big Ten heading into next week's game with rival Michigan in Columbus.
"I was going to run the whole time," Pryor said. "I found running room, had some good blocking. I just cut it up and went and got the first."
Iowa (7-4, 4-3) went ahead 17-10 early in the fourth quarter on freshman Marcus Coker's 1-yard TD run. But Devin Barclay's 48-yard field goal brought the Buckeyes within 17-13, and Pryor engineered a 76-yard drive despite DeVier Posey's drop of a sure TD pass.
Ricky Stanzi had 195 yards passing and a touchdown for the Hawkeyes, who've let up a winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of each of their defeats.
The game went to the fourth quarter tied at 10. Pryor threw an errant ball over the middle that was tipped, picked off by Shaun Prater and returned to the OSU 27-yard line. Coker, in for a struggling Adam Robinson, followed a 26-yard run with a 1-yard plunge to put the Hawkeyes ahead 17-10 with 11:53 left.
Barclay pulled Ohio State within 17-13 with a 48-yarder with 7:38 left, and the Buckeyes forced the Hawkeyes into a quick three-and-out.
That's when Pryor redeemed himself. Posey, who had blown past the coverage, had the ball slip right through his hands in the end zone with 4:02 left to set up fourth-and-10.
Pryor scrambled 14 yards to pick up a first down. Pryor then found Dane Sanzenbacher for 24 yards to the Iowa 2 with 2:49 left, and Herron's touchdown put the Buckeyes ahead for good.
Pryor finished with 78 yards rushing on 15 carries and survived two interceptions.
"It was huge and gave us that momentum," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said of Pryor's critical fourth-down conversion. "I was afraid he was messing around and wasn't going to get the first, but he made it."
