TOLEDO, Ohio -- Seven days before against USC, the Buckeyes suffered massive heartbreak. Against Toledo Saturday, the Bucks found the perfect heart medicine.
OSU's offense exploded for one of its biggest games in years (522 yards), leading the Bucks to a 38-0 shutout of the Rockets at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
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The Bucks surged from the start. After forcing a Toledo 3-and-out, Terrelle Pryor looked deep and found Dane Sanzenbacher for a 76 yard Touchdown.
Later in the quarter, OSU capped another drive with a second TD hookup from Pryor to Sanzenbacher.
The Bucks led 14-0 after one quarter.
The Bucks opened the second quarter with a 5 yard scoring run by Boom Herron to put OSU out to an impressive 21-0 start.
The Bucks drove to the Toledo 3 late in the 2nd quarter, but Aaron Pettrey banged a short field goal attempt off the left upright.
But Pettrey would redeem himself in the final seconds of the half, connecting on a 48 yard field goal as the first half expired.
The Buckeye defense stood tall in the opening half, allowing merely 85 total yards to a Toledo offense which had scored 85 total points in its first two games. Meanwhile, OSU gained 327 1st half yards.
Pryor took charge in the 3rd quarter with a long scramble into Rockets territory, followed by a 1 yard TD run.
At 31-0, the OSU defense continued to dominate. Even after Pryor's 2nd INT of the day left the Bucks backed up to their own 37, linebacker Brian Rolle sacked Toledo QB Aaron Opelt on 3rd down, forcing a Toledo punt.
Even when it looked like the Rockets would score bad luck found them.
Opelt hit Eric Page near the goal line where the Bucks stripped him of the ball and Ross Homan recovered in the endzone.
The Bucks then promptly drove down the field, ending with a Pryor 4 yard TD toss to Devier Posey which set the final score at 38-0.
"You could tell yesterday our kids were excited to be here in Cleveland ..."Head coach Jim Tressel said. "When your defense swarms like we do it gives your offense an opportunity."
"Our kids really stepped up and took a step toward deciding to be a good team."Tressel said.
The Bucks return home next week to open Big 10 play against Illinois.
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