BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Ohio State’s defense finally allowed another score.
The way Terrelle Pryor played, they had plenty of room for error.
The Buckeyes’ sophomore quarterback threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another score, leading No. 9 Ohio State to a 33-14 victory over Indiana on Saturday night.
The Buckeyes (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) gave up their first points in nine quarters, but were otherwise nearly flawless as they cruised to their 16th straight Big Ten road win, one short of tying the conference record.
“We’ve just got to become a little bit more consistent at executing everything we do,” Tressel said. “We want to do a lot, we want to the throw the ball, we want to be a power team, we want to be an option-type team. We expect a lot out of them.”
Indiana (3-2, 0-2) did little right in its second straight loss. The Hoosiers had three turnovers and gave up a safety after a bad snap on a punt, falling to Ohio State for the 15th straight time.
Brandon Saine ran 17 times for 113 yards, a career high.
The Hoosiers ended Ohio State’s scoreless streak early in the second quarter when Ben Chappell hooked up with Tandon Doss on a 7-yard TD pass. They were hoping for a better showing after nearly upsetting Michigan the week before in Ann Arbor.
“I knew mostly all the coverages they were running, mostly from studying the film a lot,” Pryor said. “I just try to look for a lane as much as I can, and I thought we did a pretty good job.”
Instead, Pryor finished 16 of 27 for 159 yards and rushed 16 times for 63 yards. He heaved a late interception with about six minutes to play in the game, up 33-7.
Ohio State took a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter, courtesy of Pryor’s 5-yard TD pass to Duron Carter.
Indiana closed to 10-7 early on Doss’ score, but Pryor needed just three plays to answer. He found DeVier Posey for a 23-yard TD pass to make it 17-7, then closed out the first half scoring with an 8-yard TD pass to Zach Boren.
After the safety, Pryor closed it out with a 1-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.
“I knew mostly all the coverages they were running, mostly from studying the film a lot,” Pryor said. “I just try to look for a lane as much as I can, and I thought we did a pretty good job.”
Chappell was 20 of 34 for 210 yards with two interceptions and two touchdowns, the second as time ran out.
Ohio State defensive tackle Dexter Larimore left the game with a strained right knee. Tressel said he did not believe the 300-pound junior would need surgery but was uncertain how much time Larimore may miss.
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