2009 Ohio State Buckeyes

Navy

A crowd of 105,092 was the largest attendance recorded to watch the Buckeyes open a season against Navy. The Buckeyes scored first, but Navy tied it up, but the Bucks made it 20-7 at halftime. However, Ohio State nearly blew a 29-14 lead when Navy scored twice to come within 29-27. Navy's two point conversion pass to potentially tie the game was intercepted and Ohio State returned it for a two point defensive conversion to hold on to win for a final score of 31-27.

USC

A crowd of 106,033, the largest in Ohio Stadium history, were in attendance as the #3 USC Trojans came to Columbus, Ohio to face the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes. Both teams showed great defense with the game close at the half tied 10-10. After a safety and a field goal, Ohio State led 15-10 with less than five minutes to go. However, Matt Barkley and the Trojans drove down the field to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to end the game. The final score was USC 18, Ohio State 15, with the Buckeyes losing to the Trojans for the second straight year.

Toledo

The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Toledo Rockets met in Cleveland, Ohio for their matchup. Toledo had scored an average of 42 points in their last two games against Purdue and Colorado. The Ohio State offense scored first with a 76 yard pass from Pryor, his longest at Ohio State, while the defense held the high scoring offense to no points in the first half. The final score was Ohio State 38, Toledo 0. This was Ohio State's first shutout since the 2008 game against Youngstown State

Illinois

The #13 Ohio State Buckeyes hosted the Illinois Fighting Illini on a rainy afternoon in Columbus, Ohio. The last time these two met at Ohio Stadium, the Illini beat the #1 Buckeyes 28-21. Ohio State relied heavily on its running game to put up 13 points in the first half; in fact, quarterback Terrelle Pryor threw for 0 passing yards in the first half. Illinois committed several turnovers and never gained any momentum; the final score was Ohio State 30, Illinois 0. This was the second straight shutout for the Buckeyes, their first consecutive shutouts since 1996.

Indiana

The #9 Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana for a night game against a Big Ten opponent, the Indiana Hoosiers. Ohio State came in posting two straight shutouts against Toledo and Illinois. The offense scored first with a field goal and a touchdown in the first quarter. However, the Hoosiers broke Ohio State's two game shutout streak with a touchdown in the second quarter. After the first half the Buckeyes led the Hoosiers 24-7. After a safety in the third quarter and a touchdown in the fourth; the Buckeyes were leading 33-7. The Hoosiers scored a touchdown at the end of the game to make the final score with Ohio State winning 33-14.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Badgers came to Columbus being one of only three teams, including Ohio State, that were undefeted in Big Ten play. Ohio State scored first with a Wisconsin interception ran back for a touchdown by Kurt Coleman. The Badgers, however, scored 10 unanswered points with one minute left in the half. Terrelle Pryor led the Buckeyes on to their first offensive touchdown of the day to end the first half, the Buckeyes led 14-10. The second half started with another interception returned for a touchdown and a kick return. In total, the Buckeyes had three non-offensive touchdowns on the day. The Buckeyes won the game 31-13 to stay undefeted in the Big Ten and a 5-1 record overall.

Purdue

The Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana on a cold October day playing against the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue, who had lost many close games, came to play in front of their home fans at Ross-Ade Stadium. Purdue scored first with a field goal in the first quarter, but Ohio State made it 7-3 with a Pryor run for a touchdown. The second quarter was all Purdue with Boilermakers making two field goals to put them up it a 9-7 halftime. In the second half Purdue was finally able to find the end zone with two Joey Elliot touchdown passes to Valentin, making it a commanding 23-7 lead for the Boilermakers. In the fourth quarter both teams traded field goals with the score now 26-10. Purdue, however, was forced to punt midway through the fourth quarter and Ohio State quickly drove down the field to score a touchdown with a pass from Pryor to Posey, with Pryor running it in the two point conversion. The next drive, Purdue went three and out and it seemed the momentum had shifted and Ohio State had come alive, but with a sack of Pryor and a denial of a fourth down, Purdue had the ball. After seemingly stopping Purdue, a crucial facemask penalty by the Buckeyes allowed the Boilermakers to run out the clock. This was the first time Ohio State had lost to a team that had not later gone on to a BCS Bowl game since 2004, that loss was also to Purdue.

Minnesota

The Ohio State Buckeyes returned to Ohio Stadium to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Ohio State came into the game with a loss to Purdue, trying not to lose two straight games since 2004. The game opened up with little offensive production for both teams. Ohio State scored first with a 62 yard pass to Posey. After half time Minnesota lost the opening kickoff which was recovered by Ohio State. Pryor later ran it in for a touchdown, Ohio State led 14-0. After many stops by the Ohio State defense, the offense continued rolling, at the end of the third quarter the score was 28-0 Ohio State. Two more scores in the fourth by Ohio State and a touchdown by Minnesota on Ohio State's backups ended the game. Ohio State came up with a big win over a struggling Minnesota team.

The buckeyes have a tough few games left, but hopefully they can win out and capture the #1 spot in the Big Ten and beat their all time rival Michigan.