No. 1 Ohio State has to hold on late

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Comfortable was not quite comfortable enough for No. 1 Ohio State.

After building what seemed to be an insurmountable cushion, the Buckeyes had a hard time holding on for a 24-17 Big Ten Conference win over Michigan State on Saturday.

Ohio State (8-0, 4-0) was ahead, 24-0, late in the third quarter when in the span of four plays, Michigan State made it a 10-point game.

“When your foot is on that jugular, you have to kill that fool,” Buckeyes offensive tackle Kirk Barton said. “You don’t just back off, let him stand up and punch you a couple of times and then knock him back down.”

The comeback started when Todd Boeckman flipped a pass under pressure that Otis Wiley picked off and returned 54 yards to put the Spartans on the board.

On the next series, a short run and two penalties gave the Buckeyes a first down at their 15. Boeckman was sacked by Jonal Saint-Dic and fumbled, with linebacker SirDarean Adams swooping in to scoop up the ball and run 25 yards to make the score 24-14.

Suddenly, a crowd of 105,287 was so silent you could hear a national championship trophy drop.

“It’s disappointing when you’re going along and your defense is pitching a shutout and you give up 14 points,” Coach Jim Tressel said. “I’m not happy that those 14 points count against our defense, the way it looks.”

Following an Ohio State punt midway through the fourth quarter, Brett Swenson kicked a 43-yard field goal to tighten it to 24-17 with 3:42 left.

The Buckeyes took no more chances. Chris Wells carried on the last seven plays, gaining 36 yards as Ohio State stayed perfect. He finished with 221 yards in 31 carries.

“We needed some proof early in the game to catch us on fire and we never really got that,” said Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio. “We were always one step late or one gap short.”