Buckeyes still alive in Big Ten

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. -- Chris Wells ran for 143 yards and a touchdown and Terrelle Pryor rushed for 110 yards Saturday in No. 10 Ohio State’s 30-20 Big Ten Conference win over Illinois.

The victory kept the Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1) in the chase for the conference title. It was also revenge for last year’s 28-21 loss to the Fighting Illini (5-6, 3-4), which ended Ohio State’s pursuit of a perfect season.

On a windy, 40-degree day, Wells carried the load for the Buckeyes.

“It was a running back’s dream,” Wells said. “Cold and wet -- what more could you ask for?”

He carried the ball 24 times, patiently picking his way through Illini defenders for steady early gains and, later, bursting through holes for runs that exhausted Illinois’ defense.

One, a 29-yarder late in the third quarter with the score still 23-13, stole the momentum from Illinois on one of its last legitimate chances to get back into the game.

Pryor, too, found room to run Saturday.

His 110 yards came in only 13 carries, most of them through a tired Illinois defense in the second half.

“We knew we would have a lot better chance of winning running the ball,” Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel said. “You could pass it, but you couldn’t try to make a living doing it.”

Statistically, Illinois was a match for Ohio State.

The Illini had 292 yards of offense by halftime, 22 more than the Buckeyes were giving up a game before Saturday, and finished with 455 -- 101 more than the Buckeyes.