• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Wells scores twice as Ohio State routs Minnesota

Sep 30, 2007 - 5:52 AM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Chris "Beanie" Wells ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns to help eighth-ranked Ohio State to a 30-7 victory over Minnesota in a Big Ten Conference matchup Saturday.

The Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) have now won 23 consecutive regular-season games, with their last setback coming against Penn State on October 8, 2005.

Ohio State's Todd Boeckman completed 18-of-29 passes for 209 yards, including a 19-yard TD pass to Brian Hartline in the final period to make it 30-7. The junior signal-caller has thrown at least two touchdowns in each of his five outings.

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 14-0 advantage after one quarter behind the efforts of Wells, who scored on runs of six and four yards. He had 95 yards on the ground in the first half.

After forcing an interception, the Buckeyes capped a six-play, 98-yard drive with Brian Robiskie's 52-yard leaping touchdown catch at the 1:16 mark for a 20-6 bulge.

"We had the interception, and then unfortunately the penalty, and then the big run on third down, and then the big throw," Ohio State Jim Tressel said. "All of a sudden we were 99 yards away and we score. So yeah, it was huge."

"We were driving, we were moving the ball, it was open and I threw it behind the receiver," Gophers quarterback Adam Weber said. "There was a touchdown to be had there, and we missed out on that opportunity."

Robiskie finished with five catches for 99 yards.

Larry Grant and Malcolm Jenkins each picked off a pass for Ohio State, which limited Minnesota (1-4, 0-2) to just 277 yards of total offense.

"They were great, they're really fast to the football," Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said. "You look at (Vernon) Gholston, you look at (James) Laurinaitis; they're tremendous. I told coach Tressel before the game I coached four years in the AFC West, and that's what I see in this defense."

"They have some great athletes on defense, that we may not see the rest of the year," Weber said. "I think we were ready and played well. They were able to mix it up, hide their blitzes and they put a lot of pressure on us."

Weber went 27-of-44 for 232 yards and a score while Eric Decker had six catches for 65 yards for the Gophers, who fell to 7-40 all-time in the series.