(Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
The Ohio State Buckeyes looked at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter of their game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers and noticed that they had the East Division lead to themselves after Michigan State lost to Nebraska. After a slow start, Cardale Jones and Ohio State were able to put together enough offense to get past a pesky Minnesota team during a 28-14 victory to move to 9-0 for the season.
After a scoreless first 25 minutes, the Buckeyes got on the board when Vonn Bell intercepted Mitch Leidner and returned it 16 years for a touchdown. Ezekiel Elliott added a 15-yard score with under a minute to go in the first half to make it a 14-0 lead at the intermission.
Ohio State added a touchdown pass from Jones to Michael Thomas but couldn’t put the Golden Gophers away as Minnesota scored two fourth quarter touchdowns including a ten-yard pass from Leidner to Still with 2:10 left to make it a seven-point game. Jones would take one in from 38 yards out however shortly thereafter to extend the lead back to two scores.
Jones finished 12-for-22 for 187 yards through the air and 65 yards on the ground while Elliott carried the ball 26 times for 114 yards. Leidner was 27-for-44 for 281 yards and two touchdowns for Minnesota. KJ Maye had ten catches for 116 yards as Leidner’s favorite receiver.
Minnesota fell to 4-5 for the season with the loss but showed that they could hang with the big boys and will play at Iowa next week looking for another chance at beating an undefeated team. The Buckeyes will hit the road to play Illinois.
