4th and 10, done in again

IOWA CITY -- When it happened to them, it was one of those deals where they could see it and knew what to do, but they couldn't stop it.

Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor will make a statue out of you quicker than any player in the Big Ten and maybe the country. On fourth-and-10 in the fourth quarter Saturday at Kinnick, Pryor poured concrete all over the Iowa defense in a 20-17 victory.

Pryor rolled right, paused and escaped out the backside of the play for a 14-yard gain and a first down at Iowa's 36. It extended the drive and, eventually, extended the Buckeyes' winning streak over Iowa to four.

"Everybody on this team feels fortunate to have a guy like that back there," Ohio State wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher said. "We can dial up a fourth-and-10 play on our final drive and things breakdown and we can still get it."

Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn made a swim move to the inside and was shoved upfield and out of the play by center Mike Brewster. That left defensive tackle Karl Klug to contain the entire left side of the field. He slid a few steps to his left.

Pryor left to his left and saw a whole lot of green.

“I was going to run the whole time unless the post route was [open]," Pryor said. "At first, I was looking for the post route and Dane was running a corner route. No. 9 [safety Tyler Sash] took it away.

"I had to look for running room. I found some running room, had some good blocking, just cut it up and got the first down.”

OSU coach Jim Tressel said he wanted to give Pryor options. The Buckeyes had five receivers in pattern.

"We had five options there, plus you have the option to run it," Tressel said. "That's about as many options as you can get on a fourth-and-10. We had no choice. It was huge."

Iowa had Pryor. Iowa didn't have Pryor.

"We had them in a fourth-and-10 situation, that's what you want," Sash said. "You want a long conversion for them. Chances are pretty good that you're going to get off the field on fourth-and-10. But Pryor is a heckuva player."

That sinking feeling probably hit the Iowa defense right about that point. In all four of Iowa's losses now, the defense allowed a long game-winning drive. Saturday, it was 76 yards on 12 plays that were connected by Pryor's athleticism.

Iowa had Pryor and then they didn't.

"I don't know," defensive end Christian Ballard said when asked how to defend that. "It's so hard to catch up with him, he's so fast. It's hard to stay with that guy. You've just got to be a little better."