Live Blog Game Thingie -- 20-17 Rinse, repeat

20-17 Buckeyes

Iowa's defense allows 76-yard TD drive. Offense sputters on two-minute drill. Iowa 1-4 in games decided by a TD or less this year.

Ends with a Stanzi pass to McNutt for 19 yards on a fourth-and-21.

Iowa will go into the season finale at Minnesota with a 7-4 record and a 4-3 in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio State in the running for the Big Ten title in the final week.

Iowa's best bowl at this point is the Outback. Worst case is the Insight.

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20-17 Ohio State

Iowa had OSU in a fourth-and-10 and QB Terrelle Pryor earned all the great things that have been said about him forever.

He rolled right in a drop-back pass situation. No one open. And then he bolted left and 14 yards later gave the Buckeyes first down at Iowa's 36.

From there, he hit WR Dane Sanzenbacher for a 24-yard gain to Iowa's 2. RB Dan Herron scored from the 1 for a 20-17 lead with 1:47 left in the game.

Players make plays. Pryor showed that on fourth-and-10 in the fourth quarter with everything riding on it.

Now, Iowa has 1:47 left to make something happen.

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17-13 Iowa

Devin Barclay hits a clutch 48-yarder to pull the Buckeyes within 17-13 with 7:38 left. It was a career long for Barclay, who beat the Hawkeyes in Columbus last year with a 39-yarder in OT.

11 plays, 30 yards and 4:15 off the clock.

Iowa stay aggressive or milk four points? We'll see.

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17-10 Iowa

This started with true freshman middle linebacker James Morris going step for step with OSU WR Dane Sanzenbacher, Terrelle Pryor's favorite target. Morris tipped and CB Shaun Prater picked for first down at OSU's 27.

From there, Coker went for 26 and 1 and Iowa took a 17-10 lead with 11:53 left in the game.

That 26-yarder went into the short side of the field. Shows that Iowa's blocking got it done. Coker at 70 yards. First career TD.

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10-10

Freshman kicker Mike Meyer boots a 31-yarder to pull Iowa into a 10-10 tie with 3:26 left in the third quarter.

10 plays, 65 yards nd 5:10.

On third-and-11 from the 13, Stanzi wanted to get the ball to DJK, but he slipped and fell in the end zone and was covered up by 19. Stanzi made the smart play by throwing it away.

Smelling OT?

Meyer is 11 of 13 this year. He then kicks off OB. OSU starts at 40.

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10-7 Ohio State

Kind of a power drive for the Buckeyes, both on the field and in the Hawkeyes' heads.

OSU went 77 yards on 12 plays and took 6:24 off the clock. After getting snippy with the QB coach, Pryor directed this beautifully, completing five passes, including the 5-yard TD pass to TE Reid Flagel.

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The problem isn't the defense.

For a second, OSU QB Terrelle Pryor had WR Taurian Washington wide open in Iowa's end zone with about a minute left in the first half. Pryor hung the ball up a little bit. Iowa safety Tyler Sash and cornerback Shaun Prater made a move on the ball, with Sash tipping it in the air to cornerback Micah Hyde for an interception.

Threat staved off.

Iowa goes into the lockerroom with a 7-3 lead in a first half that saw nine possessions.

I love Ferentz-Tressel games. Tighter than a vacuum-sealed pack of deli meat.

Relavent stats:

Marcus Coker played the first quarter with Adam Robinson sitting out a one-quarter academic suspension. Coker took advantage, rushing 7 times for 43 yards and fueling Iowa's lone TD drive with 30 rush and an 11-yard reception.

Robinson twice for 8 yards and fumbled at the end of the first half. Iowa recovered. After going 351 carries without a fumble, Robinson now has one in his last games. Iowa has lost none of those.

QB Ricky Stanzi is 13 of 17 for 103 yards and a 19-yard TD to WR Marvin McNutt.

Pryor is 7 of 14 for 95 yards and a pick. WR Dane Sanzenbacher has four catches for 73 yards. Pryor and RB Dan Herron have 25 rush yards apiece.

If Iowa hangs on, it's Michigan State and Wisconsin in the Big Ten lead. The Spartans control their own destiny. A win at Penn State next week and the Spartans are Big Ten champs.

The Outback is here scouting the Hawkeyes.

But a win here might put Iowa in the Cap One.

Who knows. Still a half of football left here at Kinnick.

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7-3

Devin Barclay kicks an 18-yard field goal to pull OSU within 7-3 with 11:34 left in the second quarter.

The drive was eight plays for 58 yards and ate up 4:35.

Backup DT Thomas Nardo tripped up OSU QB Terrelle Pryor on third-and-1. Pryor flipped the ball to fullback Justin Boren, who was stopped on the goal line for a fourth-and-1.

OSU coach Jim Tressel opted for the FG.

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7-0 Iowa

Eight plays, 87 yards and 4:35 off the clock.

Maybe Iowa's most impressive drive of the season.

True freshman Marcus Coker fueled it with 30 rush yards and an 11-yard reception. But Ricky Stanzi hit DJK for a huge first down on a third-and-13 from Iowa's 10. On the TD, Stanzi beat a cornerback blitz and put a perfect pass on Marvin McNutt for a 19-yard TD.

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Gameday weather from the Weather Channel

Saturday, 2:30 p.m. CT, Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA

Gametime Weather Index: 9

Weather factors: Mostly cloudy with gametime temperatures in the mid 40s. Winds east-northeast at 10 to 15 mph.

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Before this gets crazy, I want to say how much I've enjoyed these seniors. All 26 seniors will graduate. They're all great gentlemen. I want to thank them for letting me into their lives the little bit that this system allows us to.