BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -Ohio State knew Brandon Saine could run fast.
Against Indiana, he showed he could run strong, too.
Saine proved he was more than a capable replacement for the injured Dan Herron on Saturday, finishing with a career-high 113 yards in a 33-14 victory over the Hoosiers and perhaps putting his college career back on track after a discouraging sophomore season.
“I’m just out there having fun, really,” he said. “We’re on a little bit of a roll right now and it feels really good.”
Anything would be better than 2008, when a hamstring injury limited Saine in fall camp and essentially cost him the backup job to Beanie Wells. He wound up with only 26 carries and three receptions. Then, just when Saine was getting healthy, Saine sprained his ankle before the Buckeyes bowl game.
For Saine, Ohio’s 2006 Mr. Football, it was essentially a lost season.
When he returned this year, the junior again found himself behind Herron on the depth chart.
But after Herron twisted his right ankle on a touchdown run against Illinois and decided not to risk further injury against the Hoosiers (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten), Saine capitalized on the opportunity.
On the second play of Saturday’s game, Saine made a nifty cutback, found an opening on the outside and sprinted 23 yards. He was just getting started.
Over the next three quarters, Saine ran with burst, power and demonstrated he could handle a heavy workload against a Big Ten defense without getting hurt.
Teammates were impressed.
“Once he gets going, he can fly,” quarterback Terrelle Pryor said. “He’s like a bullet.”
A bullet the Hoosiers couldn’t dodge.
With Pryor throwing for three touchdowns and running for another, and Saine breaking off big runs seemingly every time he touched the ball, Indiana couldn’t stay with the Buckeyes (4-1, 0-2), who have turned Bloomington, Ind., into a de facto home field.
Ohio State has now won 15 straight in the series, 12 of those by double digits.
And once again Buckeye fans serenaded players with chants of “O-H” and “I-O”. Ohio State players responded by singing their postgame victory song in the corner of the south end zone – with Saine right there after the best performance of his career.
nk it (the first run) was huge, and it really got things started.”
The Buckeyes, winners of 16 straight Big Ten road games, never stopped.
“They weren’t running over us and putting us on the ground, but they were effective on what they were doing,” Indiana linebacker Will Patterson said. “We were not able to get off our blocks to make the plays.”
That – and Indiana’s mistakes – allowed Pryor and Saine to continue hitting the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers lost three turnovers, committed nine penalties and only forced three Ohio State punts. But the bigger problem was stopping the combination of Pryor and Saine.
“We’ve been running the ball out of the gun a lot,” Saine said. “The quarterback can easily run out of that set and with him back there, it makes it easier for everybody to see where he’s going to run, too.”
The question now is what Saine’s role will be in the coming weeks.
Coach Jim Tressel said he expected Herron to return next week against Wisconsin.
If the two continue splitting carries, a healthier Saine would give the Buckeyes three strong options out of the backfield – making it tougher for opponents to know what’s coming and giving Saine more opportunities to prove he’s a stronger back than some suspect.
“I guess you’ve always got to get the yards after contact,” he said. “It really pushes me to go.”
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