When coach Jim Tressel sat down quarterback Terrelle Pryor the week before the Rose Bowl Game and told him that the plan was to throw the ball, Pryor wasn’t the only one who was excited at the prospect of a game in the air.
Junior Dane Sanzenbacher and sophomore DeVier Posey, Pryor’s leading receivers, were in for a big game as well.
“I was very excited when Tressel said that we were coming to wing it,” Pryor said. “We knew what we could do.”
The offensive MVP of the Rose Bowl, Pryor was complimentary of his teammates, especially his receivers.
Pryor, who set a career high with 37 pass attempts, said he wouldn’t be able to do anything without “DeVier laying out for catches and catching the ball and Dane and the linemen just sweating, fighting,” he said.
Sanzenbacher said that even though the team has focused on its running game in recent matches, “when you get the passing game started and when you get that chemistry going, it helps out,” he said.
Sanzenbacher, whose previous record for receptions was against Toledo on Sept. 19 with five, led OSU in catches against Oregon while Posey led in yardage. Sanzenbacher had nine receptions for 64 yards and Posey had 101 yards on eight catches with one touchdown.
Posey’s touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter sealed the Buckeye victory, putting OSU up 26 to 17.
Pryor was “put it in a spot where all [the Oregon defender] could do was just hope I dropped it like before. He was all money all night,” Posey said.
The touchdown pass was from 17 yards out and was a play the two had been working on for a while, Pryor said. Pryor threw to Posey in the back left corner of the end zone. Posey caught the ball just before stepping out of bounds. After the play was reviewed, it was confirmed that he had indeed made the catch.
“I finally got it after watching all the tapes and film from Peyton Manning and stuff and trying to get the footwork and getting the ball out,” Pryor said. “DeVier made a great catch.”
Sanzenbacher had several receptions in key drives to help the Buckeyes, who edged Oregon for possession with 42 minutes to 18 minutes. He snatched three first downs for OSU.
Sanzenbacher’s game-long reception came just before the half and was an 18-yard advance. The second-down conversion set up Aaron Pettrey’s 45-yard field goal that put the Buckeyes up 16-10 heading into the half.
He also caught an 11-yard pass late in the fourth quarter on a third-down conversion leading to Posey’s touchdown.
Pryor was 23 for 37 with 266 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
