COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 9 Ohio State made it simple.

The Buckeyes rushed on their first 13 plays and almost never left the ground, amassing 324 yards against Northwestern’s run defense in the 48-7 Ohio State win.

“I’m disappointed in our run defense,” NU coach Randy Walker said. “I was hopeful we’d play better against the run. It’s disappointing we didn’t.”

Ohio State passed the ball only 15 times, devoting 54 plays to the run. The Buckeyes held the ball for 34:22, compared with the Wildcats’ 25:38.

Running back Antonio Pittman carried 18 times for 132 yards and a touchdown, quarterback Troy Smith had 11 carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns, and freshman Maurice Wells – a native of Jacksonville, Fla., recruited by Ohio State instead of NU running back and Akron, Ohio, native Tyrell Sutton – ran 13 times for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Ohio State scored two touchdowns – on drives of 45 and 63 yards – without throwing a pass. Wells ran into the end zone untouched on a 13-yard, second-quarter touchdown, and Pittman also was not touched on a four-yarder in the third quarter.

The Cats (6-4, 4-3) now are 2-4 when allowing more than 200 yards rushing and 4-0 when holding opponents to less than 200.

“It’s definitely demoralizing,” senior defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. “I’d rather give up 500 (yards) passing than 300 rushing any day. When you give up rushing yards like that, you’re getting beat physically.”

SUTTON STUMBLING

After losing a fumble in the third quarter, Sutton left the game with an injury to his left hand and did not return.

Sutton said his hand got caught in a face mask one play before the fumble. He said the injury did not cause the fumble that led to an 18-yard touchdown drive and a 38-7 Ohio State lead.

Walker said X-rays to Sutton’s hand came back negative.

“It’ll be fine, nothing that’ll keep me out next week,” Sutton said. “All I can say is if I’m not on a stretcher, it’s not a bad injury.”

Sutton finished with 93 yards on 14 carries. He also caught a five-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

Sophomore Brandon Roberson, NU’s opening-day starter at running back, replaced Sutton. He carried six times for four yards.

Walker said the injury played a part in pulling Sutton. But Walker usually pulls players for at least one series after a fumble, and he pulled all his starters two series later.

“Probably (Sutton) was cleared to go, but at that point, I didn’t see any benefit to it,” Walker said. “When you’ve got a guy at running back with a bad hand and a bad grip, it wasn’t worth taking a chance.”

2006 PREVIEW

With the Cats trailing 41-7 in the fourth quarter, Walker gave redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Bacher and several other backups a chance to show their stuff in the Horseshoe.

Bacher completed 3-of-9 passes for 32 yards and carried three times for four yards. He was sacked once and had an 18-yard run. His 25-yard pass to freshman receiver Eric Peterman was the longest completion of his career.

Redshirt freshman running back Gerard Hamlett, used mostly as a kickoff returner this season, carried three times for 11 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Sam Cheatham caught a four-yard pass in the fourth quarter, the second catch of his career.

INCHES TO GO

NU took a 7-0 lead on their opening drive. The Cats now have scored first in three of their four losses – The Cats totaled 251 yards of offense, less than half their average. NU’s previous low was 415 yards in its 33-17 loss against Michigan –