Below The Beltway

With all due respect to Michigan, there are really only two teams in the Big Ten that will pose a real challenge for the Ohio State Buckeyes this year. One is Joe Paterno’s Penn State, which is having a pretty good year so far.
The Buckeyes faced the other team last night and beat them 20-17:
MADISON, [...]

Beanie Wells returned after three weeks off, and the Buckeyes had a good start to the Big Ten season:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -Woody Hayes would have loved the Beanie and Terrelle Show.
Tailback Chris ”Beanie” Wells rushed for 106 yards in his first game in a month and quarterback Terrelle Pryor ran for two scores and threw [...]

I had a feeling that the lack of Beanie Wells would be bad news for the Buckeyes, and I was right:
LOS ANGELES — As college football scripts go, this potential blockbuster never would have made it to the big screen.
When No. 1 Southern California met No. 5 Ohio State in the first marquee event of [...]

Well, this is definitely bad news for the Buckeyes:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells will not play for the fifth-ranked Buckeyes against No. 1 Southern California on Saturday night because of his injured right foot.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel made the announcement late Friday afternoon after the team went through [...]

Contrary to previous reports, it looks like Beanie Wells may not be ready to play on Saturday against USC:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Thursday it is doubtful that starting tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells will play Saturday night against No. 1 Southern California.
Tressel said there was lingering soreness for Wells in [...]

Saturday night will be the Ohio State Buckeyes’ chance to show the critics that have been following them for two years now that they do belong at the top of the NCAA:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The last two times Ohio State stepped onto college football’s biggest stage, the Buckeyes imploded famously.
In the Bowl Championship Series title [...]

It looks like Beanie Wells will be ready for Saturday night’s game against USC:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel said on Tuesday that he expected running back Chris (Beanie) Wells to play against No. 1 Southern California on Saturday.
After missing the Buckeyes’ sluggish victory over Ohio with an injured right big toe on [...]

Up until the middle of the third quarter on Saturday, it looked like the Ohio University Bobcats were going to become this year’s Appalachian State:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — After barely beating Ohio University, No. 3 Ohio State was not a happy football team. The sluggish victory felt more like a loss.
“That was pathetic; it was [...]

Ohio State’s Beanie Wells was injured during last weeks season opener against Youngstown State, and it looks like he’ll be missing Saturday’s game against Ohio University:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said tailback Chris ”Beanie” Wells will not play when the third-ranked Buckeyes take on Ohio on Saturday.
Wells injured his right foot [...]

The result wasn’t really a surprise, but the Buckeyes first win of the season may have come at a heavy price:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -It was as if a stadium full of more than 105,000 people was suddenly empty.
An eerie silence descended on Ohio Stadium when Ohio State’s Heisman Trophy prospect Chris ”Beanie” Wells went down [...]