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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- It was lights out for Northwestern in the first Big Ten Conference night game at Ohio Stadium. Jonathan Wells rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns, including a 71-yarder on the second play from scrimmage, as Ohio State built a big lead and coasted to its 22nd straight victory over the 16th-ranked Wildcats, 38-20. Ohio Stadium has hosted four non-conference night contests since the famed facility opened in 1922, and won each time. The Buckeyes again used the aura of the "Giant Horseshoe" to their advantage and continued their domination of Northwestern in the first meeting between the schools since 1998. "It was an amazing night, a beautiful night for a football game," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "We challenged ourselves to put our best foot forward to show people that Ohio State is one of those top places for a game-day atmosphere." In the opening minute of the game, Wells broke through the line of scrimmage and sprinted to the end zone, exciting a record stadium crowd of 102,042. "It was pretty much smash-mouth football," said Wells, who carried 22 times. "We wanted them to come up and stop us. I knew they were stacking the line and we still believed we could line up there and get four or five yards, and that is what we did." Northwestern (3-1, 1-1 Big 10) answered quickly on an eight-yard TD run by Damien Anderson, but the Heisman Trophy candidate gave it right back later in the quarter. Defensive end Will Smith stripped Anderson of the ball for just his second fumble in 402 carries. Safety Mike Doss scooped up the loose ball and went 30 yards to the end zone to put the Buckeyes ahead to stay. Wells scored on a one-yard run with 26 seconds left in the second quarter to make it a 21-7 game at halftime. The 72-yard drive included a 41-yard pass from Steve Bellisari to tailback Lydell Ross. Bellisari completed four-of-10 passes for 109 yards and was picked off once. Northwestern entered the game averaging 490.3 yards of total offense and was held to 306. "I am not going to try to put into a capsule or give you a sound bite that defines or explains what happened tonight," Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. "That wasn't Northwestern football as we know it. It wasn't our best effort either as coaches or players." The Buckeyes scored 17 points in the third quarter to make it 38-7. Ross scored on a nine-yard run, Wells went in from six yards out and Mike Nugent kicked a 44-yard field goal. Zak Kustok scored on a two-yard run and threw a four-yard TD pass to Jon Schweighardt to make the final score respectable. "They really played well on defense," said Kustok, who completed 16-of-26 passes for 122 yards and was intercepted once. "We just didn't execute well. We didn't play well." Anderson was held to 80 yards on 21 carries.
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