It was far from pretty, however, and with the game seemingly in hand in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes suffered a scare when Wayne High School graduate Braxton Miller had to be helped off the field after catching a deep ball from Jones. Miller suffered an apparent head injury.
“I think he’s going to be fine,” coach Urban Meyer said in a postgame TV interview.
The Golden Gophers (4-5, 1-4) trailed 21-0 after three quarters. Then quarterback Mitch Leidner threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to make things interesting in the final minutes.
Ohio State recovered an onside kick with 2:10 to play after Minnesota cut the deficit to 21-14. Jones secured the victory with a 38-yard touchdown run with 1:53 to play.
Jones completed 12 of 22 passes for 187 yards with one touchdown pass to Michael Thomas. Elliott extended his streak of 100-yard games to 14 with 114 yards on 26 carries with one touchdown.
The Buckeyes got off to a slow start. They gained one first down on their first three possessions.
Late in the second quarter, Leidner made a big mistake. Ohio State safety Vonn Bell picked him off in the middle of the field and returned the interception 16 yards for a touchdown.
After another three-and-out by Minnesota, Ohio State’s offense showed some life at last. Jones connected with Jalin Marshall for a 44-yard pass. One play after that, Elliott scored his 14th touchdown of the season on a 15-yard run.
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