COLUMBUS – While Ohio came a quarter away from pulling an upset of Ohio State two years ago, the Buckeyes made sure no such thing happened again.

Second-ranked Ohio State (3-0) scored on first six possessions and did not allow Ohio a first down until midway through the second quarter, running away with a 43-7 victory against the Bobcats on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

In 2008, Ohio led into the fourth quarter before Ohio State rallied for a 26-14 victory. This time, though, the Buckeyes scored 17 points in each of the first two quarters for a 34-0 halftime lead.

Terrelle Pryor, who at one point set a school record by completing 16 straight passes, finished 22 of 29 for 235 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions by Donovan Fletcher.

“I think we all just said it, that we can't have any letdowns,” Ohio state defensive end Cameron Heyward said. “We were thinking about the OU game two years ago and we didn’t want to let down our fans. I think everybody took the challenge.”

Offensive struggles continued for the Bobcats, who turned to Phil Bates at quarterback after starting Boo Jackson in a 17-10 loss to Toledo last week while Bates healed from a thumb injury.

For the second straight game, Ohio (1-2) failed to reach 200 yards of offense, and after committing four turnovers against Toledo, the Bobcats had five against the Buckeyes.

Bates completed just 4 of 9 passes for 13 yards with two interceptions, while starting tailback Vince Davidson had six carries for minus 5 yards.

“We’ve got some problems we’ve got to correct,” Bates said. “We’ve got to execute. We’ve got to get receivers open. We’ve got to come back to the ball. We’ve got to block. We’ve got a lot of work to do on offense.”

The first of those turnovers, an interception on Ohio’s second offensive play, set up Ohio State’s first score, a Devin Barclay field goal.

The Bobcats seemed to bounce back with Julian Posey returning the ensuring kickoff for a touchdown, but it was called back for an illegal block.

“That always hurts, especially when that would have given us the lead,” Ohio linebacker Noah Keller said. “Whenever you get a big play like that taken away, it’s always kind of a back breaker, and I think that’s one of the things that kind of changed the momentum.”

Instead, Ohio went three-and-out, and Ohio State got possession near midfield after a punt. Pryor then put the Buckeyes on top 10-0 with a 9-yard scoring strike to Brandon Saine.

Pryor added a 13-yard rushing touchdown before the first quarter was over, and another Barclay field goal was followed by a Pryor touchdown pass to Jake Stoneburner and a Dan Herron touchdown run.

Heyward tackled Davidson in the end zone for a safety in the third quarter, and Herron capped off Ohio State’s scoring with his second touchdown run.

Ohio got its only touchdown with 6:14 remaining in the game, with Jackson connecting with Terrence McCrae on a fade route from 11 yards out.

“All in all, when you add it up, I thought we played OK defensively,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “That’s tough to say when you have 43 points against you, but obviously that wasn’t all their fault. Offensively, we’re very much a work in progress. We’ve got a long ways to go.”

Ohio will try to bounce back when it travels to Edwards Stadium to face Marshall at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Battle for the Bell.