when he should have been forward, playing the trajectory of a flatter, quicker ball rather than its length, and feathered an edge to the keeper.Thereafter, Vijay and Pujara settled in and brough

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State considers last weeks stunning upset by Penn State an aberration, and recent history shows the Buckeyes probably arent going to lose two in a row.Teams coached by Urban Meyer have dropped consecutive games only four times in 15 seasons. And Northwestern comes to Columbus as a three-touchdown underdog. The Wildcats havent won here since 1971.But No. 6 Ohio State (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) is vulnerable. The passing game has been beset for the past three games with lapses on the offensive line, receivers who cant get open and an inability by quarterback J.T. Barrett to hit game-changing bombs. The running game, too, bogged down in last weeks loss.Offense always starts with protection, he said. That was not our best game in protection and giving (Barrett) time to go through his reads.Northwestern is playing well, having won four of its last five after a slow start. The Wildcats last three games have been victories over Iowa, Michigan State and Indiana.Thats as an improved team as Ive ever seen from the beginning until now, Meyer said. Outstanding. Three big wins, two on the road. Defining wins. The defense is outstanding, gigantic inside guys, so just a very good team.Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said Saturdays game is where the heavy lifting starts.You get to the end of October here, you get to November, this is when the rubber hits the road in the Big Ten, Fitzgerald said. Weve got a heck of a steep mountain to climb here these next five weeks, and nobodys got a stiffer challenge than us this week when weve got to take on the Buckeyes.Here are some things to watch when Northwestern visits Columbus for the first time since 2007:TALE OF 2 HALVES: Northwestern went up 24-3 at halftime against Indiana last week, but was shut out in the second half and had to hold on for a 24-14 win. Coach Pat Fitzgerald said hes addressing consistency issues and a lack of effort by some young players in the second half. Were an immature team, Fitzgerald said. Were a 4-3 football team for a reason. Weve just got to keep coaching the heck out of them, and thats what were going to do. Hopefully, well get better this week or well get killed in Columbus.ROTATING RECEIVERS: Meyer has been questioned about his rotating of outside receivers, most of them inexperienced before this season, and whether that could be contributing to the failure of Barrett to get the passing game clicking. Meyer said he likes the rotation and has no plans to change it because he wants to be able to have fresh players on the field late in the game. But hes still looking for one of the young receivers to emerge as the deep-ball threat the team sorely needs. Theres not a big differentiation in our group right now, he said. You kind of hope one would separate, and I dont see that quite happening. Noah (Brown) is a pretty reliable guy and had some nice plays, the other ones need to elevate.WHERE IS CURTIS?: Meyer has called hybrid back Curtis Samuel the teams most dynamic playmaker. Samuel ranks second in the Big Ten with 142.6 yards per game and 37 receptions. Hes the teams leading receiver. Still, he touched the ball only 10 times against Penn State -- eight passes and two rushes, one a breakaway 74-yard touchdown run. Meyer acknowledges Samuel should get the ball more but wont dictate that he be involved on specific plays, preferring instead to let Barrett continue to read the defense and take what it gives him.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacyFor some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mitch-stacy Hakim Warrick Jersey . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Tony Allen Jersey . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. https://www.cheapgrizzlies.com/ . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. O. J. Mayo Jersey . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Josh Jackson Jersey . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. India 291 for 9 (Vijay 65, Pujara 62, Boult 3-57, Santner 3-77) v New Zealand Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIndia seemed to have made the ideal start to their 500th Test. They had won the toss on a pitch full of cracks that were expected to widen and offer lots of help for the spinners from the third day onwards. Their top order had made a confident start, and halfway through the first day they were 154 for 1.New Zealand, though, had come to India with the belief that they had the tools they needed to compete hard. Over the second half of the day, their five-man attack showed what it was capable of, and left India 291 for 9 at stumps.By then, each of the New Zealand bowlers - two left-arm quicks of differing methods, an offspinner, a left-arm orthodox spinner, and a legspinner - had struck at least one vital blow. Mitchell Santner, attacking the stumps with his left-arm spin and varying his pace well, chipped out three wickets. Ish Sodhi took out the set M Vijay in the last over before tea. Mark Craig dismissed Ajinkya Rahane in a testing post-tea spell of flight and drift.Trent Boult went wicketless with the first new ball, but swung the second one devastatingly to rip through Indias lower order. The biggest wicket, though, went to Neil Wagner, who turned the mood of the match with the wicket of Virat Kohli.It was the definitive hinge moment. New Zealand had just broken a century stand between M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, and the oppositions captain and best batsman had walked in to deafening noise. He had begun confidently, slapping Santner to the cover point boundary and then stepping across to hook a good short ball from Wagner to the backward square leg boundary, with a bit of help from a Sodhi fumble on the boundary.Two balls later, he tried the same shot, but this time Wagner had switched from left-arm around to left-arm over. Kohli had to work against the angle, and only managed a top-edge that settled nicely in Sodhis hands.Green Park went quiet.Unlike Kohli, Vijay hadnt taken on Wagners short balls, and through both his spells - one with the new ball and another, spanning seven overs, in the afternoon session - he had swayed out of the way, dropped his wrists, and simply watched balls go through to the keeper. He had been similarly watchful against the other bowlers, permitting himself only one indulgence - the late cut. This shot, played off balls that were barely short or wide, had fetched him boundaries against Wagner, Santner, and Trent Boult, but in the last over before tea, batting on 65, he tried it against Ish Sodhis legspin and nicked to the keeper BJ Watling.ddddddddddddFour down at tea, India were quickly five down as Rahane, reaching out to defend Craigs offspin, failed to get near the pitch of the ball, and inside-edged to short leg.Rohit Sharma had looked edgy against Craig, outside-edging him past slip, inside-edging him wide of short leg, and surviving a close lbw appeal when he tried to sweep him off the stumps, but grew more comfortable as his sixth-wicket stand with R Ashwin neared and passed the half-century mark. But not for the first time in his Test career, the itch to hit over the top consumed him, against the run of play. Trying to hit Santner down the ground, he only managed to loop a simple catch to mid-on.The dismissal exposed Indias lower order to a ball that was only three overs old. Boult, fast and accurate, swerved one back in from over the wicket to sneak between Wriddhiman Sahas bat and pad. Then he went around the wicket to Ashwin - who had just become Indias highest run-getter in 2016 - and snaked an offcutter away from him. Rooted to the crease, he nicked to gully. Then another full, swinging left-arm classic to bowl Mohammed Shami. India were 277 for 9.How different it had all been, not all that long ago. India had begun brightly, with KL Rahul going after Boult, who frequently overpitched while trying to find the right length with the new ball. Having rushed to 26 off 35 balls against the seamers, he greeted the introduction of spin with a slog-swept six off Santners second ball. But two balls later, he stayed back when he should have been forward, playing the trajectory of a flatter, quicker ball rather than its length, and feathered an edge to the keeper.Thereafter, Vijay and Pujara settled in and brought up their third century partnership - and 12th over 50 - looking at ease on a typically subcontinental first-day pitch, with the abundant cracks on its surface not yet wide enough to affect its behavior. Coming off scores of 166 and 256* in the Duleep Trophy, Pujara had batted with positive footwork against the spinners, stepping out to the pitch or rocking right back, and was looking set for another massive score. But against the run of play, he spooned a drive back into Santners hands, with the ball possibly holding up on the pitch.It was a small opening, but an opening nonetheless, and New Zealand showed they had the bowling to break right through it. ' ' '