It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it!

Ohio State came from behind to steal a win over Big Ten foe Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, WI last night.

Freshman QB Terrelle Pryor snuck into the endzone with just over a minute left to give the Buckeyes a 20-17 lead. Then it was the defense’s turn to make a play. Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins intercepted Wisconsin QB Allan Evridge’s pass to seal the win for Ohio State.

It was a hard fought win for the team and they needed it!

James continues to be the team’s top tackler, leading the team with 10 (6 solo, 4 asst); the 12th time he’s been in double digits. Fellow linebacker Ross Homan also posted 10 tackles. [BOXSCORE]

Watch James discuss the team’s win after the game, courtesy of The Ozone.

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As a reward for his 12 tackle performance during the Minnesota game last Saturday, James was named the team’s “Attack Force” award winner…again.

Read up on the rest of the team’s weekly awards on the official athletic website.

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James is one of 30 Division 1 NCAA football players nationwide to be named to the shortlist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

According to the press release the “student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior (in the Football Bowl Subdivision only) and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition.” So, none of us should be surprised that James has been nominated.

Other OSU athletes up for the award include Brian Robiskie and Marcus Freeman.

For more info on the award, visit www.seniorclassaward.com.

Additionally, the Big Ten Conference announced that Ohio State’s next home game, against Purdue Oct. 11, will get underway at 3:30 PM with regional ABC coverage.

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First of all, I have no idea why I didn’t post after the Troy game last week. I was there, watching the team win. I guess I just forgot to hop online and write about it. My bad.

It’s old news, but Ohio State won that game 28-10. James contributed 12 tackles, to once again lead the defense. Additionally, he was named the team’s Attack Force Player of the Week.

Fast forward a week to yesterday’s Big Ten opener and we saw more of the same from James. 12 more tackles which helped his team to victory in the ‘Shoe against Big Ten opponent Minnesota. The defense, as a whole, performed well up until the final quarter when the staff seemed to back off a little and start subbing in other players from the depth chart. The final score was 34-21, which was not nearly as close as that score makes it look. Ohio State never trailed during the game and jumped out to a comfortable 34-6 lead at the start of the 4th quarter before giving up 2 TD scores to Minnesota, with the game well in hand.

Although there were a number of upsets from Top 10 ranked teams this weekend (#1 USC, #4 Florida, and #9 Wisconsin), Ohio State held stead in the AP Poll at #14. Wisconsin dropped to #18 as the Buckeyes travel to Madison, WI for a difficult Big Ten night game.

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Click here to listen to James answer questions from the media leading into this weekend’s game with Troy.

Tickets for the game are still available on TicketMaster.com.

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The Southern Cal Trojans put a hurting on the Ohio State Buckeyes last night. The final score was 35-3 and could have been worse. The team appeared flat and emotionless for the most part as they failed to make it into the endzone.

The game, which was billed to be a Championship calibur meeting, was far from it as the hype and soap opera surrounding starting RB Beanie Wells overshadowed team preparation this week.

There were bright spots from the team, here and there, but overall no answers to anything the Trojans came with.

It was nice to see James out their giving his all and hustling up until the final whistle. He truly embodies all that is great about the Ohio State spirit. He is a wonderful asset to the team and I hope they realize it.

James had 10 total tackles; a team high he shared with Malcolm Jenkins. 6 of those tackles were of the solo variety.

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The captains, as well as a few other players, met with the media today to answer questions about this weekend’s marquee matchup at USC.

Here are a couple of James’ quotes from today’s session:

On the game:
“It’s exciting that the game is here. There has been so much hype and to have it finally be here is great. I remember when I signed with Ohio State thinking how awesome it would be to play against USC at the Coliseum.”

On the USC offense:
“They have a lot of talent. Watching film, you see they have so many weapons on offense. They have the ability to take it to the house on every play.”

More, including audio links, available on the official website.

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You can watch some of the Ohio University postgame media interviews with some of the team, including James, on The Ozone website.

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The Ohio State University football program recorded its 800th all-time victory yesterday against in-state rival Ohio University.

The outcome was closer than many imagined, including the team, but a strong 4th quarter gave the team the lead for good as they went on to win 26-14.

James had 9 total tackles to lead the defense (4 solo, 5 assisted) plus an interception after teammate Marcus Freeman tipped an OU pass. James also broke up a pass during the game.

The boxscore, postgame quotes, and more can be found on the official website. Pictures can be seen at The OZone.

The team never seemed to get a rhythm going and could not execute very well. Due to the struggles and closeness of the game, the team slid 2 spots, in the AP poll, to #5.

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The New York Times is featuring a langthy feature with James, which covers a number of topics including Beanie’s injury, Terrelle Pryor, and more. It’s kind of like a blog.

Here are some excerpts:

It was a little bit scary when our running back Chris Wells went down with his right foot injury. The first thing I did was pray, which is what I do any time one of my teammates or opponents goes down.

I thought our freshman backup quarterback Terrelle Pryor did really well against Youngstown State. He’s a big ball of talent really. He works hard. I think he’s only going to get more comfortable as he moves along. You saw him making decisions and making plays with his feet and his arm.

Since we don’t start school until Sept. 24, it’s good to have football all day. That’s a big advantage for us. You appreciate being on the quarter system right now because most other teams are already balancing class with football. Until classes start, I basically start my day at 9 a.m. with a 30- to 45-minute workout.

Read the full entry here. Prior to this update, James shared another one on August 30.

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