COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ The Beanie and Terrelle show debuted to rave reviews.

Tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells rushed for 106 yards in his first game in a month and quarterback Terrelle Pryor ran for two scores and threw for another to lead No. 14 Ohio State to 34-21 victory over Minnesota today.

It was the first time the two had started in the same backfield.

Wells, out after injuring his right foot in the season-opener, carried 14 times and showed his old form by racing for 28 yards on his second attempt. He also vaulted a potential tackler on another big gainer.

In his second start as a true freshman, Pryor ran for 97 yards on eight carries, scoring on runs of 33 and 1 yard. He also completed 8-of-13 passes for 70 yards, including an 8-yard scoring hook-up with Brian Robiskie. He also had a 31-yard touchdown catch from Todd Boeckman, who Pryor replaced as starter a week earlier.

It was the Big Ten opener for both teams. Ohio State (4-1) won its second in a row while tuning up for next Saturday's showdown at No. 9 Wisconsin. Minnesota (4-1) was hoping to prove how far it had turned things around from last year's dismal 1-11 mark.

After picking up the 28 yards on his second carry, Wells received a loud ovation from a crowd of 105,175, as if they were telling him, "Welcome back. We missed you."

The Ohio State offense obviously had missed him. In the three weeks since he was hurt, the running game had been mediocre and the passing game erratic as the Buckeyes had been stuffed by then-No. 1 Southern California 35-3 and struggled in wins over Ohio (26-14) and Troy (28-10).

The Buckeyes built a 20-3 halftime lead and never looked back against Minnesota.

On the next play after Wells' first big run, Pryor kept around the right end on a 33-yard carry, colliding with a tackler at the goal line and falling into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Wells fumbled the ball away the next time he touched it, giving the Golden Gophers the ball at the Ohio State 24. But they netted just eight yards on three plays and ended up settling for Joel Monroe's 33-yard field goal.

The teams traded punts until Pryor led an 86-yard march, gaining 38 yards on a third-and-3 play. Dan Herron, who had filled in for Wells while he was out, added a 17-yard run on an option pitch before the defense stiffened at the Minnesota 4 and Ryan Pretorius kicked the first of his two field goals.

Minnesota, among the national leaders with a +11 in turnover margin, hurt itself by giving up the ball on two consecutive possessions. First Adam Weber threw behind a receiver at the Ohio State 14, directly to Buckeyes cornerback Donald Washington.

The next time the Gophers got the ball, Weber hit tight end Jack Simmons on a 12-yard first-down pass play when a slow whistle resulted in Ohio State safety Anderson Russell stealing the ball from Simmons. Minnesota coach Tim Brewster called timeout and asked for a review of the play, but it was confirmed because no whistle had blown even though Simmons was stood up and in the middle of a pack of defenders for several seconds. As Ohio State's offense came on the field, Brewster twice waved his arms in anger at the officials.

Two plays later, Wells took a handoff that was supposed to go off left guard and made a nifty cut at the line to avoid traffic, then rumbled down field and hurdled diving defender Kyle Theret in a highlight-reel move on the way to a 21-yard pickup. Pryor capped the drive with an 8-yard TD pass to Robiskie in the left corner of the end zone.

Pryor rolled right and was untouched on a short TD run in the third quarter.

After Boeckman found Robiskie on a diving one-handed grab for a score, the Golden Gophers scored twice. Weber, who completed 23-of-36 passes for 187 yards with the one interception, flipped a perfectly timed pitch to Ralph Spry for a 3-yard touchdown.

Weber later threw a 22-yard TD pass to Da'Jon McKnight that cut the lead to 13 points, but Ohio State recovered the ensuing onside kick with 1:13 left and ran out the clock.