By: Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com) — After a wild day in the Big Ten, the Ohio State Buckeyes have the inside track toward the Rose Bowl.

Think about that for a second. Everyone had written off Ohio State after its loss to Purdue on Oct. 17, a game where sophomore Terrelle Pryor was at his absolute worst. But the Buckeyes have rebounded in a major way, showing why they’re still the team to beat in this league.

Ohio State’s dominant 24-7 win against Penn State combined with Iowa’s loss to Northwestern has changed the scope of the league title race. The Buckeyes host Iowa next week in what can be called a pseudo Big Ten championship game, as the winner will sit alone atop the conference with one game remaining.

And with Ohio State surging and Iowa losing starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi to an ankle injury, the Buckeyes are in the driver’s seat to win their fifth consecutive league title and reach the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1997. Unbelievable. Never doubt Jim Tressel in November.

Pryor had a big day on a very big stage, tossing two touchdown passes, including a 62-yarder to DeVier Posey late in the third quarter. He added a rushing touchdown and managed the offense extremely well against the nation’s top scoring defense. Propecia buy Speaking of defense, Ohio State’s was fabulous once again. The Buckeyes showed why they’re the league’s most dominating unit, shutting down the Penn State run game and making Daryll Clark’s day absolute hell.

Special teams proved to be a huge factor. Penn State had struggled in the third phase all season, while Ohio State excels and showed why today.

This is a crushing blow for Penn State, which entered the season with national title aspirations. The Lions had two chances this season to show they’re an elite team, and they squandered both of them, falling to both Iowa and Ohio State at Beaver Stadium. Penn State won’t be going to a BCS bowl this season, which qualifies as a major disappointment given the number of star players on this team. It’s a very tough loss for Clark, who had been playing at a very high level the last few weeks.

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