Ohio State pumps up the volume

SEATTLE -- Usually stoic in his scarlet sweater vest, Jim Tressel was jumping around the sideline.

In the huddle, normally low-key Todd Boeckman barked at his Ohio State teammates, as the quarterback making his third career start joined his coach in trying to ignite the Buckeyes.

It worked.

Chris Wells ran for 135 yards and a touchdown, Boeckman threw for 2 more scores and No. 10 Ohio State scored 24 consecutive points in the second half to beat Washington 33-14 on Saturday.

"Oh, man, I was really surprised. I've never seen Todd like that," Wells said of the 23-year-old junior replacement for Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith.

Ohio State (3-0) tied a school record for consecutive wins in the regular season with 21, matching a mark set from 1967-69.

"It was gut-check time for us, to see who wanted it the most. As you can see, we wanted it the most today," Wells said.

Boeckman was 14-for-25 for 218 yards. He just laughed when asked about his outbursts.

"I'm not a guy who speaks up much, but we had a lot of dumb penalties in the first half," Boeckman said. "You could see it in their eyes (that they needed it)."

Linebacker James Laurinaitis intercepted Washington's Jake Locker twice deep in Buckeyes territory. Last season's Nagurski Award winner as the nation's best defensive player also had a key sack of the Huskies' redshirt freshman star during the decisive sequence of the third quarter, when Ohio State turned a 7-3 deficit into a 17-7 lead.

As Brandon Saine ran 37 yards for a touchdown on the game's final play, Tressel was getting a bucket of ice water dumped on his head to celebrate his 200th career victory.