His passes aren't pretty.

He refuses to throw the ball away.

He takes too many sacks.

He runs too much.

He's going to get hurt.

Arizona's Michael Jolivette tackles Ohio State's Derek Combs in the first quarter.(AP)

Nobody was complaining in the third quarter Saturday night -- actually Sunday morning for those in the Buckeye state -- when the junior from Boca Raton, Fla., completed six consecutive throws for 151 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 18 Ohio State to a 27-17 come-from-behind victory over Arizona.

"I got into a rhythm,'' said Bellisari, who was only 5 of 11 for 84 yards in the first half. "The guys had been running very good routes. It was just a matter of me getting them the ball.''

It also was a matter of Bellisari not trying to run through the Wildcats' defense. He started trying to throw over it.

"I thought I did a lot better at being careful when I was running the ball,'' said Bellisari, who threw for 240 yards and ran for 33. "I didn't think I took a lot of (hard) hits. I was more conscious of that.''

Until Bellisari got hot, the Buckeyes' performance was going to be remembered for getting 10 first-half penalties, which is why they trailed, 17-10.

"There were an awful lot of motion penalties, way too many mistakes,'' Ohio State coach John Cooper said. "This is a tough place to play. The crowd is loud and makes it difficult to check off, but that's no excuse.''

So the Buckeyes simplified things in the second half and let Bellisari do most of the work.

"I had to do something,'' Bellisari said. "There was nothing to do but make things happen. We just weren't executing and were shooting ourselves in the foot with mistakes.

"We were determined to make it better. It was going to take some big plays in the second half for us to come out on top. We did that and it feels good.''

First, Bellisari found wide receiver Chad Cacchio for a 60-yard touchdown to tie the game at 17 with 7:53 left. It was the former walk-on's second touchdown in two weeks.

"That's a pretty high percentage,'' he said of his two scores. "Everything just started to click. In the first half, everyone was making a different mistake on every play.''

After an Arizona penalty before an Ohio State punt kept the Buckeyes' next drive alive, Bellisari threw deep again. He noticed that cornerback Michael Jolivette had fallen down and hit a wide-open Reggie Germany for 46 yards to the Arizona 2. PBackup tailback Jonathan Wells scored two plays later to put the Buckeyes (2-0) ahead for good.

"Now that we won, this was a huge confidence builder for us,'' Bellisari said. "We proved to ourselves that last year (6-6 record) was a distant memory, and we have a very good team. We haven't been getting a lot of respect around the country. Now, maybe we'll get some.''

As much as Bellisari struggled in the first half, he was terrific compared to Arizona quarterback Ortege Jenkins, who has started the season with two miserable games.

In UA's season-opening victory over Utah, Jenkins, considered one of the Pac-10's top quarterbacks in the preseason, completed only 3 of 15 throws after being a 60 percent passer two years ago.

Jenkins was 0 for 6 Saturday night before hitting sophomore Bobby Wade for a 60-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter. Actually, it was a 3-yard pass in the left flat to Wade, who cut across the field and raced untouched into the end zone.

Early in the third quarter, Jenkins had completed only 5 of 14 passes, meaning he was 8 of 29 for the season. He got hot during garbage time in the fourth quarter, but he didn't impress the many NFL scouts in attendance.

One scout said he told Jenkins before the season he had a chance to be this year's Akili Smith, referring to the former Oregon quarterback who was relatively unknown until his senior season when he catapulted to the third pick in the 1999 draft.

Now, the same scout said if Jenkins doesn't improve, he could end up in the Canadian Football League next year.