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Penn State takes a lickin’ but stops tickin’ against Ohio State

Submitted by on November 8, 2009 – 1:04 pm3 Comments

Penn State just could not stop Ohio State in key situations Saturday.
Penn State just could not stop Ohio State in key situations Saturday.

Every piece of the Big Ten and BCS puzzle was falling into place for Penn State (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten) on Saturday. Oregon was dropped by Oregon. LSU had lost to Alabama. Cincinnati had struggled with Connecticut. Iowa was upset by Northwestern, setting up Penn State’s clash with Ohio State (8-2, 5-1) for even more importance riding on the 300th game played in Beaver Stadium’s history. The problem was, the same pieces of the puzzle were falling in favor of the Buckeyes as well. Ohio State used a typical business-like game plan to come out of Beaver Stadium with their second straight win in Happy Valley in as many games, 24-7. The defeat was summed up by best by Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, who said “They gave us a good lickin’,” in his post game press conference.

In a game of stingy defenses points figured to be at a premium on Saturday, but Ohio State took advantage of Penn State’s woeful special teams early to set up a two play, eight yard drive that ended with quarterback Terrelle Pryor diving into the end-zone less than four minutes into the game. The Penn State defense held Ohio State to a three-and-out on just four yards on the game’s opening possession but the Buckeye defense returned the favor by sacking Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark on the first offensive play for the Nittany Lions. Penn State traveled backward three yards on three plays and was forced to punt with the snap coming from their own 13 yard line. Poor kick coverage allowed Ohio State punt returned Ray Small to easily move his way up the left sideline and to the eight yard line. Two plays later the Buckeyes silenced the packed house at Beaver Stadium.

The game quickly turned into a game of field position and Penn State was unable to answer the challenge presented by the Ohio State defense. It took Penn State four possessions to pick up a first down, when Clark found an open Graham Zug for 31 yards to take the ball to the Ohio State 29 yard line. The drive continued into the second quarter and Penn State capitalized on a pass interference penalty on Ohio State’s Devon Torrence to place the football on the two yard line with a fresh set of downs. Scoring was not easy though as it took Penn State four plays to pound the ball into the end-zone. Clark stretched over the pile for the touchdown and after the extra point was seemingly kicked, the officials announced that an official’s review was signaled for before the kick attempt. The call on the field was upheld and Penn State re-kicked the extra point to tie the game.

Ohio state, sensing that the momentum may have swung back to the home team, used a methodical drive powered by the running game to put together an answer. On third and five on their own 24 yard line it seemed as though the Penn State defense was going to get the ball right back to their offense, but Pryor took off himself along the right side of the offensive line and dashed up the sideline for 24 yards on a back-breaking play for the Nittany Lions.  Pryor struck again on third and three just three plays later, connecting with Dane Sanzenbacher for 22 yards to the Penn State 23 yard line. After a couple penalties backed Ohio State into a 1st and 25 the Buckeyes worked their way into a 3rd and 16 from the Penn State 29 yard line. This time Pryor did not find a way to pick up a first down but a four yard pass set up a 42 yard field goal attempt for backup kicker Devin Barclay. A five yard offside penalty on Penn state made the kick a slightly more manageable 37 yard attempt, and Barclay converted to put Ohio State up 10-7, and the Buckeyes would have enough points to win the game.

Penn State received the ball to start the second half but it was more of the same story for both the offense and the Ohio State defense. Penn State’s first drive of the half picked up a first down on 3rd-and-two but Clark was sacked on the next play for a seven yard loss. After Clark rushed for six yards a holding penalty was called on the next play to halt any possible momentum swing from the locker room.

The field position battle continued as Ohio State exchanged punts with Penn State, but the Buckeyes were the only ones moving the ball. Penn State went three-and-out two straight drives after the opening drive. Sooner or later a big play was going to determine who won this game. And with that second three-and-out for the Nittany Lions, it was Pryor who took advantage. With the football at their own 38 yard line Ohio state’s Pryor dropped back on the first play of the possession and threw deep to DeVier Posey, who caught the ball and ran all the way to the end-zone for a 62 yard touchdown. The score put Ohio State up 17-7 and really took the fourth largest crowd in Beaver Stadium out of it, except for the Ohio State contingent of fans who made a mockery of Penn State’s unofficial theme song, “Zombie Nation.”

Ohio State opened the fourth quarter with a ten play scoring drive that only had to travel 47 yards. The final dagger for Penn State came in the form of a six yard pass from Pryor to Brandon Saine. With that Ohio state had taken a 24-7 lead in the game and shouted a loud statement to the rest of the Big Ten.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

There really was no true standout player on offense or defense, but the game was determined by special teams. Ohio State’s Ray Small had the biggest say in that.

With Penn State forced to punt ten times, Small was able to return seven of them for 130 yards. Over the course of the game that 130 yards clearly put Ohio State in a better position to win. Small averaged 18.6 yards per return and his 45 yard return early in the game set the tone for Ohio State, as they scored a touchdown two plays later.

By contrast Penn State only returned one punt out of eight forced punts by Ohio State. Graham Zug returned the punt one yard, a split second after looking at another returned to question who was going to catch the ball.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

For Penn State all dreams of a BCS game are officially scratched. The loss drops Penn State into a third place tie with Wisconsin, which still sets up well for the Nittany Lions to make a New Year’s Day bowl game. The Big Ten championship dream can now be that of only a share of the title, but having lose to the top two teams in the Big Ten and ending with a split championship with either would seem silly at this point.

The legacy of Clark also takes another punch to the gut as Clark is now 0-2 against Iowa and 0-1 against Ohio State (Clark left last year’s victory early due to injury). The record shows that Clark has tough times against the top opposition, but this loss should not rest solely on his shoulders. The offensive line gave Clark little protection for most of the game and Ohio State proved to be superior in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The defense was spread laterally many times and they just could not find a way to get off the field despite playing well for most of the game.

Ohio State now controls their own destiny in the Big Ten and could be heading back to the BCS once again, which will surely cause many Big Ten skeptics to roll their eyes.

Penn State continues to have serious concerns in special teams, an area that was exploited against Iowa. Perhaps not so coincidentally, that Iowa game was the only other loss this season for Penn State.

WHAT’s NEXT?

Penn State has little time to dwell on this latest loss. Next week the Nittany Lions play their final home game of the season as Indiana (4-6, 1-5) comes to town. The Hoosiers should not be taken lightly, even though Penn State has never lost a game to Indiana. Indiana has had some tough break this season and has been the victim of some questionable officiating and reviews in at least tow games.

Ohio State will return home to what will surely be an inspired crowd to play Iowa (9-1, 5-1). With the Hawkeyes losing to Northwestern yesterday this meeting sets up as the Big Ten championship game. The Big Ten’s automatic BCS bid will be up for grabs for the two teams who are tied for the top spot in the conference.

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  • kguye

    Total yards in your stat summary is wrong – flip-flopped. Correct is OSU – 353, PSU – 201.

  • http://twitter.com/krmcguire Kevin McGuire

    That is correct. I apologize for the error!

  • http://twitter.com/krmcguire Kevin McGuire

    That is correct. I apologize for the error!