No. 10 Ohio State (7-1, 4-0) vs. No. 3 Penn State (8-0, 4-0)

Date: Saturday, October 25
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Place: Ohio Stadium – capacity 101,568
TV: ABC will televise the game. Brent Musburger will call the play-by-play and will be joined in the booth by Kirk Herbstreit. Lisa Salters is the sideline reporter.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 The Fan in Columbus is the flagship station for the 73-station Ohio State Radio Network. The Jim Tressel Pregame Show airs 30 minutes prior to kickoff. “Big Daddy” Paul Keels will call the play-by-play and will be assisted by former Buckeye Jim Lachey in the booth and Marty Bannister on the sidelines.
Weather from AccuWeather.com: Cloudy skies and a game time temperature of 47 degrees.
Latest Line: Penn State is an 2-point favorite. The Over & Under is 42.5.
Series History: This is the 24th meeting between the two schools. Ohio State owns a 12-11 record against Penn State, and the Buckeyes are 7-0 in games played at Ohio Stadium since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten Conference.
Last Season at Penn State: Chris Wells ran for 133 yards while quarterback Todd Boeckman threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns as the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes handily defeated No. 24 Penn State 37-17.

The tough Buckeye defense held the Nittany Lions to just 14 first downs and 263 yards of total offense.

Penn State actually held a 7-3 lead with 8:25 left in the first quarter after the Nittany Lions drove 78 yards in nine plays capped off on a 2-yard run by Rodney Kinlaw.

It took just six offensive plays, though, for Ohio State to claim the lead for good as Boeckman hit wide receiver Brian Robiskie on a 9-yard TD strike with 4:59 remaining in the opening period.

The biggest play during that drive and the longest of the game was when Boeckman connected on a 60-yard bomb to Ray Small.

Ohio State took a 17-7 lead early in the second quarter when Boeckman floated a pass to Brian Hartline on a jailbreak screen, who than ran untouched the rest of the way on a 16-yard scoring play.

Probably the turning point of the game came later in the second quarter after Penn State linebacker Dan Connor intercepted a Boeckman pass as the PSU 41.

The Nittany Lions drove 21 yards in five plays and faced a fourth-and-2 and the OSU 38. But Penn State head coach Joe Paterno elected to punt instead of going for it on fourth down and the kick sailed into the end zone for a touchback.

Ohio State ran out the clock in the first half and the Buckeyes led 17-7 at intermission.

After seven plays into the second half, the Ohio State defense forced Penn State to punt and the Buckeyes went the distance on their longest scoring drive of the night, going 87 yards in 13 plays capped off on a 15-yard pass from Boeckman to tight end Jake Ballard.

Both teams traded field goals, and with 9:52 left in the game, Ohio State led 27-10.

It took just 16 seconds for Ohio State to put another touchdown on the board when Malcolm Jenkins intercepted a wounded duck thrown by Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli and returned it 24 yards for a score that made it 34-10.

Analysis and Prediction: I really don’t think this game is going to be that close. So far this season, Penn State is 8-0 and ranked third in both polls as well as the first BCS standings. But who have they played? No one. According to the Saragin ratings, the Nittany Lions strength of schedule is 82, and Penn State has played just one game against a top-30 team.

The only teams Penn State has played that currently have winning records are Oregon State (4-3) and Illinois (4-3), and the combined record of their opponents is 22-35.

Sure, Penn State has a nice offense, but out of Penn State’s six Division I-A (FBS) opponents, only two are presently ranked in the top-half out of all 119 teams in total defense.

I also think that Ohio State’s offense is just as good.

The bottom line is this, defense wins championships, the Buckeyes have a better one, who have effectively shut down both the run (97.1 ypg) and the pass this year (168.2 ypg), while recording 21 takeaways, including 12 INTs.


Ohio State 38, Penn State 24

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Penn State head coach Joe Paterno after realizing that the game was taking longer than expected and he’ll miss out on the senior dinner discount at the local Denny’s.
AP Photo

Did you know that Penn State’s Joe Paterno is entering his 59th year patrolling the sidelines and practice fields in some capacity for the Nittany Lions, and his 43rd as head coach?

Back in 1966, when the average price of a gallon of gas was 32 cents, the average price for a home was $14,200, the average worker made $6,900 per year, and some guy named Cassius Clay defeated some guy named Henry Cooper in two heavyweight title fights in London, Paterno took over the head coaching duties from Hall of Famer, Rip Engle. That’s how long Paterno has been in charge.

Joe Pa went just 5-5 that year in his first season as head coach, but went 8-2-1 the next year before rattling off back-to-back undefeated seasons in both 1968 and ‘69, posting records of 11-0 each year, though the Nittany Lions did not finish No. 1 in any poll.

Following the ‘69 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers made an offer to Paterno, but he turned them down, and they eventually hired some guy by the name of Chuck Noll. Michigan also beckoned, but Joe Pa turned them down as well, and the Wolverines went on to hire some guy named Bo Schembechler.

And he’s been there ever since, even when the New England Patriots made him an offer to not only be the head coach, but tossed in a minority stake in the team back in 1972.

In those 43 years, Joe Pa as won 372 games and two national titles, his first in 1982 and the other coming in 1986.

Since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993 and through the 2007 season, the Nittany Lions had a record of 73-47, which is a winning percentage of .609. In those 15 seasons as a member of the conference, Penn State has won just two Big Ten titles and one outright championship.

If you do the math, 73 wins in the Big Ten over 15 seasons averages out to almost five per season, and in those 15 seasons they have finished 5-3 five times, while eclipsing that mark on five occasions (6-2 in ‘93, ‘96 & ‘97; 7-1 in 2005, and 8-0 in ‘94). Of course, the Lions have finished .500 or less in the five other years, too.

So far this season, Penn State is 8-0 and ranked third in both polls as well as the first BCS standings. But who have they played? No one. The only teams Penn State has played that currently have winning records are Oregon State (4-3) and Illinois (4-3), and the combined record of their opponents is 22-35. Also, out of Penn State’s six Division I-A (FBS) opponents, only two are presently ranked in the top-half out of all 119 teams in total defense.

Unfortunately for Buckeye fans, Anthony Morelli is out of eligibility. Joe Pa’s starting quarterback is junior Darryl Clark, who has passed for 1,531 yards while completing 63.3 percent of his throws with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Pretty good numbers, but that’s what you should have playing against Pop Warner teams.

The Nittany Lions will have a capable back toting the rock with sophomore Evan Royster, who has rushed for 893 yards on 116 carries while averaging of 7.7 yards per rushing attempt to go along with 10 touchdowns.

The top three wide receivers are seniors Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood. All three have at least 25 catches. Butler leads the team in receptions (30) and yards (486), while Norwood tops the list with five TDs.

The top returning tackler form last season, linebacker Sean Lee, tore the ACL in his right knee during spring practice and is out of the year. Leading the Lions in tackles this season is sophomore linebacker Navorro Bowman with 71 stops. Sophomore defensive end Aaron Maybin lead the team in sacks (10) and tackles for loss (14.5).

Oh, one more thing, since 2002, 46 Penn State football players have faced 163 criminal charges, according to an ESPN analysis of Pennsylvania court records and reports. Twenty-seven players have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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