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By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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The Rose Bowl is now out of reach. Another loss and a once-promising season for Penn State could conclude with a bowl game outside of New Year’s Day.

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Daryll Clark says the Nittany Lions need to move on after losing to Ohio State Saturday.

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Saturday’s disheartening 24-7 loss to Ohio State left the Nittany Lions at 8-2 on the season and 4-2 in the Big Ten.

“I mean every loss you take tough, but this ... it stinks,” senior captain Sean Lee said. “When Ohio State’s got what it takes instead of us, losing the way we did, that’s just going to leave a bad taste in our mouths.”

Both losses have come at home and against the only two teams they’ve faced that are ranked in the BCS top 25.

Those defeats came courtesy of the Buckeyes and Iowa -- the two teams ahead of them in the Big Ten standings. Ohio State (8-2, 5-1) and Iowa (9-1, 5-1) face each other on Saturday, with the winner earning an automatic berth in the Rose Bowl. Penn State is eliminated from consideration because of head-to-head tiebreakers.

That leaves the Lions in a precarious situation. They could still eke out an at-large bid to a BCS bowl, or they could plummet off the national radar and end up back in San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl.

Penn State played there just two years ago thanks to a regular season-ending loss at Michigan State. This season the Lions host Indiana on Saturday before traveling to play the Spartans again.

The best-case scenario involves a 10-2 finish and the Penn State brand name being attractive enough for a BCS bowl to hand the Lions an invitation.

But first they have to be eligible to receive one.

Penn State checked in at No. 18 in the latest BCS rankings that were released Sunday, down seven spots from last week. A team must first be in the top 14 to be eligible, but there are a handful of teams that would have the inside track on the Lions for an estimated three available at-large spots.

One of them is all but guaranteed to go to an SEC team, likely the loser of a possible conference title game between Florida and Alabama. Another could go to No. 9 USC, which is a game back in the Pac-10 race and wouldn’t get the automatic bid to the Rose Bowl.

If TCU and Boise State both go unbeaten, one would be guaranteed a spot in the BCS, with the other in the at-large pool.

And if Ohio State finishes off Iowa this week, a 10-2 Penn State team may not be able to move past a 10-2 Hawkeyes squad.

So the most likely scenario is a Jan. 1 trip to Florida for either the Capital One Bowl or the Outback Bowl. Should the Big Ten only get one BCS bid, the Lions would likely play in Tampa in the latter game. But Wisconsin is also 4-2 in league play and will be in the mix for that spot as well.

It all makes for an interesting final two weeks of the season.

“I’m very confident that myself and all of the leaders of this football team will make sure that we throw this (loss) away, as painful as it is, and just continue to move on,” senior captain Daryll Clark said. “We have two football games to play. We still have a lot to play for and whatnot. Next week is the last time I’ll ever suit up, along with the other seniors, here at Beaver Stadium. We definitely have to give a good showing, get a W and just keep rolling.

“When we get done playing Michigan State, we’ll find out where we are.”

Up NExt

Indiana

at

Penn State

Noon, Saturday

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