Penn State

No. 15 OHIO ST. 24, No. 11 PENN ST. 7

FIRST QUARTER

OSU -- Terrelle Pryor 6-yard run (Devin Barclay kick), 11:47. Drive: 2 plays, 9 yards, 0:44. Comment: After the first drive for each side goes nowhere, special teams haunts Penn State once again. Ohio State booms a 55-yard punt and Jeremy Boone answers with a poor 37-yard effort that Ray Small returns 41 yards to the Nittany Lions’ 9-yard line. Two plays later, it’s none other than Pryor who scrambles away from pressure and dives into the end zone. OHIO STATE 7, PENN STATE 0.

SECOND QUARTER

PSU -- Daryll Clark 1-yard run (Collin Wagner kick), 12:28. Drive: 11 plays, 71 yards, 5:04. Comment: After going three-and-out their first three drives, the Lions finally pick up a first down with 1:07 left in the first quarter. Graham Zug then takes a swing pass 31 yards and a pass interference call in the end zone gave PSU the ball first-and-goal at the 2. The Buckeyes get a stop on the first three plays, but Clark dives over the pile for just a second to get the touchdown on fourth. OSU 7, PSU 7.

OSU -- Barclay 37-yard field goal, 6:28. Drive: 10 plays, 61 yards, 6:28. Comment: The Buckeyes put together their best drive of the game thanks to a 24-yard draw by Pryor and a 22-yard completion over the middle to Dane Sanzenbacher. But a holding call stymies OSU’s momentum, and Jim Tressel puts trust in backup kicker Barclay, who smoothly converts from 37 yards after a penalty moves him 5 yards closer. OSU 10, PSU 7.

THIRD QUARTER

OSU -- DeVier Posey 62-yard pass from Pryor (Barclay kick), 1:47. Drive: 1 play, 62 yards, 0:09. Comment: Both teams had traded punts for the entire third quarter, and it looked as though Ohio State was content to try to win 10-7. But the Buckeyes go deep to start a drive and Posey is too fast for Knowledge Timmons and Nick Sukay, scoring easily to stick the dagger in Penn State’s Big Ten title hopes. OSU 17, PSU 7.

FOURTH QUARTER

OSU -- Brandon Saine 6-yard pass from Pryor (Barclay kick), 9:37. Drive: 10 plays, 53 yards, 5:17. Comment: No doubt which team is better this year now. The Lions generate nothing on offense, and the defense gets tired out chasing Pryor from sideline to sideline, resulting in this long drive that featured four third-down conversions, including the touchdown. Saine catches the ball in the flat and leaps over Drew Astorino for the score. OSU 24, PSU 7.

A—110,033.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Ohio St., Saine 20-68, Herron 16-58, Pryor 5-50,

Posey 2-19, J.Hall 3-17, Small 1-13, Sanzenbacher 1-4, Team 1-(minus 1).

Penn St., Royster 13-36, Clark 11-20, Powell 1-6, Green 2-6, Suhey 2-5,

Beachum 1-3.

PASSING—Ohio St., Pryor 8-17-0-125. Penn St., Clark 12-28-1-125.

RECEIVING—Ohio St., Posey 2-77, Z.Boren 2-9, Sanzenbacher 1-22,

Small 1-7, Saine 1-6, Ballard 1-4. Penn St., Zug 7-96, Green 1-11, Shuler 1-8, Quarless 1-7, Royster 1-3, Powell 1-0.

PLAY OF THE GAME

For one play, "Tresselball" took a backseat and the Buckeyes went for the jugular. Calling the offense, head coach Jim Tressel trusted his quarterback to take a shot downfield on first down, and Terrelle Pryor rewarded him with a 62-yard strike that hit DeVier Posey in stride. The score gave Ohio State a 10-point lead, but it might as well have been 100 points at that juncture.

DAY TO REMEMBER

The Pennsylvania native Pryor was assailed by critics not just in State College, but Columbus, too. After a pedestrian first half, Pryor came through in the second when the Buckeyes needed him and installed his team as the new favorites to win the Big Ten.

DAY TO FORGET

The corollary to this tale is obviously Daryll Clark, who had little time to do anything as his offensive line was dominated by Ohio State’s front four. Like the loss to Iowa in Week 4, Clark was jittery because of the pressure and never got into any kind of rhythm.