Penn State

By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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STATE COLLEGE -- Still in a daze, Stefen Wisniewski looked straight ahead as he spoke, focusing on nothing in particular.

Likewise, the Penn State center wasn’t able to focus in on any specific mistake the Nittany Lions made on Saturday. There were too many for that to be possible.

“It’s real frustrating. All those three-and-outs left us wondering what happened,” Wisniewski said. “I’m still not sure what happened.”

What happened was a 24-7 thumping at the hands of rival Ohio State. And more than that, what happened were the same mistakes that killed the Lions in their loss to Iowa six weeks earlier.

Special teams gaffes. A lifeless second half. And most damaging, another mediocre performance by the offensive line, which was under siege by an Ohio State defense that only needed to rush four players to get consistent pressure on quarterback Daryll Clark.

Up front, the Lions looked to have made progress, winning five straight after that loss to Iowa, as tailback Evan Royster had enough room to take over the Big Ten rushing lead. Clark was the league’s top-rated passer and was on a school-record pace.

There had been reason to optimism.

But up against an elite defensive front for a second time, the Lions crumbled. Clark was only sacked twice by Cameron Heyward, but he was again jittery and ineffective thanks to the Buckeyes’ pass rush.

Royster managed just 36 yards on 13 carries, and the Lions had only 76 on the ground as a team.

“They didn’t give us anything different,” senior left tackle Dennis Landolt said. “We just didn’t block well enough. ... They ran some stunts and stuff, but we didn’t handle it. It’s all stuff we’ve handled before -- we just didn’t execute tonight.”

Not helping matters was the loss of left guard Johnnie Troutman, who injured his calf in the first half and missed most of the game. He was replaced by redshirt freshman Matt Stankiewitch, who started the first two games of the season.

But it’s hard to imagine having Troutman for the entire game would have made much of a difference.

“I knew we would have troubles,” coach Joe Paterno said of his offensive line. “We had felt the front seven of Ohio State played the run as well as anybody we had seen, including Iowa. We knew we would have our hands full.”

While special teams didn’t cost the Lions the game as it did against the Hawkeyes -- there was no blocked punt returned for a touchdown on Saturday -- a poor punt still led to seven points for the other team.

Senior Jeremy Boone -- who had an otherwise solid day, averaging 45.8 yards on 10 punts -- managed just 37 yards on his first attempt, which Ray Small returned 41 yards to the Penn State 9-yard line.

Terrelle Pryor scored on a scramble two plays later.

One of the most overlooked plays in the game came with the Buckeyes up 10-7 in the second quarter, as a Boone punt ricocheted off of an Ohio State player and back into the end zone.

Chimdi Chekwa was able to alertly dive on the ball for a touchback before the Lions could jump on it for a touchdown or before the ball went through the end zone for a safety.

“Everybody always underestimates how important special teams are in every game,” defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. “People don’t talk about them enough. If you’re gonna be good, you gotta play all phases of the game, and it all kind of goes together. .. It can offset what you do on offense or defense.”

As it was, Ohio State played a nearly flawless road game against a tough defense, controlling field position with strong punts and repeatedly pinning the Lions inside their own 20.

“I said prior to the game that I was worried about the kicking game,” Paterno said. “(Ray Small) was obviously a big difference. We didn’t have much field position in the first three quarters. In fact, we didn’t have any kind of field position until the game was out of hand.

“You’ve gotta give Ohio State credit. They did a good job.”