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| Justin King tallied three tackles against Ohio State and made his first career interception. |
COLUMBUS, Oh.; September 23, 2006 ?C Facing the nation??s No. 1 team, on the road, in a driving rainstorm and at times without Joe Paterno, Penn State fell to Ohio State 28-6 at Ohio Stadium.
Tony Hunt carved through the Ohio State defense 24 times for 135 yards, Sean Lee led Penn State with a career-high 11 tackles and the Lions had a chance to score an upset until the game??s final moments.
Penn State was driving with five minutes remaining, down just eight points, but Ohio State??s Malcom Jenkins and Antonio Smith each intercepted Anthony Morelli for touchdowns on consecutive drives to thwart the Lions and increase the winning margin.
??He is down right now, but he??ll be alright,?? Paterno said of Morelli after the game. ??You have to remember that he hasn??t played a lot of football.??
The punting of Jeremy Kapinos helped to keep the Lions in the game. The fifth-year senior punted six times for 303 yards, including a season-high 68-yarder.
Penn State went three-and-out on its first offensive possession but got the ball back quickly. Justin King intercepted Troy Smith on an overthrown deep ball, using all his receiver skills to rocket past Ted Ginn and make the diving catch. It was the first career interception for King and the first pick for Smith in 152 attempts.
Ohio State??s early miscue didn??t result in any Penn State points, however, because James Laurinaitis intercepted Morelli on the ensuing drive. The Buckeyes drove the ball to the 36-yard line, but Aaron Pettrey pushed his 53-yard field goal attempt wide right and the first quarter ended in a scoreless tie.
| Posluszny's four tackles gives him 287 stops for his career, tying him with Dennis Onkotz for third all-time at Penn State. |
With eight minutes left in the first half, lingering flu symptoms forced Joe Paterno to find refuge in the locker room. ??It was the first time I??ve left the field in 60 years of football, including high school,?? Paterno quipped. "But I??ve always said that if I can read the paper on Sunday after a loss, I don??t need a doctor.??
Without their coach, the Lions rallied to march 67 yards in 11 plays and take the lead behind the tough running of Hunt, who carried five times for 36 yards on the drive.
Kevin Kelly actually had two attempts to put the first points on the board. He knuckled his first try low and right from 23 yards, but got another chance when Jenkins slid into him while trying to block the kick. After the roughing penalty, Kelly??s second kick was good from 21 yards and gave the Nittany Lions a 3-0 halftime lead.
Paterno was back on Penn State??s sideline after halftime but returned to the locker room for parts of both the third and fourth quarters to fight off the flu.
The Lions continued to battle bravely without their leader. One minute into the third quarter, Dan Connor intercepted Troy Smith at the Ohio State 26-yard line but again the Lions couldn??t score. Kelly pulled a 42-yard attempt wide left.
Ohio State capitalized. Antonio Pittman had 55 all-purpose yards on a nine-play drive and accounted for the go-ahead touchdown. His 12-yard run gave the Buckeyes a 7-3 lead at the end of three periods.
Minutes into the final frame, Troy Smith turned a broken play into six points. The mobile senior scrambled in the pocket, eluded Tim Shaw and threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie that put the Buckeyes up 14-3.
Kelly narrowed the margin with a 23-yard field goal that made the score 14-6 with seven minutes to play, but the 61 and 55-yard interception returns by Smith and Jenkins, respectively, in a span of 80 seconds in the final minutes dashed Penn State??s hopes.
| Hunt again was a stabilizing offensive force, piling up 135 yards on 24 carries. |
There was a big game atmosphere in Columbus this week and rightly so. Ohio State entered the game ranked No. 1 and for the third time in Penn State??s last 10 regular season games, ESPN's popular College GameDay program was at its game to broadcast live. Most importantly, it was the conference opener for the two teams that shared the Big Ten crown last season.
After 22 meetings between Penn State and Ohio State, the rivalry is now knotted at 11-11. The Buckeyes have won seven of the 12 games played in Columbus and the home team has won 11 of the 13 games since the Nittany Lions began Big Ten play in 1993.
Overall, Ohio State has won eight straight games at the Horseshoe and 11 of its last 12; the Buckeyes have an all-time mark of 369-104-20 in games played at Ohio Stadium.
The Buckeyes roll into Iowa City next week to face the Hawkeyes; Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium for its conference home opener against Northwestern.
In spite of today's challenges and the tough loss, the Lions remain upbeat. ??We fought hard and proved we could play,?? said Connor, who made eight tackles, one for loss. ??Looking ahead, we have to win next week.??