Penn State fails to seize opportunity against Ohio State

It was 3:02 p.m. when the clock expired on fourth-ranked Iowa in a shocking loss to Northwestern. That opened wide a window of opportunity for coach Joe Paterno's Nits to not only snag a possible undisputed league title, or at least a share of it, but to position themselves for a return trip to the Rose Bowl or even to shorten their long-shot odds for a berth in the BCS national-championship game. The public-address announcement of the Iowa loss was made at 3:16, resulting in an eruption of cheers from a sellout crowd of 110,033 that understood the ramifications of what had just gone down in Iowa City.

As it turned out, even more dominoes tumbled during the course of another day fraught with surprise outcomes and perilous escapes in college football's increasingly unstable environment.

All Penn State had to do was take care of business against the Buckeyes and it would have taken a large stride forward in the rankings as well as quieting skeptics who have been saying all along that its schedule was pillow-soft, therefore its credentials for national recognition were suspect. Ohio State was the first ranked team the Nits have played all year during the week of the game, and that won't change this Saturday in the home finale against Indiana and through the regular-season curtain-closer on Nov. 21 at Michigan State.

So the question for the moment is whether Ohio State's thoroughly dominant 24-7 victory over the home team actually is an upset, or an affirmation that maybe the Nits really aren't as good as advertised?

"They gave us a good licking," Penn State coach Joe Paterno admitted. "They played better than we did today."

That was especially so in an area - special teams - that has constituted an Achilles' heel for the Nits (8-2, 4-2) all year. Early in the first quarter Ohio State punter Jon Thoma got off a 55-yard punt to pin Penn State back at its own 15-yard line, and after a three-and-out Nits punter Jeremy Boone's 37-yard punt was returned 41 yards by Ray Small to the Nits' 9. Two plays later, quarterback Terrelle Pryor ran through a Navorro Bowman arm tackle to score from 7 yards out and give the Buckeyes (8-2, 5-1) a 7-0 lead after an elapsed time of only 3 minutes, 13 seconds.

Penn State's only sustained drive of the game - an 11-play, 71-yard march - was culminated at 12:28 of the second period when quarterback Daryll Clark broke the plane of the goal line on a 1-yard dive, temporarily leveling the score at 7 apiece. But it was all Buckeyes thereafter, with Small a major contributor in regularly giving his team a short field to work with. The senior wide receiver returned seven punts for 130 yards, including a 45-yarder to set up the visitors' final touchdown, which helps explain why Ohio State began six of its 14 possessions at the OSU 38 or beyond, with three starting in Nits territory. Penn State, meanwhile, always seemed to get the ball with a long way to go, 11 of its 13 possessions beginning at its own 30 or worse, and none on Ohio State's side of the field.

Starting tailback Evan Royster began this season as Penn State's primary punt returner, but he has since relinquished that role as backfield injuries have made it too risky for him to continue to play special teams. Paterno's other most-used options, Graham Zug and Drew Astorino, aren't really threats to break off a long return, their responsibility more restricted to not fumbling when signaling for fair catches.

In 2008, Derrick Williams, now a rookie with the Detroit Lions, returned 18 punts and 20 kickoffs a total of 684 yards, an average of 18 yards per touch, helping Penn State to a total of 1,167 yards on 62 returns. Four PSU punt returners have managed only 98 yards on 18 returns (a 5.4-yard average), and the punt/kickoff return total is just 496 yards on 40 tries.

"Maybe personnel," Paterno said when asked if he might juggle special-teams assignments again in a belated effort to find someone with Williams' magic.

Make no mistake, though, Ohio State beat Penn State every which way. Buckeyes defensive end Cameron Heyward, son of the late former Pitt and NFL running back Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, had two sacks and a team-high 11 tackles in helping limit the Nits to season-lows of 201 net yards and nine first downs. Pryor, who on occasion can still resemble a deer in the headlights, augmented his touchdown run with a pair of scoring passes - one a 62-yard bomb to DeVier Posey to boost the OSU lead to 17-7 late in the third quarter - and made some key third-down conversions with his arm and his legs.

It all made for a witch's brew of miscues and recriminations for Penn State as its big dreams take an unwanted downsizing.

"We failed," defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu said in assessing the Nits' inability to contain Pryor when it counted.

Added linebacker Sean Lee: "Every loss you take is tough, but this is more . . . it stinks. This is just going to leave a bad taste in our mouths."