Penn State's Mauti sidelined with shoulder injury

COLUMBUS, Ohio - One week after he anchored the second-half defensive effort in Penn State's comeback win over Northwestern, linebacker Michael Mauti spent the second half Saturday on the sideline for all but a couple of plays.

Coach Joe Paterno said Mauti's shoulder "had gone out of place." He added that Mauti "has been having troubles with that shoulder," although that had not been known previously.

"That hurt," he said. "Mauti's been playing really well."

Mauti, a redshirt sophomore, posted six tackles - five unassisted and two for losses, including a sack - against Northwestern, the game that gave Paterno his 400th career win.

In the span of back-to-back plays in the third quarter, Penn State went from three available tailbacks to one.

Stephfon Green was knocked woozy on a kickoff return and stayed down for about five minutes before standing and going off on a cart. Paterno said Green "got his head bounced around," but he was not specific about the injury.

"I was scared to death," he said. "But I think he's going to be all right."

On the play after the kickoff, Evan Royster limped off the field after a short gain. Royster, who briefly returned in the fourth quarter, said a lineman fell on his leg during the tackle, but he thought he would be all right.

The injuries left freshman Silas Redd as the only healthy tailback for a significant period of time.

Paterno had the Nittany Lions go for it on three fourth-down plays in the first half, but the third gamble came into question.

With a 14-3 lead, the Lions had fourth and 1 from the Ohio State 20 with 1 minute, 46 seconds remaining in the first half, well within Collin Wagner's field-goal range. But Redd darted to the outside on what appeared to be a planned run up the middle, and gained nothing.

"I need to see it," guard Stefen Wisniewski said, "but I think it would have been smarter to cut back than bounce it outside. But Silas is a freshman. He'll learn from something like that."

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said he thought the stop was the turning point for the Buckeyes and sparked their stepped-up play in the second half.

"Our guys went out in the second half and took over, but I think it was fueled by how hard that defense fought in that last series that they had to stop them," Tressel said.

When quarterback Matt McGloin hit Justin Brown for 23 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, it marked the first time Penn State had scored on a pass in Ohio Stadium in 12 games dating from 1963.

McGloin's 6-yard touchdown pass to Derek Moye in the second quarter gave the Lions 14 points, the most they have scored in a Big Ten game at the Horseshoe since joining the conference in 1993. Saturday marked their ninth such game here.