Buckeyes beaten at home by JoePa & the Nittany Lions

#19 Ohio State falls to #3 Penn State 13-6

It was a gut-wrenching, game-changing mistake, the type of which Ohio State fans can only hope that freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor ultimately will learn from.

Pryor's lost fumble on third-and-inches from the Penn State 49-yard line with 10th-ranked Ohio State leading 6-3 with 10:38 remaining in the fourth quarter not only was instrumental in deciding the outcome of the much-anticipated Saturday night showdown in Columbus, it likely turned over the Big Ten title to the Nittany Lions, who now stand just three more victories away from an undefeated regular season and a possible trip to the BCS national championship game.

“I’m happy for the kids,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said about his players after the third-ranked Nittany Lions (9-0 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) parlayed Pryor’s fumble into the go-ahead touchdown and then held on for a 13-6 victory. “They worked hard tonight against a good football team. We changed a couple things at halftime and came out with a lot of confidence. They kept their poise, and that one turnover was the ballgame because nobody had good field position until that play.”

The situation was this: Leading by three points early in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes had advanced 23 yards on a drive that followed a missed 45-yard field goal by Penn State kicker Kevin Kelly. An 8-yard run by Chris Wells on the fourth play of the possession preceded a gain of a yard-and-a-half by Wells on the next snap. With the Buckeyes looking at third down and needing less than a foot to move the chains, the Ohio State coaches called for a quarterback sneak. What transpired next unfolded like a horror film for the Buckeyes and the scarlet-clad, homecoming crowd that packed Ohio Stadium.

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Pryor took the snap and, with defenders clogging the middle of the line, sprinted toward right end. Before Pryor could turn the corner, Penn State senior safety Mark Rubin hit him hard, jarring the ball loose. A frantic scrum ensued, with players from both teams diving and grabbing for the rolling football. Penn State freshman linebacker Navorro Bowman emerged from the pile with the fumble recovery, giving the Nittany Lions possession at the Ohio State 38.

On the ABC telecast of the game, commentator Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback, provided the following analysis after the play.

“When it's third-and-1, and he (Pryor) tried to make too much happen,” Herbstreit said. “Instead of just taking the sneak for the first down, he tried to actually go to the outside and run for a first down, and Mark Rubin just popped the ball loose. The first time tonight the true freshman has made a true freshman mistake; by instead of just taking the sneak and the first down, he tried to run it to the outside and tried to go 55 yards for a touchdown.”

“And Bowman recovers,” added play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger. “And so here come the Lions now.”

With momentum suddenly in his team's favor, Paterno surprisingly called upon backup quarterback Pat Devlin, as standout starter Daryll Clark, who was reported to have suffered a minor head injury, looked on in disbelief from the sideline.

Paterno's trump card turned out to be an ace, as Devlin engineered the game-winning drive, scoring the go-ahead touchdown himself on a quarterback sneak, ironically, on third-and-goal from the 1 with 6:24 remaining.

Penn State would tack on a 35-yard field goal by Kelly with 1:07 left, and the Nittany Lions snuffed out Ohio State's last drive when cornerback Lydell Sargeant intercepted a long pass from Pryor at the goal line.

Pryor finished with a career-high 226 yards passing, but it was neither the aerial yardage nor the final interception that will be remembered.

Asked about the fumble by Pryor that altered the course of the game and the Big Ten championship race, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said, “From where I stood, I think he saw a couple gaps or penetration, perhaps, I don't know for sure, and tried to slide outside and I think the helmet hit the ball or something hit the ball or whatever and it was unfortunate.”

When the clock ran out, Pryor was disconsolate, still wearing his helmet as he sat alone on the bench with his face buried in his hands.

“Right now, he feels the loss is on his shoulders, but he knows he played a great game,” Ohio State wide receiver Brian Robiskie said about Pryor. “It is up to us seniors to build him back up.”

Tressel was asked what the coaches can do to help Pryor rebound from the bitter defeat.

“Well, every experience you have is one that you can really grow from,” Tressel said. “My experience in life is that the hardest ones are the I've grown the most from. So it's a tough loss and I'm sure that I'll grow from it and I'm sure that we'll grow from it and I'm sure that 'll keep working to get better and I think all of us will keep working to better. So that's all you can do.”

With the loss, the Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1) fell from 10 thto 13th in the Associated Press poll. After a bye this week, Ohio State will play at Northwestern on Nov. 8 and at Illinois on Nov. 15 before concluding the regular season in Columbus with the annual rivalry clash against Michigan on Nov. 22.

“We need to stay focused,” said OSU senior cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. “We have three more games and have to take full advantage of those. In practice, we just need to keep working.”

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