Ohio State beats Penn State, 24-7
November 8th, 2009 at 12:46 am by Displaced Cleveland Fan
The first of three big games at the end of the season that will determine how successful this year was ended with #16 Ohio State solidly beating #11 Penn State on their home field.
Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor, a native of Jeannette, PA, came into Happy Valley and led his team to victory over the university that tried so hard to recruit him. He had 3 touchdowns in the game today (2 passing, 1 rushing).
Once again, the victory came in large part from the play of Ohio State’s defense. The Buckeyes held the Nittany Lions’ offense to just 7 points (none in the second half), 201 total yards. They came inches away from shutting out Penn State. The one touchdown came after the Nittany Lions got a first down on the Buckeyes’ 2 yard line. The defense made three stops to get to fourth down. Joe Paterno chose to go for it. QB Daryll Clark dove forward on a quarterback sneak. It was ruled a touchdown, though the replays made it look like the referees were being a little generous. Regardless, the defense played well again, helping Ohio State to a comfortable win over a tough opponent.
After this win, the Buckeyes are poised to make a jump in the BCS standings. They came in at #16. Five other games this week may help the team move up.
- #4 Iowa lost to unranked Northwestern, 17-10.
- #8 Oregon lost to unranked Stanford, 51-42.
- #9 LSU lost to #3 Alabama, 24-15.
- #10 Georgia Tech needed overtime to beat unranked Wake Forest, 30-27.
- #15 Houston needed a last second field goal to beat unranked Tulsa, 46-45.
Predicting the BCS standings is a little tricky. But it’s fairly certain that Ohio State will move past Iowa, Oregon, and Penn State. They could pass LSU and Georgia Tech, but I don’t expect them to. However, I can see them moving ahead of Houston. If that happens, the Buckeyes should be at #12 next week.
But right now, what’s more important for Ohio State than the BCS standings is the race for the Big Ten title. After this weekend, there are just two 1-loss teams in the conference - Ohio State and Iowa. Coincidentally, these teams play in Columbus next week. If the Buckeyes win, they will capture the conference title. Even if they would lose their final game against Michigan and have two conference losses, the other schools that could still have just two losses have all lost to the Buckeyes. So a win Saturday means a Big Ten title for Ohio State.
If the Buckeyes lose Saturday, they lose the Big Ten. Iowa is in the same shape as Ohio State - one loss against a lesser conference opponent and wins against 2-loss Penn State and Wisconsin. So this weekend’s game is essentially the Big Ten championship game. The Buckeyes don’t need to worry about scenarios about which teams have to lose. They just have to win. Should be fun to watch.
-dcf
Tags: BCS, Big Ten, Daryll Clark, Iowa, Joe Paterno, Ohio State, Penn State, Terrelle Pryor
