So much for “Terrelle Cryer” making an appearance.
It was a battle all night, but Ohio State made the plays to take the game going away with a final of 24-7. PSU found themselves constantly facing a level of defensive intensity that they had not encountered all year. The result was a very poor offensive effort that ended with only 201 total yards and 9 first downs on the game (7 on their own, two thanks to Buckeye penalties).
Neither offense started out the game looking particularly effective, and the three-and-out marathon seemed inevitable. However, on the ensuing Penn State punt, OSU made the play that allowed them to jump out to the early lead. Ray Small almost took it to the house before being tackled on the 10 yard line. Two plays later, Terrelle Pryor punched the ball in from 8 yards out to take a 7-0 lead.
Small was a beast today on punt returns, as he later had another return that would have gone all the way if he hadn’t been caught (by the freaking punter) inside Lion territory. Small also had an end-around run for 13 yards and a 7 yard reception on the day. Player of the Game? He certainly did everything he could to give us the win. Two punt returns that set up 14 points is enough for consideration, but Pryor has to get the award for facing down the pressure hanging over his head.
Pryor managed to avoid the costly mistake that had hurt him in previous big games during his OSU career. He ended the game with unspectacular throwing stats, with 8/17 for 125 yards….but 2 TD’s will allow us to forgive a low percentage rate, including a beautiful 62 yard toss to Posey to put the game firmly out of PSU’s reach. His other touchdown strike was on a pass to Saine in the flat who managed to stretch out and punch the ball through the goal line. Pryor also had an impressive day running the football going 50 yards on 5 carries and his TD.
The most impressive runner early was Boom Herron, who managed to continually wrack up big gains during OSU’s third drive. The drive ended in a punt – though it had been looking extremely impressive. Herron ended up having to leave the game after 16 carries for 58 yards, looking like he had re-injured his ankle.
Saine also carried the ball often today, with 20 attempts for 68 yards. Unfortunately, PSU’s defense was often gunning for him, and there weren’t many opportunities for big plays. Posey and Hall also got into the running game, Posey managing 19 yards on 2 carries, and Hall 17 on 3, though those occured late in the game when there was already no doubt as to who was going to secure the win.
The receiving was once again spread around, with no player catching more than 2, although Zach Boren at Fullback was one of those, picking up a respectable 9 yards. Posey completed 2 for 77, although four passes ended up in his hands. Two were behind the line, which ended up counting in the stats as runs. Sanzenbacher had 1 for 22, but had a chance for another huge touchdown at the end of the first half, but was slightly overthrown by Pryor (despite being wide open). Ballard also made a short 4 yard reception on the game.
Penn State struggled offensively all game. Only one drive on the game had any success, going 71 yards on 12 plays and ending in their only touchdown. That touchdown occured on a 4th down and 1 when Daryll Clark jumped the line and tried to punch the ball across the line. Replay seemed to suggest that he never made it across, though the review official disagreed. The OSU defense likely took that personally as all the subsequent Penn State drives failed. In fact, other than the next possession (9 plays, 48 yards – but ended in a punt), no drive went longer than 6 plays, and the longest drive went for 30 yards – the last drive of the game in garbage time. Those drives ended in 7 punts and 2 turnovers (1 INT and 1 Turnover on Downs).
As the game wore on, it increasing looked like the Penn State fans had been crowing all season, but had no real talent to support their chest-thumping. Weak and insulting t-shirts turned to booing early and the discussions of Royster or Clark for Heisman seemed like a headline on The Onion by the end of the game.
Even the vaunted Penn State defense was exposed as overrated, surrendering 228 yards on the ground to the Buckeyes. This was a game that showed why Akron and Syracuse are not good warmups. The Buckeyes running game, possibly its weakest rushing attack under Tressel, ran all over “Linebacker U”. Six different players broke off carries for over 10 yards. Yes, I said six.
Ohio State’s defense generally pinned it’s ears back and played aggressively all game. Penn State’s offensive line was unable to sustain the run, and was usually unable to keep Clark protected for any length of time. Thaddeus Maximus was all over the field, and registered a sack. The big name on the defense, though, was “Ironhead” Heyward, who was completely unblockable and was in Clark’s grill all game.
Also notable was the secondary’s play. While Anderson Russell had some questionable plays (as usual), Torrence, Chekwa and Coleman were tough in coverage and smothered PSU’s playmakers. Clark himself went 12/28 for 125 yards and an INT throwing to 6 recievers, only one of which managed to catch more than 1 ball. That receiver was Penn State’s only answer against Ohio State, as he made 7 receptions for 96 yards. Probably because he was Russell’s man most of the night.
Evan Royster also had difficulties, only running 13 times for 36 yards. Daryll Clark was no better with 11 carries for 20 yards. As a team, Penn State ran 30 times for 76 yards for 2.5 yards per carry.
Ohio State’s play calling early was again questionable, though the results don’t show it. The Buckeyes continued to stubbornly run the ball, despite the fact that it was apparent that it was not working. The first drive that they started with a pass was the 62 yard pass to Posey. It’s unclear if OSU was trying to draw PSU into the box and burn them deep, or if they just happened to finally call the right play and Pryor took advantage of it. Either way, it was successful took the game away from the Nits.
Ohio State continues to struggle with penalties, as they committed 9 for a grand total of 86 yards. However, these mistakes were not enough to stall the Buckeyes all the time as they rang up 353 yards total for the game.
The Buckeyes did show that they can sustain drives against good teams as they had two scoring drives of 10 plays. They also proved that they could score on the quick strike against good teams with the deep pass to Posey, and the close calls with Sanzo and several others. Even better was that the team played mistake free, especially from the young Pryor who needed to show some growth and definitely did today. Pryor left no question today that he wants to be the player we all think he can be, and that he will very likely get there sooner rather than later.
In the end, Penn State fans can take one lesson from this. One game in 2008, decided by a lucky fuble, did not warrant a stalker-like mocking of Terrelle Pryor. Today, you paid the price for your arrogance. We’ll let you know how it feels when we have our fifth straight Big Ten Title, and you write to us from the Capital One Bowl.
Next week, the Buckeyes (8-2) host the Iowa Hawkeyes (9-1) who suffered their first loss of the season today at home against Northwestern. No, really. They did.
If Ohio State wins at home next week, they clinch a share of their fifth straight Big Ten title.
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