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Ohio State Rallies to defeat Penn State, 21-20 

State College, PA - Ohio State (8-1,4-1) back-up QB Scott McMullen zipped a 6-yard TD pass to WR Michael Jenkins with 1:36 remaining in the final period to take its last lead of the game before PSU PK David Kimball's 60-yard FG attempt came up a few yards short as time expired to edge the Lions, 21-20, in another exciting game attended by CFF.com.  For the third week in a row, CFF watched a game not decided until the very last play, and has another potential scorcher on tap next Saturday when we see Virginia Tech visit the Pitt Panthers. 

     After Penn State (2-7,0-5) went three and out on its very first possession, the Buckeyes drove 74 yards keyed by a QB sneak by Craig Krenzel with 4^th and inches at the 16.  RB Lionel Ross took it in from two yards out to give OSU a 7-0 lead.  Penn State’s offense bounced right back with an 80-yard drive of its own.  A key play was Zach Mills’ 20-yard pass to Terrance Philips on 3^rd and nine to put PSU on the OSU 22.  With: 12 left in Q1, Mills connected with FB Sean McHugh in the left flat on a two-yard TD pass to tie it up, 7-7.

     In second quarter action, OSU was driving again until Lion CB Al Zemaitis read Krenzel perfectly and intercepted his pass intended for Jenkins to return it 78 yards, juking out Krenzel in the process, for a PSU TD to take the lead 14-7.  Cheered on by the home crowd of 108,276, the Lion defense played tougher as the game continued and held OSU to three and out on the next series. On third down, OLB Deryck Toles belted QB Krenzel to lay him out as he threw the ball late in Q2. Krenzel never returned to the field of play again, though he did come out with the other team captains at midfield before halftime. Taking over at his own 46, PSU’s Mills connected with WR Jerald Smith for a 23-yard pass play to the 19 to set up PK Kimball’s 42-yard FG attempt to extend PSU’s lead, 17-7.  Though no further scoring occurred in the half, CFF noted PSU’s poor clock management at the end that would later hurt them. With less than two minutes remaining and all their time-outs left, PSU started from their 27 and let time continue to run on several plays before punting the ball from their own 45.  With time-outs and time remaining, it seemed to be a great opportunity to try to extend the lead and build some more momentum going into the second half.  Instead the Lions punted to the Buckeyes’ 2 with 24 ticks left on the clock.  McMullen was now at QB for Ohio State, and after one play, PSU spent their only time-out of the period. What a waste before the half ended.  Finally after four weeks of homecomings, CFF did not have to watch another raggedy, alumni band perform.  During the course of the game though, PSU took time to honor and introduce athletes of several other successful teams, including its Big Ten champ men’s gymnastics team and the women’s soccer team.

      McMullen started Q3 at QB for the Buckeyes and looked like a stronger passer than Krenzel right from the start.  He took his unit right down the field for an 80-yard TD drive capped by a 4-yard TD pass to Jenkins on a slant in over the middle to close the gap, 17-14.  PSU got to the OSU 44 before CB Dustin Fox, who is one of several generations from his family to play in the Ohio State secondary, picked off Mills pass to re-start the Bucks on their own 32.  The teams would exchange two more punts entering Q4.  A telling statistic on the scoreboard pointed out a PSU deficiency on the day – PSU garnered only ten yards rushing up until this point and Zach Mills was the team leader with nine of them on eight carries!  Guest Game Analyst John Massimilla (PSU) made the point earlier that PSU’s running game indicated that they would have a tough time controlling the clock later to win this game, and he would be right. 

    PSU moved the ball to the OSU 31, and on a third and nine the Buckeyes got a no call on a pretty evident pass interference call.  Instead of a first down and better field position, Paterno elected to kick and PK Kimball was good again from 48 yards to give Penn State a six-point margin, 20-14, with 10:19 remaining.  The Buckeyes stuffed yet another Lion running play to force a punt, and GGA Massimilla vociferously reminded JoePa he was playing Ohio State and not Temple, alluding to the play-calling! Ohio State, after several punts, started at their own 28 with less than six minutes in the balance.  McMullen took his team again the length of the field, firing the ball past the turned ear of Zemaitis in the end zone and into the hands of Jenkins to tie the score 20-20.  Mike Nugent’s PAT forged the Buckeyes ahead, 21-20, with 1:32 remaining.  PSU started at its own 17, as its kick returning team was ineffective as it had been the entire game.  Without any time-outs left, PSU achieved some short gains, and with two seconds remaining, Mills connected with Maurice Humphries, who stepped out of bounds at the OSU 43 with :02 left.  Ohio State called two consecutive time-outs to “ice” Kimball, who had booted his kickoffs through the end zone during this game every chance he had. A slight wind entered Beaver Stadium from behind him.  His last second attempt seemed to look strong as it left his foot, but the end over end kick seemed to drop suddenly and came up a few yards short of the uprights.  The Buckeyes had once again found a way to win a close game, and Penn State lost its fifth straight game for the first time ever during the 36-year career of Head Coach Joe Paterno.  It was another exciting game in a string of five for CollegeFootballFan.com.  Penn State stands now at 2-7, 0-5 in the Big Ten.  The Lions last three games include Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan State.  The Buckeyes with their one loss are possibly back in the BCS hunt with Miami’s 31-7 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday night.  The team from Columbus has its work cut out for them though as they next host Michigan State and Purdue before traveling to Ann Arbor to face archrival Michigan in their annual finale.  Three wins can possibly get them back into the title game at this year’s Sugar Bowl.

 Extra points:  Despite Joe Paterno’s post-game accusations in regards to officiating (CFF saw a few of them justified), the coach needs to look a little closer at some of his own decisions that affected this game as well, such a clock management, time-out management, play calling and some of his personnel moves, especially on punt and kick-off returns.  Trev Alberts of ESPN suggested that Joe "take some Big 10 officials out to dinner" to hopefully get the calls he deserves in the future.

We tailgated near some Ohio State students who live in NJ, and they told us how the new President at OSU has fans and students up in arms in regards to new tailgate rules that seem to limit the time-honored tradition.  People of all ages are being ticketed for alcohol consumption as well as other things.  Why doesn’t the OSU president look into other things a little more important like the academic schedules of their student athletes and improving the graduation rate?

 It was a great day for tailgating in Happy Valley. GGA Frank Lorito brought the chili and sandwiches.  For the first time ever, a woman approached us while tailgating with a tray of cigars for sale - $15 for Cubans and $5 for Dominicans.  We went with the economic fare which was pretty good.  The mild weather for November 1 was great timing.  Since the game went down to the wire, everyone stayed until the end of the game. The parking lots were backed up for a few hours, so we were able to enjoy a few more beers, sandwiches, chili and music in shirt sleeves before everyone cleared out before our 3-hour trek home.

 The PSU percussion section added some new twists to their post-game performance.  They added some “theatrics” involving a little friendly band competition.

CFF has seen the Lions for the last time in '03 when the Lions came up 1-2, 50-18 overall in the history of CFF.  Next year we plan to see them add one new team to The Goal, Central Florida, and possibly Big Ten foes Iowa, Northwestern or Michigan State.