Penn State Hammered By Ohio State

Nittany Lions fall to Buckeyes 24-7

Updated 9:15 PM EST, Sat, Nov 7, 2009

Print Email Share TWITTER FACEBOOK

Getty Images

The Nittany Lions hopes for a Big Ten crown were dashed Saturday as Penn State fell to Ohio State.

Terrelle Pryor tiptoed his way around the Penn State defense, then smiled and danced all over the Beaver Stadium turf. Quite the happy homecoming Saturday for the dual-threat phenom from western Pennsylvania.

Pryor threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in his first game back in his home state and No. 15 Ohio State reclaimed control of the Big Ten race after beating No. 11 Penn State, 24-7 in a duel of the league's top two defenses.

As an added bonus, the Buckeyes (8-2, 5-1) vaulted into a tie for the conference lead with Iowa after Northwestern handed the Hawkeyes its first loss of the season earlier Saturday.

After a demoralizing loss at Purdue last month, Ohio State's hopes for a fifth-straight league title look much brighter. A showdown with Iowa at the Horseshoe awaits next week.

“November is for contenders, we always say that,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “It's hard to get too ecstatic right now because you know the Hawkeyes are coming to town.”

On Saturday, Pryor showed Happy Valley why he was such a prize. He finished eight for 17 passing for 125 yards, and rushed for 50 yards and a 7-yard TD on five carries.

"It was huge. They were making a big deal about it and people were doubting us, 'Buckeyes can't do this or this.' A lot of that stuff motivates us, but we knew we could do it," Pryor said.

Ray Small burned Penn State (8-2, 4-2) with two long punt returns, and Ohio State's defense held dangerous Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark in check with constant pressure.

Clark finished 12 of 28 for 125 yards and the interception. He ran for 20 yards on 11 carries. Evan Royster managed just 36 yards on 13 carries, and a couple dropped passes didn't help the offense, either.

"It's just hard to put points on the board when you don't have a consistent rhythm," Clark said.

The Buckeyes scored the game's final 17 points to silence the crowd of 110,033, the fourth largest in Beaver Stadium history.

"We broke down on a kicking play, had a couple tough penalties, we didn't get any field position," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "It was a tough ballgame for us, it really was, against a good football team."