Jim Tressel saw his Buckeyes take a 3 point lead in a
defensive matchup between Ohio State and Penn
State this past Saturday and began to
make the conservative calls needed to run out the clock and hand Ohio State
the victory. This conservative play calling has become known as Tressel Ball to
Ohio State fans. But strategy needed to be
abandoned, as young freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor lost the ball early in
the fourth quarter giving Penn
State favorable field
position and the opportunity to go ahead.
By Steve Patterson
Pryor Turns the Ball Over
When the final minutes of the game
ended, Terrelle Pryor had turned the ball over twice and the Buckeyes were
unable to score again to offset the fourth quarter touchdown scored by Penn State
quarterback Pat Devlin after a Pryor fumble near the 50 yard line. No. 3 Penn
State won the game 13-6 leaving Ohio
State needing help from
other teams in the conference if they want to claim another Big Ten title.
After the game Pryor explained the
play as a chance he saw to make a touchdown for Ohio State
that did not materialize. “They were pinching in and I just figured I would
take a chance. I figured I would probably get in trouble in the film room for
it, but I was just trying to make a play,” Pryor said. “I could have gotten the
first on the QB sneak. It was like a half-yard so I could have punched it in. I
saw all the Penn state guys pinched in and I knew they were going to collide in
because it was going to be a sneak so I knew I had the edge.”
Penn
State Defense
Penn
State was able to shut down the
running game of Ohio
State on the night.
Starting tailback Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells rushed for a season low of 55 yards with
22 carries. Similar to a Purdue matchup played earlier in the month, the
Nittany Lions played close to the line with their safeties and linebackers to
make Ohio State pass for yardage. Penn
State defensive tackle
Jared Odrick and defensive end Aaron Maybin both had very good nights against
the run and providing pressure on Pryor.
Ohio
State did move the Ball
Pryor was
able to make a number of passes and moved the ball well on several drives for
the Buckeyes. Pryor had one of his best nights at the collegiate level throwing
the ball. He was 16-of-25 for 226 yards. One of his favorite targets on the
night was sophomore Dane Sanzenbacher. Sanzenbacher led the Buckeyes in
reception yards with 82 on six completions.
Ohio
State Silver Bullets
Penn State
came into the match-up with one of the best offenses in the Big Ten. Buckeye
defensive line players Cameron Heyward and Thaddeus Gibson both had very
productive nights as Ohio
State made the ground and
air attacks of the Nittany Lions limited. Senior Linebacker James Laurinaitis
provided another double-digit tackle night keeping Penn State
tailback Evan Royster to only 77 rushing yards on 19 carries. But moving the
ball against Penn
State was just as
difficult for the Buckeyes who could not get to the end zone in the final
minutes when they fell behind.
The BCS ratings
were released today and Ohio
State did not fall so far
as to keep them out of a major BCS bowl game at the end of the season. The USA
Today Coaches poll listed the Buckeyes at #13 while the Harris Interactive has the
team at #12. Combine those rankings with more favorable computer scores, and Ohio State
is #12 in the BCS ratings for the week.
Back home
in State College Pennsylvania,
students rioted early Sunday morning injuring fourteen police officers in
addition to numerous instances of property damage. CNN reported that over the
course of 2 ½ hours, twenty people were arrested and an estimated $50,000 in
damage occurred. Over 1,500 people were involved in setting fires, smashing
storefront windows, vandalizing, and other related destructiveness.