Buckeye Rosters

Recap

State College, PA — The No. 17 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions played an intense and physical 60 minutes of football in a key Big Ten Conference matchup. PSU limited OSU to 143 yards total offense while OSU countered with a pair of blocked field goals and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

PSU stormed out of the gates early. On its second play from scrimmage, tailback Eric McCoo rumbled 53 yards to the Ohio State 6-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Kevin Thompson found fullback Mike Cerimele for 6-yard touchdown connection.

On Ohio State’s third play from scrimmage, quarterback Steve Bellisari was sacked at the OSU 19-yard line by Courtney Brown and fumbled the ball. PSU’s Brandon Short recovered the ball to put the Nittany Lions inside the red zone. With its back to the wall, the OSU defense stiffened, with Jason Ott blocking a 39-yard field goal attempt.

On OSU’s next possession, Bellisari scrambled for 44 yards to set up Dan Stultz’s 47-yard field goal, cutting the PSU lead, 7-3. But the Nittany Lions added a pair of field goals by Travis Forney for a 13-3 lead.

After another stalled drive by the Buckeyes, Penn State began a drive at the PSU 6-yard line with 3:40 remaining in the half. Two plays later, OSU linebacker Na’il Diggs blitzed past the right side of the PSU offensive line and sacked Thompson and forced a fumble in the end zone. An alert Gary Berry pounced on the ball to cut the PSU lead to 13-10 going into the half. On the sack, Thompson was knocked out of the game with an injured shoulder.

In the second half, PSU played even tighter defense, shutting out the Buckeyes the final two quarters. After a three-and-out, the Nittany Lions increased their lead to 20-10. PSU quarterback Rashard Casey’s 5-yard touchdown run capped a seven-play, 61-yard drive.

With 13:27 remaining in the game, Forney kicked a 28-yard field goal for the final margin of victory.

OSU cornerback Nate Clements led the Buckeyes with 10 tackles. Defensive tackle Mike Collins had four tackles-for-losses. Ahmed Plummer recorded his third interception of the season and 12th of his career.

The Buckeyes set a school record for most tackles-for-loss in a game with 19. Mike Collins led the way with four, followed by Joe Brown with three. Gary Berry, James Cotton, Na’il Diggs, Courland Bullard each had a pair and Nate Clements, Jason Ott, Rodney Bailey and Joe Cooper each had one. The old school record was set against Iowa in 1998.