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 Lions Hopes White'd Out |
 Monday, November 5, 2007 |
 Hype and excitement, check. A defense which in theory could keep any team possibly under wraps, check. An experienced coaches immune to the irrelevant hoopla of playing the number 1 team in the nation, check. A team that showed signs of progress by winning on the road prior to the game, check.
The pieces were there, all Penn State had to do was show to a national audience it was ready to show up and it fell flat on its face. Much credit is due to the Ohio State Buckeyes for playing like they deserved first place votes, but also to a Nittany Lion defense that almost never got into the backfield to pressure Boeckman or an offense that was so predictable, you could swear you were watching an 70s coached Paterno team.
The Penn State student section arrived early and displayed their influence on the field early as it held the Buckeyes to a 50 yard field goal on its first drive. The crowd erupted shortly afterwards on Penn State's ensuing drive that resulted in a touchdown putting the Lions up for the first and final time.
However, a healthy dose of Beanie Wells and Boeckman accuracy on third downs was all it took to silence the frenzied crowd. The Buckeyes entered the half leading 17 to 7 after Joe Paterno decided to punt on 4th and 2 on their own side of their field following an interception by Dan Connor.
The Buckeyes never stepped off the pedal as it continued to score 20 more points in the second half with strong doses of Chris Wells runs giving Ohio State favorable third and short situations. The Ohio State win keeps them in the national title race with a what will be highly anticipated Ohio State-Michigan matchup at the end of the season.
Penn State having lost its third game in Big Ten play is effectively eliminated from any BCS talk but may still find itself in a New Years Bowl if it can win its last three against Purdue, at Temple, and at Michigan State.
original post on www.nittanywhiteout.com
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posted by Nittany White Out @ 10:45 AM  |
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