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The BCS bowl talk can stop now.
It will no longer be necessary to ponder whether Penn State and its players are getting enough respect.
Penn State's record and its national ranking were exposed as fool's gold Saturday, when Ohio State handled the Nittany Lions with 24-7 ease before 110,033 at Beaver Stadium.
It was a great day for the Buckeyes (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten Conference) not only here but in Iowa City, Iowa, where Northwestern was handing Iowa it's first loss.
It means Ohio State can earn the league title, the BCS automatic berth and likely Rose Bowl bid when its hosts the Hawkeyes Saturday in Columbus.
The Nittany Lions (8-2, 4-2) are now third in the Big Ten, probably looking at a berth in the Capital One or Alamo Bowls. They host Indiana Saturday before traveling to Michigan State for the regular-season finale.
"It shocked us a little bit," wide receiver Graham Zug said afterward. "We'll bounce back right away. We already bonded in the locker room. We'll look out for each other."
"That's what I said to them, after I stopped crying, and wiped my eyes, and after I threw up a couple times," coach Joe Paterno said.
That was an attempt at comedy, proving again that most of Joe's best humor is unintentional.
Zug, the Manheim Central product, was a bright spot, with seven catches for 96 yards.
Otherwise, Ohio State bottled up the Lions, mostly by dominating them on the line of scrimmage. The progress the rebuilt offensive line seemed to have made over the past two months was, like a lot of things on this day, revealed to be less than it seemed.
"We knew we were gonna have troubles," Paterno said. "Their [defensive] front seven, we thought, played the run as well as anybody we've played."
Indeed, Penn State managed just 76 net rushing yards, and just 201 yards of total offense. Quarterback Daryll Clark, supposedly playing for his legacy, was again not his best on a big stage, although of course his offensive line getting knocked around had a lot to do with that.
"He's had better games, but there again, they put a lot of pressure on him, and they did it without having to send a lot of people," Paterno said.
Clark completed just 12 of 28 passes for 125 yards and one interception, which was the game's only turnover
None of the above numbers beat the Lions. This was supposed to be a defensive struggle. For a long time that's what it was.
Ohio State led just 10-7 at halftime. The Buckeyes' TD was set up by a 41-yard punt return by Ray Small to the Penn State 9. Two plays later Buckeyes' quarterback Terrelle Pryor scrambled seven yards for the score, with linebacker Navorro Bowman, perhaps Penn State's best defensive player, having a good shot at Pryor and whiffing badly.
"We had him; I had him," Bowman said. "I told the guys, 'That's my fault.'"
Two themes there that would hold through the night: Penn State was badly hurt by special teams, and Pryor, while far from consistently great, made 3 or 4 big, decisive plays on a night when no one else did.
Penn State punted 10 times. The Buckeyes returned seven of them for 130 yards, setting up two touchdowns and contributing to a huge, game-long field position advantage.
Ohio State punted five times. Penn State returned one for zero yards.
"I said prior to the game, you guys have got to listen, that I was worried about the kicking game," Paterno told the media.
"We've [coached special teams] this way before," Paterno said. "I don't know that we'd change the way we do things. We'll look at it. Maybe [change] personnel."
Late in the third quarter Penn State blew a coverage and Pryor heaved a bomb to DeVier Posey, who had to slow down a bit to haul it in, and was still able to romp 62 yards for a Lion-killing TD.
Penn State corner D'Anton Lynn got beat badly on the play, and safety Nick Sukay got there late.
Now Nittany Nation was starting to see the handwriting.
Yet another punt return, a 45-yarder by Small, helped seal it early in the fourth. Pryor hit running back Brandon Saine from six yards out to make it 24-7.
The Lions should be able to get well Saturday, when Indiana (4-6, 1-5) comes to town.
Well is a relative term, of course.
Mike Gross is assistant sports editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com.
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