COLUMBUS, Ohio - Michael Robinson was asked how he might have responded five years ago if told he'd only go to one bowl game in his Penn State career.

"It's a lie. You're crazy," the senior quarterback said after Saturday's 21-10 loss to Ohio State. "This is Penn State. What do you mean we're only going to one bowl game in four years?"

Such is the state of Penn State football, however.

The loss to the Buckeyes dropped the Nittany Lions to 2-6 and assured them of their fourth losing season in the last five years.

The litany of Nittany Lions problems goes on and on after dropping to 0-5 in Big Ten play this season.

Despite trailing for most of the game, Penn State had passing numbers that wouldn't make the grade for a pee-wee team. Robinson completed just 7 of 21 passes for 69 yards with two interceptions. Tony Hunt took a pitch and underthrew a wide-open Isaac Smolko on another pass that could have gone for a touchdown. Instead, it fell incomplete.

Even though the Nittany Lions totaled 246 yards - 44 more than their defense allowed Ohio State - they were largely ineffective. After trailing 21-7 at the half, they passed on 17 of 25 plays and mustered just 89 yards of offense until the final gun.

"I don't know what to tell you," a tired looking coach Joe Paterno said. "We ought to be able to go down the field and go back down again and again. We find different ways to kill ourselves."

Ted Ginn returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown and Tyler Everett ran back an interception for another Ohio State score to doom the Nittany Lions to their fifth consecutive loss. The Buckeyes (5-3, 2-3 Big Ten) played good enough defense to win, but the early lead sure made their job a lot easier.

After taking an early lead, Ohio State was content to run out the clock by staying on the ground - not a lot different from what Penn State was trying to do just to get back in the game.

Ohio State ran a total of six plays and netted just 12 yards in the first quarter but led 14-0.

"Touchdowns off special teams and defense are demoralizing," Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter said.

Penn State ran 16 plays in Ohio State territory in the opening half (twice as many as the Buckeyes did on the Nittany Lions' side of the field), had a 13-4 upper hand in first downs and a 157-63 advantage in total yards. Yet the Buckeyes led 21-7 thanks to two Penn State turnovers, a long kickoff return by Maurice Hall and Ginn's big punt return.

"As a defense, if we're on the field and we're scoring who cares about time of possession?" said Ohio State linebacker Anthony Schlegel. "Getting a turnover and taking it to the house is so great."

Absolutely nothing was great for the Nittany Lions.

Paterno, in his 39th year as head coach, was asked how it felt to be assured of another losing season.

"Lousy," he said with his head down.

As the final seconds burned off the clock, Robinson and fellow quarterback Zack Mills knelt on the Penn State sideline and tried to console each other.

"What more can go wrong for us?" Robinson said. "We just get tired of losing. Nobody came here to lose."