Ohio St. downs Penn St.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Undisciplined, out of luck and out of time.
Penn State turned in an uncharacteristically uneven performance to bring its five-game winning streak to a screeching halt in a 35-23 loss Saturday night to No. 9 Ohio State.
Star quarterback Braxton Miller was a one-man offense with 134 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Buckeyes (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten), but Penn State(5-3, 3-1) had itself to blame, too.
With a chance to make a statement in front of a national television audience, in a season of change for a program trying to rebound from the wreckage left by the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the Nittany Lions lost.
“It starts with me. I didn’t do a very good job tonight as the head football coach,” Penn State’s Bill O’Brien said. “We made mistakes, but we win as a team, we lose a team and it starts with me.”
Some of Penn State’s nine penalties sapped momentum at critical spots, including a questionable defensive holding call that turned an Ohio State punt from its own 27 into a second chance and a touchdown.
A foiled fake punt attempt by Penn State at midfield led to the first of Miller’s two 1-yard scoring runs. A Penn State 2-point conversion try in the fourth quarter was stuffed.
