Game Data
* Date, Time: Sat., Oct. 30; noon (Eastern)
* Location: Ohio Stadium
* TV: ABC; Announcers: Brent Musberger, Gary Danielson, Jack Arute.
ABC Coverage Map
* 2004 Records, Rankings: Ohio State, 4-3 overall, 1-3 Big Ten, unranked; Penn State, 2-5 overall, 0-4 Big Ten, unranked.
* Coaches: Ohio State, Jim Tressel (fourth year at OSU, 36-10; 19th year overall, 171-67-2; vs. Penn State, 2-1); Penn State, Joe Paterno (39th year at PSU, 341-114-3; vs. Ohio State, 6-9).
* Series History: Penn State leads 10-9, although Ohio State leads 6-5 in Columbus (OSU won 21-20 in University Park, Pa., last year.).
* Penn State Schedule: Sept. 4, Akron, W 48-10; Sept. 11, at Boston College, L 21-7; Sept. 18, Central Florida, W 37-13; Sept. 25, at Wisconsin, L 16-3; Oct. 2, at Minnesota, L 16-7; Oct. 9, Purdue, L 20-13; Oct. 23, Iowa, L 6-4; Oct. 30, at Ohio State; Nov. 6, Northwestern; Nov. 13, at Indiana; Nov. 20, Michigan State.
* Penn State Key Players: QB Zack Mills (112 of 197 passing, 1,265 yards, 6 TDs, 10 INTs), RB Tony Hunt (95 carries, 477 yards, 4 TDs; 25 catches, 226 yards), QB-WR Michael Robinson (7 of 17 passing, 101 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs; 19 catches, 283 yards, 1 TD), OLB Paul Posluszny (56 tackles, 6-1/2 TFLs), FS Andrew Guman (48 tackles), CB Anwar Phillips (3 INTs), DT Scott Paxson (3 sacks).
* Penn State Fast Facts: Location: University Park, Pa.; Enrollment, 41,795; Nickname, Nittany Lions; Colors, Blue and White; Stadium, Beaver Stadium (surface, grass; capacity, 107,282).
Depth Charts
Ohio State Offense
SE 8 Roy Hall, 6-3, 228. So.
18 Devin Lyons, 6-4, 214, Fr.
LT 77 Rob Sims, 6-4, 310, Jr.
71 Steve Rehring, 6-8, 315, Fr.
LG 50 Doug Datish, 6-5, 295, So.
59 John Conroy, 6-3, 295, Jr.
C 55 Nick Mangold, 6-4, 290, Jr.
73 Steve Winner, 6-6, 290, Jr.
RG 52 Mike Kne, 6-4, 303, Sr.
72 T.J. Downing, 6-5, 305, So.
RT 74 Kirk Barton, 6-6, 305, Fr.
68 Tim Schafer, 6-5, 290, So.
TE 80 Ryan Hamby, 6-5, 250, Jr.
86 Rory Nicol, 6-5, 245, Fr.
FL 4 Santonio Holmes, 5-11, 185, So.
7 Ted Ginn Jr., 6-0, 170, Fr.
QB 10 Troy Smith, 6-1, 215, So.
12 Justin Zwick, 6-4, 225, So.
17 Todd Boeckman, 6-5, 235, Fr.
TB 25 Antonio Pittman, 5-11, 190, Fr.
28 Maurice Hall, 5-10, 205, Sr.
FB 43 Brandon Schnittker, 6-2, 250, Jr.
49 Dionte Johnson, 6-0, 220, Fr.
K 85 Mike Nugent, 5-10, 180, Sr.
23 Josh Huston, 6-1, 195, Sr.
Ohio State Defense
DE 75 Simon Fraser, 6-6, 280, Sr.
99 Jay Richardson, 6-6, 270, So.
DT 94 Marcus Green, 6-3, 290, Jr.
97 David Patterson, 6-3, 285, So.
DT 90 Quinn Pitcock, 6-3, 295, So.
98 Joel Penton, 6-5, 275, So.
DE 57 Mike Kudla, 6-3, 265, Jr.
50 Vernon Gholston, 6-4, 250, Fr.
SLB 42 Bobby Carpenter, 6-3, 255, Jr.
17 Marcus Freeman, 6-2, 230, Fr.
MLB 51 Anthony Schlegel, 6-2, 245, Jr.
46 Chad Hoobler, 6-3, 215, Fr.
WLB 47 A.J. Hawk, 6-1, 238, Jr.
1 Thomas Matthews, 6-2, 220, Sr.
CB 26 Ashton Youboty, 6-1, 188, So.
13 Harlen Jacobs, 6-1, 197, Sr.
FS 21 Nate Salley, 6-3, 215, Jr.
32 Brandon Mitchell, 6-3, 205, So.
SS 9 Donte Whitner, 5-11, 200, So.
6 Tyler Everett, 5-11, 196, Jr.
CB 37 Dustin Fox, 6-0, 190, Sr.
2 E.J. Underwood, 6-1, 175, Jr.
P 86 Kyle Turano, 6-0, 205, Sr.
23 Josh Huston, 6-1, 195, Sr.
LS 60 Kyle Andrews, 5-11, 245, Sr.
68 Drew Norman, 6-0, 230, So.
Penn State Offense
SE 80 Mark Rubin, 6-3, 211, Fr.
11 Terrell Golden, 6-3, 209, Fr.
LT 68 John Wilson, 6-6, 319, Jr.
71 Mark Farris, 6-6, 284, So.
LG 59 Charles Rush, 6-2, 298, Jr.
54 Scott Davis, 6-3, 288, Sr.
C 77 E.Z. Smith, 6-1, 276, Jr.
66 Lance Antolick, 6-3, 274, Jr.
RG 54 Scott Davis, 6-3, 288, Sr.
74 Tyler Reed, 6-4, 303, Jr.
RT 67 Levi Brown, 6-5, 311, So.
50 Andrew Richardson, 6-5, 294, Jr.
TE 81 Isaac Smolko, 6-5, 257, Jr.
87 John Bronson, 6-3, 264, Sr.
QB 12 Michael Robinson, 6-2, 227, Jr.
3 Chris Ganter, 6-1, 194, Jr.
7 Zack Mills, 6-3, 214, Sr.
FL 19 Gerald Smith, 5-11, 181, Sr.
9 Terrance Phillips, 5-11, 187, Jr.
TB 26 Tony Hunt, 6-2, 218, So.
33 Austin Scott, 6-0, 214, So.
FB 39 Paul Jefferson, 6-1, 259, Sr.
34 Matt Hahn, 6-0, 218, Fr.
K 4 Robbie Gould, 6-1, 179, Sr.
Penn State Defense
DE 91 Tamba Hali, 6-3, 273, Jr.
17 Lavon Chisley, 6-5, 265, Jr.
DT 85 Jay Alford, 6-3, 279, So.
92 Ed Johnson, 6-2, 289, So.
DT 41 Scott Paxson, 6-5, 275, Jr.
78 John Shaw, 6-4, 278, So.
DE 55 Matthew Rice, 6-4, 262, Jr.
54 Amani Purcell, 6-3, 255, Fr.
OLB 94 Derek Wake, 6-3, 241, Sr.
40 Dan Connor, 6-3, 218, Fr.
MLB 20 Tim Shaw, 6-1, 230, So.
40 Dan Connor, 6-3, 218, Fr.
OLB 31 Paul Posluszny, 6-2, 228, So.
35 J.R. Zwierzynski, 6-2, 239, So.
SS 10 Calvin Lowry, 6-0, 195, Jr.
5 Jim Kanuch, 6-1, 200, So.
CB 21 Alan Zemaitis, 6-2, 194, Jr.
15 Brent Wise, 5-10, 193, Fr.
FS 18 Andrew Guman, 6-3, 211, Sr.
29 Paul Cronin, 6-2, 212, Jr.
CB 1 Anwar Phillips, 6-1, 185, Jr.
6 Donnie Johnson, 6-0, 209, So.
P 36 Jeremy Kapinos, 6-1, 229, So.
Also Notable
* This marks the 10th time in 11 years ABC has televised the Ohio State-Penn State game since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten. The 2001 game – where Joe Paterno became the Division I-A all-time wins leader with PSU’s 31-29 come-from-behind win – was televised by ESPN.
* Penn State lost six games in a row for the first time under Paterno last year. A loss in this game would be five straight defeats for PSU. PSU has only won one of its last 12 Big Ten games.
* A loss in this game would mean PSU will have its fourth losing season – and miss postseason play – over the last five years.
* Penn State has not reached double digits in scoring in the five previous Big Ten games between the schools in Columbus. OSU has won all five of those game by an average margin of 22.6 points.
But the last three games in the series overall have been decided by a combined nine points.
* We take a complete look at the Ohio State-Penn State rivalry in our special feature, The New Border War:
The New Border War
Breaking It Down
* When Ohio State Has The Ball: For the fifth or sixth game in a row, you may want to avert your eyes. (OK, last week wasn’t so bad … the Buckeyes did muster 443 yards – including a season-high 282 rushing – in the win over Indiana.) The Buckeyes are probably heading back to the drawing board this weekend to see what will work. Penn State is second in the Big Ten in scoring defense (14.6 points per game) and fourth in total defense (285.9 yards per game), so yards once again figure to be at a premium for OSU.
Penn State is especially strong against the pass, ranking second in the Big Ten at 172.4 yards per game.
Of course, Ohio State will try to ride the momentum gained in the Indiana win. Troy Smith filled in admirably at quarterback and Antonio Pittman did likewise at tailback. They and the OSU offense are clearly stepping up in class here with Penn State’s defense. Smith, in particular, will be on the spot to make the proper reads and take care of the ball. The big question is whether he and Pittman can keep it going.
It would be good, too, to get flanker Santonio Holmes back in the saddle with a big play or two. Throwing deep is effective to keep defenses back off the line. Now OSU needs to complete a couple of them.
* When Penn State Has The Ball: You may really want to avert your eyes. Penn State is last in the Big Ten in scoring offense (17.0 points per game). The total yardage ranking (seventh, 326.0 yards per game) is middle-of-the-road, but the problem here is the 21 turnovers (eight fumbles, 13 interceptions).
Paterno has said that Zack Mills, who confounded OSU in 2001 and 2003, will likely not play due to a concussion. That means Paterno must rob Peter (the receiving corps) to pay Paul (the quarterback position) by putting the athletic Michael Robinson at quarterback. Sophomore Tony Hunt has moved past acclaimed classmate Austin Scott to become the starter at tailback. PSU has no discernible deep receiving threat beyond Robinson, and he’ll be throwing the passes this week and not catching them.
The Ohio State defense needs to continue its stellar play from a week. OSU let Indiana rip off a handful of big gainers, but when they got into scoring range the Buckeyes buckled down and – except for once – turned the Hoosiers back. The Lions will present more of a challenge – but not much more.
* How It Will Go: If you’re an Ohio State fan, you have to hope that the talk that the light bulb has suddenly gone on for the Buckeyes is true. Penn State is a team that is really struggling right now. In most years, this is the kind of team Ohio State would jump on and put away by halftime.
Look at the facts, for goodness sake: PSU’s only wins are over a pair of MAC teams. In the five losses to Boston College, Wisconsin, Purdue, Minnesota and Iowa, the Lions have mustered just three offensive touchdowns. How bad is it? Iowa took a safety with eight minutes left in last week’s 6-4 win, confident in the knowledge PSU couldn’t even drive 40 yards for a game winning field goal. That’s pretty telling.
You add in Ohio State’s mastery of Penn State at Ohio Stadium during the Big Ten series and you want to say the Buckeyes will win this one going away. But that PSU defense is a great equalizer. PSU held the conference’s top two scoring teams – Minnesota and Purdue – two touchdowns under their scoring average. So, the Lions probably will keep Ohio State within reach most of the day.
One last thing: This will be Joe Paterno’s eighth trip to Ohio Stadium as the PSU head coach. From where I sit, he has been one of college football’s biggest ambassadors and class acts. I doubt he will make many more trips back over here. So you should enjoy watching the Buckeyes and Paterno’s Lions swap paint one more time. I’ve got it: Ohio State 17-3
-- Steve Helwagen