No. 15 Ohio St beats No. 11 Penn St, 24-7

By GENARO C. ARMAS

STATE COLLEGE — The Ohio State Buckeyes are back in control of the Big Ten title race. Terrelle Pryor threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in his return to his home state, Ray Small burned No. 11 Penn State with two long punt returns and No. 15 Ohio State won a duel of the league’s top two defenses in a 24-7 victory Saturday.

CDT/Nabil K. Mark

Terrelle Pryor celebrates with fans after the Ohio State win. Penn State lost to Ohio State 24-7 November 7, 2009. CDT/Nabil K. Mark

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• Northwestern upsets No. 8 Iowa 17-10
• PSU-OSU: Talk about the game
• Lions-Buckeyes rivalry runs deep
• Clark’s style of play is one Pryor should try to emulate
• Lions, Buckeyes prepared for slugfest
• Catching attention
• Heyward following in father’s footsteps

The Buckeyes (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) got an added bonus, too: a tie for the conference lead with Iowa after Northwestern handed the Hawkeyes its first loss of the season earlier Saturday.

Left for dead in the Big Ten after a demoralizing loss at Purdue last month, Ohio State’s hopes for a fifth straight league title look much brighter. A showdown with Iowa at the Horseshoe awaits next week.

They’ll head home to Columbus with a confident Pryor, the western Pennsylvania native who came up with several clutch plays in his first game against the team he turned down as a highly touted high school recruit. Thanks in large part to the dual-threat phenom, Ohio State scored the game’s final 17 points to silence the crowd of 110,033, the fourth-largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history.

Most of those fans went home very disappointed.

Leading by three, Pryor connected with open receiver Devier Posey in stride down the left sideline for a 62-yard touchdown pass with 1:47 left in the third to extend the lead to 17-7 over Penn State (8-2, 4-2).

A pumped Pryor rushed down the field to meet Posey, then skipped back to the sideline in delight.

All that criticism for his inconsistent play this year might seem like a distant memory.

After another three-and-out by quarterback Daryll Clark and the Penn State offense, Small lit up the Nittany Lions porous punt coverage unit for a 45-yard return to the Penn State 47 to end the third quarter.

Getting good protection, Pryor led the Buckeyes again on a drive with two third-down conversions before rolling right to hit Brandon Saine for a 6-yard touchdown pass on another third down play to give Ohio State a 17-point cushion.

Fittingly, Saine dove into corner of the end zone in front of the sliver of cheering Buckeye fans dressed whose scarlet gear stood out in the sea of blue and white.

Pryor finished 8 for 17 passing for 125 yards, and rushed for 50 yards on five carries. He also had a 7-yard TD run in the first quarter, set up by a 41-yard punt return by Small to the Penn State 9.

Special teams, especially the punting unit, has been a season-long problem in Happy Valley, and the miscues set back Penn State again on Saturday.

Ross Homan’s diving interception of Clark with 9:20 left — Penn State’s first interception in four games — sent a flurry of Nittany Lions fans scurrying for the exits.

Clark’s touchdown plunge from yard out on fourth down capped a nice second-quarter drive to tie the game at 7. Otherwise, the Buckeyes kept Penn State’s dangerous quarterback in check, thanks in large part to a defensive line that got consistent push. Cameron Heyward had two sacks in the first three quarters alone.

Clark finished 12 of 28 for 125 yards and the interception. He ran for 20 yards on 11 carries. Evan Royster managed just 36 yards on 13 carries, and a couple dropped passes didn’t help the offense, either.

The 300th game in the 50-season history of Beaver Stadium will be one that most Penn State fans will want to forget.

Ohio State’s win puts them in better position for a BCS bowl if not the Rose Bowl, while the loss likely limits the Nittany Lions to no more than a second-tier New Year’s Day bowl game.