in NCAA F Props
NCAAF XBOX 360 Sim - Penn State vs. Ohio State
by Mike Rose
The eighth week of Ohio State Buckeyes; kick-off is slated for 8:00 ET and can be seen nationally on ABC. Penn State fell behind Michigan early last week in Happy Valley, but exploded in the second half outscoring the Wolverines 29-2 to pick up yet another home win and cover for its NCAFF betting backers. HC Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes made minced meat of the MSU Spartans in East Lansing as they rolled to the comfy 45-7 road win and cover as 3.5-point road chalks. Penn State is yet to defeat the Buckeyes in Columbus since they joined the Big 10 back in 1993, but the favorite has cashed against the spread in 7 of the L/10 meetings. That said; the home team has gone an impressive 9-1 ATS during that same stretch. OSU rolled up and smoked the Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium last year winning comfortably by a 37-17 final count as 3.5-point road favorites.
Weather: mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers; Lows in the lower 40s.
1st Quarter:
The Nittany Lions received the opening kick-off and the special teams unit set the offense up with decent field position at PSU’s own 26-yard line. RB Evan Royster busted the gut of the Buckeyes defense for a seven yard gain on 1st down, and moved the chains on the next play from scrimmage after picking up five more. Sr. QB Daryll Clark connected with WR Derrick Williams for 20 yards on his first pass of the game, but his second pass wasn’t as fortunate. It was deflected at the line of scrimmage, and DE Cameron Hayward came down with it at OSU’s 40 yard line.
QB Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes offense than took the field looking to make JoPa pay for the early turnover. Easier said than done however, as Pryor’s first pass fell incomplete, RB Beanie Wells got stuffed after a two-yard gain, and Pryor was forced to throw it away on 3rd down. Punt time….
As quickly as the defense got the ball back to the offense, the offense gave it right back after a botched center exchange allowed the Buckeyes to take over at PSU’s own 41 yard line.
However, the Buckeyes elected to pass the ball on all three of its downs, and all three passes fell incomplete. HC Jim Tressel called upon his long range kicker for the 53-yard attempt, and shockingly, Aaron Pettrey nailed it!
Having already cost its team points, the offense took the field determined to make good on its errors. The drive started off nicely with a pair of runs that went for nine yards, and then QB Clark hooked up with TE Mickey Shuler for 21 yards down to the Buckeyes 33 yard line. RB Royster got them down to OSU’s 21 before QB Clark hooked up with WR Deon Butler for 12, and then Royster plunged into the endzone from four yards out to get the Nittany lions on the scoreboard as the first quarter came to a close.
PENN STATE 7 OHIO STATE 3
2nd QUARTER
The Buckeyes wasted no time getting back into the game at the start of the second quarter. QB Pryor hooked up with RB Wells for 15 out of the backfield, and then he winged one into WR Brian Hartline for nine more allowing the Buckeyes to move the chains on the next play when Beanie went off left tackle for five yards. After PSU’s defense dropped Beanie for small losses on consecutive downs, Pryor found WR Hartline wide open after scrambling sideline to sideline for a 16 yard gain. RB Wells got the Buckeyes into the red zone on the next play, and then the frosh phenom connected with TE Rory Nichol for a three yard scoring strike to allow the Buckeyes to reclaim the lead.
The lead was short lived however; QB Clark hooked up with TE Shuler once again on a blown coverage, and PSU’s WR corps paved the way for the big man’s 72-yard TD jaunt. This had the “Sweater Vest” muttering to himself as PSU lined up for the extra point, but it got blocked and the Nittany Lions were only up six.
It got worse after that for the Buckeyes. QB Pryor’s pass was picked off at the Buckeyes 33 yard line by HERO Anthony Scirrotto setting the offense up tremendously to take a stranglehold of the game.
The Buckeyes “D” held its ground, and limited the Nittany Lions to a 44 yard FG attempt of which K Kevin Kelly converted with ease.
Neither team was able to do anything else with its remaining possessions of the first half.
PENN STATE 16 OHIO STATE 10
3rd Quarter
OSU’s first possession of the second half was a bust as the unit went three and out and was forced to punt.
PSU turned the ball over for the third time in the game when Ohio State FS Anderson Russell picked off Clark’s offering and returned it all the way down to the Nittany Lions 23 yard line.
Penn State’s stop unit stepped up big and limited the offense to just two yards. Short range K Ryan Pretorius nailed the 37 yarder.
Penn State’s next drive was highlighted by a pair of catches for huge chunks of yardage by WR Derrick Williams. PSU was in OSU territory within a blink of an eye, but the drive stalled out at OSU’s 31 yard line. JoPa called upon K Kevin Kelly to get the three points back, but he couldn’t oblige, as his 48-yarder hit off the left upright no good.
The Buckeyes took advantage of the decent field position, and hopped on the back of RB Wells all the way down to the Nittany Lions 26 yard line. The drive stalled there though, but K Pretorius hit his second FG of the game to knot the game up at 16 apiece.
Stunned by the recent course of events, the Nittany Lions went backwards on its next possession and was forced to punt once again after their 3rd down pass attempt came up short.
RB Wells ripped off a total of 16 yards on his next two carries, and then QB Pryor hooked up with WR Brian Robiskie for 19 yards to get into PSU territory. After Wells gained 13 more yards via the rush, WR Ray Small secured the 15 yard scoring strike to put the Buckeyes back on top of JoPa and company as the quarter expired.
PENN STATE 16 OHIO STATE 23
4TH QUARTER
The Nittany Lions by no means looked like the 3rd ranked team in the land on its next possession. It was penalty after penalty and the Lions were forced to punt the ball away with less than eight minutes to go in the game.
PSU looked to have the Buckeyes stopped on a third and long from their own 46, but the secondary was flagged for defensive pass interference allowing the drive to remain alive. QB Pryor then hooked up with Hartline for 12 to set them up 1st and 10 from PSU’s nine yard line, and then RB Wells did the rest hitting pay-dirt from seven yards out to increase the home teams lead to double-digits with less than three minutes remaining in the game.
Penn State started tossing the ball all over the field on its next possession, and it paid off handsomely with the Buckeyes falling back in the prevent “D”. That said; the drive stalled out at OSU’s 27-yard line after QB Clark’s next four passes fell incomplete.
The Buckeyes lined up in the victory formation, took a pair of knee’s, and all but ended Penn State’s hopes of playing in the BCS National Championship game.
FINAL SCORE: PENN STATE 16 OHIO STATE 30
This game simulation calls for a Ohio State outright victory and for the combined points to just fall below the posted ‘Total’. You can get Ohio State (+2.5) –110 and the Under 47 –110 at BetUS.com right now!!!
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PENN STATE | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| OHIO STATE | 3 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 30 |
QB Daryll Clark: 20/34 366 yards 1 TD 3 INT
QB Terrelle Pryor: 18/36 182 yards 2 TD 1 INT
RB Evan Royster: 21 carries for 61 yards 1 TD Long of 8
RB Beanie Wells: 19 carries for 85 yards 1 TD Long of 11
WR Derrick Williams: 6 receptions for 107 yards 0 TD Long of 30
WR Brian Hartline: 3 receptions for 32 yards 0 TD Long of 16
| PSU | OSU | |
|---|---|---|
| TOTAL OFFENSE | 434 | 309 |
| RUSHING YARDS | 68 | 127 |
| PASSING YARDS | 366 | 182 |
| 1ST DOWNS | 16 | 16 |
| TOTAL YARDS | 610 | 402 |
| TURNOVERS | 4 | 1 |
| 3RD DOWN CONV | 6/15 40% | 9/20 45% |
| PENALTIES | 8-85 | 5-35 |
| TIME OF POSSESSION | 23:10 | 36:50 |
