Dan Herron's reception for a first down on the Buckeyes' first drive of the third quarter helps the team build momentum and take control of the game.
View full sizeOhio State's Dan Herron scores touchdown in the third quarter as the Buckeyes begin to take control of the game on Saturday. 5:28 p.m.: Backed up at their own 2-yard line after a penalty to start the drive, the Ohio State Buckeyes had managed to advance 6 yards in two plays before running back Dan Herron slid out into the flat on third down.
It was the first drive of the third quarter, the Buckeyes were trailing Penn State, 14-3, and if Ohio State didn't get something going here, the second half was going to start to feel as long as the first half had. The OSU defense would have some tricks in store for the Penn State offense later. But right now, the offense had to do something.
It should come as no surprise that it was Herron, who was quarterback Terrelle Pryor's safety valve on the play, who made something happen.
"Terrelle just found me on the check-down," Herron said, "and I was able to get a couple yards after that."
With Penn State losing its top linebacker, Michael Mauti, to a shoulder injury during the game, Herron was able to catch the ball 2 yards short of the first down, make a move to evade a tackle and produce an 11-yard gain that kept the fledgling drive alive.
Inside the Vest
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel gave a halftime talk his players won't soon forget, and most of them seemed to say it worked because it was rare. Tressel always downplays what he says right before a game or right before a half. That's not usually his thing. But if you pick your spots, then the message sometimes means more when it is delivered.
Whatever happened at the half was more effective than what happened the previous week. Tressel is now 3-4 after a bye at Ohio State and 2-0 in the past two years. But this sluggish first half will be remembered. And check out when the bye is next year: Before the home game with Wisconsin on Oct. 29.
The Ohio State-Wisconsin game takes on even more meaning next season when those two teams are expected to battle at the top of one six-team Big Ten division. That one game will count like two games in the standings for the winner, since the first tiebreaker to get to the Big Ten championship game will be head-to-head. Maybe there were a few more lessons learned on this bye that can help next October.
-- Doug Lesmerises
"I tried to make a guy miss, and I got him to miss," Herron said, "and then I tried to fall forward for extra yards."
That turned out to be the only third down on an 11-play, 96-yard drive that finished with a Herron 5-yard run for the Buckeyes' first touchdown of the game. Without that little catch and one little move, the Buckeyes would have been forced to punt still trailing by 11, and an eventual 38-14 victory may have taken a different turn.
5:46 p.m: The ball was now in the air for the third time now. Off Ohio State cornerback Devon Torrence's arms, then his hands, and then . . .
"I don't even remember," Torrence said. "Everything happened so fast. I just remember breaking on the ball, and I had to extend my arms. It just popped up, and I hit it again, and then it went behind me, and I turned all the way around to catch it, and it fell in there."
Torrence was off down the sidelines for a 34-yard touchdown, as he juked around Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin and entered what has become an Ohio State-Penn State tradition: A Buckeyes interception return for a touchdown at Ohio Stadium. From Chris Gamble in 2002 to Malcolm Jenkins and Antonio Smith in 2006, the Buckeyes have almost come to expect it.
"It is a tradition," Torrence said. "I was thinking about that on my way here. I was like, 'I hope I get one in this game,' and I did."
It didn't look like the tradition would live on in the first half, as McGloin picked apart the OSU secondary, Torrence in particular. But the Buckeyes switched up their coverage in the second half, got better pressure on McGloin and changed the game.
"You've just got to forget about that. That's the nature of the position," Torrence said. "I didn't get beat for a touchdown or anything, and then our coaches did a great job of making adjustments."
OSU coach Jim Tressel said: "He obviously learned as the game went on. But he might have been in a little bit different look sometimes."
6:19 p.m.: And here was interception return No. 2. Travis Howard picked off this McGloin pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown and a 31-14 lead, causing Jenkins, who was offering his thoughts on Twitter, to remember that 2006 game. This was the first career interception for Howard, a redshirt sophomore and the No. 3 cornerback.
"I saw the quarterback roll out, so I just waited for him to throw," Howard said. "I saw him releasing it, and I couldn't believe it. I knew I was going to score. I was too close to the end zone. All the talk this week was how [McGloin] was going to come after our DBs, and we were ready.
"I ran off the field, and my head was spinning. It hasn't hit me yet. I dreamt about this last night. I said if a play came my way, I needed to make it, so I guess my dream came true."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dlesmerises@plaind.com, 216-999-4479