Buckeyes Hand JoePa Another L
About the only thing that held up No. 14 Ohio State was the weather.
After waiting out a thunderstorm that delayed the kickoff by 20 minutes, six Buckeyes scored touchdowns in Saturday's 45-6 victory over Penn State that saddled Joe Paterno with his worst loss in his 35 seasons as a head coach.
The loss also gave Penn State it's first 1-4 start under Paterno, matching the school's worst record through five games since 1964 when Rip Engle was head coach.
Stuck on 318 career victories, Paterno remains six victories shy of tying Bear Bryant for the most wins by a major college coach.
The margin eclipsed a 49-11 loss to UCLA in 1966 his first season as the head coach of the Nittany Lions and a 44-6 loss to Nebraska in the 1983 Kickoff Classic.
Ohio State moved to 4-0 for the seventh time in the last 10 years.
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The Nittany Lions trailed 17-6 early in the third quarter after Eric McCoo skirted right end on a 2-yard run. But Ryan Primanti missed the extra-point kick.
The Buckeyes put the game out of reach with three rapid-fire touchdowns.
First Combs capped an 11-play, 5-minute march with a 1-yard dive to make it 24-6.
On the next play, Rashard Casey's pass intercepted by Nate Clements, who returned it 12 yards to the Penn State 40. A 19-yard pass to Drew Carter helped set up Jerry Westbrooks' 3-yard TD run. Westbrooks carried cornerback Bryan Scott along for the final 5 yards on the sweep around left end.
Casey, who has been replaced in every game so far, was pulled in favor of backup Matt Senneca. On his second play, Senneca was hit by defensive end Brent Johnson while setting up to pass and fumbled, wih Collins picking up the ball and rumbling into the end zone for a 38-6 lead.
Ohio State forced three turnovers and limited Penn State to 93 yards rushing and 120 yards passing.
After winning its first coin toss of the year, the Nittany Lions kicked off to the Buckeyes and were behind 7-0 almost immediately.
Taking over at the 8 after a clipping penalty, the Buckeyes controlled the line of scrimmage. Combs gained 12, 8 and 10 yards on the first three plays, and Bellisari rolled left and hit a wide-open Chad Cacchio for 35 yards. Jamar Martin capped the 10-play drive by burrowing in from the 1.
Penn State's first-possession problems continued. In its four previous games, Penn State punted twice, had a punt blocked and fumbled the ball away the first time it got its hands on the ball.
After netting 6 yards on two runs and a pass, the Lions punted and the Buckeyes took over at midfield. On third-and-8, Bellisari hit Ken-Yon Rambo on a crossing pattern two defensive backs ran into each other to eliminate themselves from the play with Rambo racing to a 38-yard gain at the Penn State 10.
Combs lost 8 yards on a sweep when he ran into defensive end Jason Kurpeikis, but the Buckeyes came up with a big break for the touchdown.
Bellisari's pass for Rambo at the goal line hung in the air, with Bruce Branch cutting inside Rambo to go for the interception. The pass bounced off his hands and into those of teammate James Boyd, who tipped the ball into the air. Sanders reached out and pulled in the loose ball for the 18-yard scoring play.
Freshman Sammy Maldonado scored a touchdown in the final minute to close the scoring.
Casey finished 7-of-18 for 94 yards with one interception. Eric McCoo, who gained 211 yards on 22 carries a year ago in Penn State's 23-10 win over Ohio State, led the Nittany Lions with 34 yards on 13 attempts.
The game was delayed for several minutes late in the game while emergency personnel tended to Penn State cornerback Adam Taliaferro. He was injured on a running play.
Before the game, Ohio State retired the No. 31 of Heisman Trophy winner Vic Janowicz.
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