Sunday, September 24, 2000
Ohio State 45, Penn State 6
Buckeyes hand Paterno worst loss
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS — Joe Paterno was expected to pile up a few coaching milestones this season, but not like this.
Six players scored touchdowns as No. 14 Ohio State beat Penn State 45-6 on Saturday, handing Paterno his most lopsided loss and his worst start ever.
“We can't go out and buy a bottle of medicine that will make everybody better,” Paterno said. “We have to work at it.”
Stuck on 318 career victories, Paterno remains five victories shy of tying Bear Bryant for the most wins by a major college coach.
The loss gave Penn State its first 1-4 start under Paterno, matching the school's worst record through five games since 1964 when Rip Engle was head coach.
The margin eclipsed a 49-11 loss to UCLA in 1966 — Paterno's first season as the head coach of the Nittany Lions — and a 44-6 loss to Nebraska in the 1983 Kickoff Classic.
“I don't know what to do except for the way I've always done it,” Paterno said.
Asked what his next move was, he said, “I don't know. Really, I've got to sit back and take a look at it. If I felt strongly about something, I'd tell you.”
Ohio State moved to 4-0 for the seventh time in the last 10 years. Coach John Cooper wasn't surprised by the outcome in the Big Ten opener for both teams, but was by the margin.
“Never did I dream we would beat Penn State as badly as we did,” he said.
Steve Bellisari was 10-of-17 for 203 yards, including a fluky 18-yard touchdown pass to Darnell Sanders. Derek Combs rushed for 86 yards on 23 carries and had a 1-yard TD run.
The Buckeyes put the game out of reach with three rapid-fire touchdowns.
First Combs capped an 11-play, five-minute march with a 1-yard dive to make it 24-6.
On the next play, Rashard Casey's pass was 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, with Mike Collins picking up the ball and rumbling into the end zone for a 38-6 OSU lead.
“It feels good to beat a team like that,” Johnson said. “They really didn't do much at all.”
Ohio State forced three turnovers and limited Penn State to 93 yards rushing and 120 yards passing.
Penn St. ....... 0 0 6 0— 6
Ohio St. ....... 14 3 21 7—45
First Quarter
OSU—J.Martin 1 run (Stultz kick), 10:44
OSU—Sanders 18 pass from Bellisari (Stultz kick), 6:07
Second Quarter
OSU—FG Stultz 31, 7:00
Third Quarter
PSU—McCoo 2 run (kick failed), 9:56
OSU—Combs 1 run (Stultz kick), 4:43
OSU—Westbrooks 3 run (Stultz kick), :56
OSU—Collins 11 fumble return (Stultz kick), :02
Fourth Quarter
OSU—Maldonado 7 run (Stultz kick), 4:43
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Penn St., McCoo 13-34, Easy 5-29, L.Johnson 4-22, Casey 8-14, Jefferson 2-4, Cerimele 1-0, Senneca 5-(minus 10). Ohio St., Combs 23-86, Maldonado 6-21, Bellisari 5-20, Westbrooks 6-17, Wells 5-8, Krenzel 1-5, Martin 1-1.
PASSING—Penn St., Casey 7-18-1-94, Senneca 4-5-0-26. Ohio St., Bellisari 10-17-1-203, McMullen 2-4-0-35, Cacchio 1-1-0-1.
RECEIVING—Penn St., Stewart 4-39, T.Johnson 2-23, Watson 1-25, Delich 1-15, Drummond 1-10, Perry 1-4, McHugh 1-4. Ohio St., Cacchio 3-88, Rambo 2-46, D.Sanders 2-28, Locke 1-26, Carter 1-19, J.Martin 1-13, Germany 1-9, Cheatwood 1-9, Bellisari 1-1.
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