VIEW FROM THE MIDWEST: OCTOBER 27, 2007

No. 1 Buckeyes Encounter a White Night in Happy Valley

By Paul Smith / smith@collegeblitz.com

The rancor is there, all right. It comes in somewhat subdued form, which indicates this isn't going to ever match the sheer venom of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.

But when the top-ranked Buckeyes (8-0) take the Beaver Stadium field against the No. 24 Nittany Lions (6-2), at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 Central (ABC-TV), there'll be no mistaking the intensity the 110,000-plus resident maniacs will direct their way(save 5,000 Scarlet-clad, ahem, gentlemen and ladies from across the boarder) .

A poster named jwf160 offered his two cents to a Harrisburg Patriot sportsblog called "The 50-Yard Lion": "I have been in Columbus all week on business.
I have seen so much "O" this and "O" that that it makes me sick.

"I really hope that I never see 'scarlet' again, because I have seen enough of that disgusting color for the rest of my life...wait, let me prick my finger with a pin so that I can see some blue...

We are...(Penn State, an in-print invitation to join P.S.U.'s stadium-wide chant)

Let's bury these fools."

Spoken with a certain central Pennsylvania reserve. But with an unmistakable resolve.

In the Columbus jwf160 so detests, plus all across the state of Ohio, memories of Oct. 8, 2005 are painfully vivid.

The No. 6 Buckeyes, nearly fully recovered from the prior month's "Game of the Century" home loss to eventual national champion Texas, still allowed themselves to dream of a slot in the Bowl Championship Series national championship game, possibly opposite Texas or Southern Cal.

But Penn State, led by linebackers Dan Connor and Paul Posluzny and an active defensive line punched the proud Buckeyes in the puss, shutting down 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, multitalented Ted Ginn, Jr. and the Bucks' potent running game like nobody else until Florida slammed the door on a second national championship for coach Jim Tressel last January.

The Happy Valley crowd that night was a devastating factor for the Buckeyes and a grim-faced Tressel told the postgame inquisitors as much. "This is as tough a place as there is in this league, probably the country."

When the Lions joined the Big 10 in 1993, Ohio State won the first two games at the Big Erector Set, but it is not entirely by accident the Buckeyes have lost three of the last four, the only win coming in 2003 when they rallied in the final 90 seconds to pull out a 21-20 victory over a subpar Penn State team.

It is Hallowe'en weekend and you can't blame the Bucks if they anticipate a bunch of blue-and-white goblins invading their locker room and sideline.

Night games, trick or treat -- our keesters, most in Scarlet and Gray will proclaim.

"I think (Penn State fans) make a day of it," coach Jim Tressel said to The Columbus Dispatch's Ken Gordon during the weekly statewide news conference, "and you know, they begin their enthusiasm and it just grows.

"And by 8 o'clock, your enthusiasm is overflowing."

Some other overflowing takes place, of course, but you will search in vain for a campus hosting a major-event night game where it doesn't.

As always, a pep rally takes place Friday night in an area affectionately known as Paternoville, where the legendary pedagogue of college coaching, Joe Paterno, fires up a crowd as only an 80-year-old cheerleader can.

But this game will carry yet more significance, because the Lions are hosting a top-rated team for only the second time in their glorious history -- the other being a 1989 34-23 loss to Notre Dame, the only time the Nitts have lost to the Fighting Irish at home.

"You've got to be calm and you've got to be poised," Tressel told Gordon, "and you've got to keep your focus on the task at hand, because the only thing tougher than that environment (is) the guys you're trying to block."

For Ohio State, the task will as straight uphill as a drive into the State College area on U.S. 322. Penn State's losses have come on the road and in fact, except for a spill-your-guts 17-10 loss to Michigan last year, the Nitts are 19-1 since November 2004.

The Buckeyes can draw on their experiences at Washington's loud Husky Stadium, where they rallied to beat U-Dub 33-14 Sept. 15.

But there is no real comparison between Seattle, which housed over 10,000 Scarlet-clad O.S.U. loyalists, and, with Michigan, one of the two toughest road trips the Buckeyes make.

The maturation of Boeckman, who was relegated to clipboard duty as Smith produced some of the great offensive highlights in Buckeyes history, has been one of the most pleasant surprises this season.

He seemed to come of age in the second half at Washington and has been efficient, if not flashy, in guiding a Buckeyes passing attack that is well-matched with its ground game.

"I'm never going to give up," Boeckman told Gordon. "I'm not going to be scared. If something goes wrong -- interception, fumble -- I'm going to keep on fighting."

But to hear Penn State's talented cornerback Justin King tell it, even if the university proclaims another "White-Out" where the assemblage dons white tee shirts to proclaim their massive home field advantage, there'll be plenty enough pressure to go around.

"Obviously, everyone says you have to remain the same, that it's just another team," King told The Associated Press's Genaro Armas. "But of course, we'll approach it with more intensity, and be ready to play. You only get the No. 1 team so many times."

Boeckman, who has completed just under two-thirds of his 183 passes for 1,546 yards and 18 touchdowns presents Penn State's talented secondary with some unique challenges.

You can be pretty sure the Lions will try to double up on Brian Robiskie, the rangy 6-3 junior who is one of the Big Ten's biggest long-ball threats. But Penn State's talented receiving corps, altho not possessing the big stats, keeps all defenses spread wide. Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood are multi-talented and Anthony Morelli has hit nearly 60% of his passes for 1,739 yards and 13 TDs.

That said, while hugely-respected Calkins Newspapers Penn State guru Neil Rudel predicted a 26-17 Lions victory, it would appear these two defenses may give away yardage the way Leona Helmsley did hotel rooms.

Until its laborious 24-17 victory over a very well-prepared Michigan State team coached by former Tressel defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio last Saturday in Columbus, the Buckeyes had given up 46 points in the prior 7 games, or 6.6 a game.

Fourteen of the 17 points Michigan State scored came as a result of an interception returned for a touchdown and a sack of quarterback Todd Boeckman that resulted in a touchdown return.

But the Lions' defense, in general, hasn't been too shabby, either, altho it allowed 31 points at offense-minded Indiana last week and 27 in a road loss to Illinois.

In all, though, the Lions have yielded only 15 points a game, one of the better sets of numbers nationally, and held high-scoring Michigan to just 14 in a bitterly-tough loss in Ann Arbor.

So, the students camped out in Paternoville, hoping to get the best possible student-section seats. Clad in "Beat Ohio State" shirts, they counted the hours and minutes as rock music pounded away the nights.

"If you can't get excited about that," Paterno reasoned, "then I think maybe you get out of it."

Fat chance. Joe Pa has rarely been more animated than this season and an upset of the Buckeyes would catapult this particular Lions team back into the heady neighborhood its fans covet most -- the Top 10.

"It's a big game for where we're going to go with this football team," Paterno said.

Don't the Bucks just know that, too?! But one thing that may work in their favor, despite sporting the giant bull's eye that comes with being a four-point favorite, is the continuing sense of purpose they are building.

"You may not have a lot of people in the limelight," blocking back Tyler Whaley told The Dispatch's Gordon, contrasting the hugely-publicized 2006 Bucks with a Heisman trophy winner in Troy Smith and flashy Ted Ginn, Jr., an all-purpose wideout and return specialist with this year's timeclock-punchers. "It's more of a team functioning together. You've kind of got to have each other's backs at all times."

Particularly in Happy Valley.

Most particularly in Happy Valley.

A much-easier-said-than-done win there will surely turn the heads of some of the remaining skeptics about Ohio State's No. 1 status. It ain't Michigan, but it's a pretty compelling substitute, at least in the Lions' den.

Bucks/Nittany Notes...The series, perhaps fittingly, is tied 11-11...Penn State hasn't won in Columbus since Sept. 16, 1978, Woody Hayes' last year.