We Are Defense

If this season's offensive masterpieces are being painted by Big 12 teams in places such as Austin and Lubbock and Norman, what we saw in Columbus last Saturday night was an exhibition of cave drawings. Before its paleolithic 13-6 victory over Ohio State, Penn State hadn't won in the Horseshoe in three decades. Which is about how far these teams set offensive football back over the course of three hours in what amounted to a de facto Big Ten title game. ¶ In a clash of teams from swing states, conservatism ruled. With the stakes high and the game tight, both coaches opted to play it close to the vest, one literally, the other figuratively. The result was a dearth of scoring (a combined six points until late in the third quarter) and a wealth of off-tackle plays that Woody Hayes himself might have called.

But rather than carp at the offenses, let us celebrate a clean, close, exceptionally hard-hitting game that seemed--dare we say it?--SEC-like in its intensity. Let's give it up for a pair of stout, swarming defenses, one of which was just a little bit stouter. Yes, the Nittany Lions committed zero penalties, but that was their second most remarkable statistic from this game; that they held Ohio State's monster junior running back, Chris (Beanie) Wells, to 55 yards on 22 carries was even more impressive. And with the game slipping away from the visitors, it was a fumble forced by Penn State that kept its unbeaten season alive.

Having passed their sternest test of 2008, the third-ranked Nittany Lions (9-0, 5-0 in the Big Ten) now seem to find themselves in the HOV lane to the BCS Championship Game, to be played on Jan. 8 in Miami. Following a bye week, they travel to 5-3 Iowa, then finish up with home games against 3-5 Indiana and surging 7-2 Michigan State. Top-ranked Texas and No. 2 Alabama have tougher schedules remaining and will need to survive conference title games.

Homely as it was, Joe Paterno's 381st win pumped still more feel-good serum into the most upbeat story of the season. Physically compromised though he may be--pain in his right leg forced the 81-year-old coach into the press box for a fourth straight week--JoePa remains mentally sharp. If anything, his players say, he's become more hands-on since his bum limb forced him into a golf cart at practices. The cart, explains senior left tackle Gerald Cadogan, allows Paterno to "sneak up on you. You don't hear him coming, and then all of a sudden he's telling you what you're doing wrong, what you're doing worse, what you're doing horrible. He's still the same Coach Paterno."

That's the same coach who had four losing seasons out of five from 2000 through '04. After Penn State went 4-7 in '04, the university's president and athletic director were reportedly among a group of four officials who knocked on Paterno's door and asked him to consider stepping aside. Paterno said he wouldn't quit, then led his team to an 11-1 season in '05. Since those lean years both Paterno and the Penn State faithful are less inclined to take success for granted.

They need to savor this win. Because at the rate Terrelle Pryor is progressing, it's going to be very tough to beat the Buckeyes for the next few seasons.

For three quarters, the 19-year-old Pryor showed why he was the nation's top recruit a year ago. For three quarters, the freshman quarterback outplayed his counterpart, Penn State senior Daryll Clark, the triggerman for the Nittany Lions' Spread HD (which at times on this night seemed to stand for HumDrum or How Disappointing). In that span Pryor completed 13 of 18 passes and converted six of 11 third downs.

Clinging to a 6-3 lead with 11 minutes to play, Ohio State faced a third-and-one at midfield. Coach Jim (the Vest) Tressel made the call: quarterback sneak. Most of the 105,711 souls in the Horseshoe knew what was coming--including Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who dialed up a "smoke stunt," a linebacker blitz designed to thwart a sneak.

Pryor read the blitz and cut to the outside. "They were pinching in," he lamented later. "I figured I'd just take a chance. I knew I'd probably be in trouble in the film room. . . . I just wanted to make a play. I had the edge. All I had to do was beat number 9."

That would be senior safety Mark Rubin, whose most remarkable feats, until that moment, had taken place in water. As a teen growing up outside Buffalo, Rubin was an elite youth swimmer, an eight-time high school All-America who frequently raced--and occasionally outtouched--a stringy adolescent named Michael Phelps. "I probably beat him five to 10 times," says Rubin, who does admit that Phelps beat him 30 to 40 times. Despite being recruited by Penn State to compete in both sports, Rubin hung up his Speedo to focus on football. After yo-yoing between wide receiver and safety for three seasons, he settled in the secondary last year.