By Ben Flemming

Associate Editor/TWIF

November has arrived and the real work begins for Coach Jim Tressel and Ohio State this Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium.

While many think of OSU vs. Michigan as the rivalry at the forefront of Big Ten football, the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions have a history that reaches back almost 100 years.

On Nov. 16, 1912, Penn State came west to Ohio for the first time as apparent underdogs to the local Columbus media.

But, behind the signal calling of a 5-5, 145-pound quarterback, Shorty Miller, the Nittany Lions rolled into the fourth quarter with a 37-0 lead.

Then, with about 10 minutes left in the game on a PSU kickoff, a Nittany Lion laid out a Buckeye with a devastating shot.

OSU Coach John Richards, after already showing his dismay earlier in the game for the lack of sufficient officiating, summoned his team, and led them off the field.

PSU waited for the clock to expire and reigned victorious, but good news for Buckeye fans, due to forfeit; it only stands as a 0-1 loss for OSU.

And as a result of the atrocious nature of that game, it was 44 years until the neighboring state universities faced off again.

It would be another 89 years from that first game that PSU would join the Big Ten and on Oct. 30, 1993, OSU welcomed the Nittany Lions to the conference with an emphatic 24-6 victory.

Tides turned the following year as No. 21 OSU traveled to Happy Valley to face the No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions.

Led by Ki-Jana Carter’s 137 rushing yards, four-touchdown performance, and Kerry Collins 265 passing yards and two TD tosses, PSU trounced the Buckeyes, 63-14.

Those two lopsided games setup quite a barn burner in 1995. The No. 5 Buckeyes traveled back to College Park that year eager to avenge the embarrassment of the previous season.

OSU quarterback Bobby Hoying had a huge game for the Buckeyes with 354 passing yards and three TDs. And the game came down to the final drive, when following a 32-yard completion to tight end Rickey Dudley, running back Eddie George barreled into the end zone from six yards out to give the Buckeyes the lead as OSU edged out the No. 12 Nittany Lions, 28-25.

That was then, this is now.

The last decade has made for some exciting matchups between the two schools. In fact, five of the nine games have been decided by a touchdown or less.

In 2000 the Buckeyes lost 45-9 and following that season, Coach John Cooper was replaced by Tressel.

In the opening season of the Tressel era, OSU played the Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium. The Buckeyes looked great in the first half, going into the break with a 27-9 lead.

PSU did however battle back behind the arms and legs of Jonathan Mills, who was 17-of-32 passing with 260 yards and two TDs and rushed for 138 and a score.

The Buckeyes had a shot to regain the lead with 2:55 left, but Mike Nugent’s field goal was blocked, and a higher power seemed to be waning down, as PSU Coach Joe Paterno reached the record for D1-A coaching wins in the 29-27 Nittany Lion victory.

In Tressel’s sophomore and undefeated season (2002), the No. 4 Buckeyes hosted the No. 18 Nittany Lions.

This game was a defensive battle from the get go. The Buckeyes never scored an offensive touchdown and didn’t need to. They picked off Zack Mills three times, one of which ended in a 40-yard touchdown return for Chris Gamble. Nugent also added two field goals and that 13-7 win was one more brick laid on the road to the national championship.

In 2005, PSU got one of its two wins of the 2000s from Tressel.

In another defensive struggle, where neither team grossed more than 230 yards, Buckeye quarterback Troy Smith accounted for a couple of turnovers and PSU quarterback Michael Robinson passed for 78 yards and ran for 52 and a score.

PSU sealed the game when Tamba Hali forced Smith to fumble the ball with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

Finally, that brings us to last year’s primetime, Saturday-night showcase in Columbus.

In front of 105,711 people in the Horseshoe, a then record crowd, freshman OSU quarterback Terrelle Pryor was faced with his greatest challenge of his young college career as a starter.

The theme of the decade continued as neither defense allowed a touchdown in the first half. The turning point of the game was early in the fourth quarter when the Buckeyes were grasping to a 6-3 lead.

Pryor lost a fumble and the Nittany Lions went on to score the only touchdown of the game with a quarterback sneak.

In their last efforts to comeback, Pryor was picked off again and PSU went on to win 13-6. It was the Nittany Lion’s first victory in the ‘Shoe since 1978.

As for Saturday, this looks to be the Buckeyes’ hardest challenge of the year, having to head into Happy Valley and face off against an experienced PSU team.

Pryor has had his setbacks in his sophomore season, but in the previous two games, he has shown progress.

His key will be to use his speed and strength as often as possible.

PSU quarterback Daryll Clark, now in his fifth year of college, sixth year out of high school, knows his squad well and how to lead it.

He too is strong and agile and capable of throwing the deep ball. The question is whether that experience will translate into points in front of his home crowd.

OSU and PSU are almost dead even in points scored, 31.0 and 30.7 per game respectively, and rushing yards, 186.6 and 182 per game.

PSU does, however, have about a 50-yard edge in passing.

This game, though, like most throughout the rivalry, will come down to defense.

Both teams have stellar squads on the defensive side of the ball.

Though PSU leads the Big Ten in defense, OSU has forced 24 turnovers to the Nittany Lion’s 17.

For the Buckeyes, Lott Trophy finalist, safety Kurt Coleman, will be running on a full head of steam and seeking out yet another pick.

While for the Nittany Lions, All-American defensive lineman Jared Odrick will certainly be challenging Pryor’s suspect ball security.

In the end, the hostile crowd and powerful offense and defense of PSU will pose to be OSU’s toughest battle yet.

The series record is locked up at 12 and the Buckeyes are still brewing from giving one up at home last year.