Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Ohio State's Anthony Schlegel wraps up Penn State fullback Paul Jefferson. The Nittany Lions outgained the Buckeyes, but the Buckeyes had more big plays. Click photo for larger image. More Penn State Coverage: Penn State Notebook: Special teams partly special Cook: Paterno must go; Morelli must play

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- So along came this challenge, right around high noon yesterday. An early deficit. That's what Penn State faced. Just two hiccups -- an Ohio State punt return and a Buckeyes interception return -- and the Lions were stuck into a two-touchdown pit.

They would spend the next 2¹*₂ hours trying to climb out, trying to salvage the fragments of a season.

"We knew we had to step up," guard Charles Rush said. "We knew it was a challenge. We took it head-on, and I think we did a pretty good job with it."

And here's the weird part about Penn State's pretty good comeback: The Nittany Lions didn't come back. They never came close. All they managed was to keep things from getting out of hand in what ended up a 21-10 loss in front of 104,947 at Ohio Stadium.

It was the latest lesson to be absorbed, slowly and painfully, through five consecutive losses.

This is what Penn State players know: They are not the team they once hoped to be. The challenge yesterday -- the early deficit and the chance for a comeback -- was another in a season-long line of opportunities that passed without fulfillment.

All of which helps to explain Rush's assessment of the Nittany Lions' performance yesterday. These days, even when Penn State believes it plays well, it is not good enough for victory. And, because of that, the Lions have trained themselves to focus on the effort instead of the result.

"Overall, a good, tough performance," coach Joe Paterno said about starting quarterback Michael Robinson.

Robinson completed 7 of 21 passes. He threw two interceptions, one of which Ohio State returned for a touchdown. He overthrew several receivers, even on short routes. He looked every bit the player who has spent much of the season practicing at wide receiver.

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Joe Paterno pauses after Ohio State scores on an interception return early yesterday at Ohio Stadium. Click photo for larger image.

"The offense played real tough today," safety Calvin Lowry said. "They played a great game."

The offense scored 10 points. It ran the ball with admirable persistence but, lacking big plays, mounted a serious run. A 14-point deficit turned into a hole from which the Nittany Lions could never escape.

The Nittany Lions are 2-6, 0-5 in the Big Ten Conference. Even on a day when they believed they did so many things right, they still looked like the inferior team. With three games remaining against lesser Big Ten teams, Penn State is no longer playing for a chance at the postseason.

Indeed, those chances were extinguished by a loss that guarantees Paterno his fourth losing season in the past five years.

"How does it feel?" Paterno was asked yesterday.

"Lousy," he said.

Within the game's first 12 minutes yesterday, the Nittany Lions already trailed, 14-0. They hadn't scored more than 14 points in any of their previous four games. And, since joining the Big Ten in 1993, Penn State had never scored more than nine points in a game at Ohio Stadium.

Returning a punt midway through the first quarter, Ohio State freshman Ted Ginn Jr. swerved to his right, found a runway-sized lane along the sideline and scampered 67 yards to end zone, untouched. It was 7-0.

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Tony Hunt tries to fend off Ohio State defensive back Dustin Fox. Hunt led Penn State with 85 yards rushing. Click photo for larger image.

Less than two minutes later, with the Nittany Lions back on offense, a Robinson pass -- a short, easy thing; a high-percentage wide-receiver screen -- was read perfectly by Ohio State safety Tyler Everett and returned 24 yards for a touchdown. It was 14-0.

"What more can go wrong for us?" Robinson said.

For the rest of the game, as Penn State's defense limited a Buckeyes offense operating in safe mode -- protecting the lead, Ohio State threw a total of eight passes all game -- the Nittany Lions' offense had a mission: Make up the deficit.

Problem was, Penn State moved too slowly and inconsistently for that to happen. The longer drives -- the Nittany Lions had three drives of 10 plays or longer -- led to three points.

Leaning on tailback Tony Hunt, who finished with 85 yards and one touchdown on 20 rushes, and the running of Robinson, who bobbed and juked for 58, the Nittany Lions' offense gained 246 yards. But the yards didn't translate into scores.

"We ought to be able to go down the field and go back down again and again," Paterno said. "We just find different ways to kill ourselves."

Trailing, 21-7, entering the fourth quarter, Penn State drove inside the Ohio State 10. On third down, Robinson dashed to the 4. On fourth down, Paterno elected to kick a field goal rather than go for it, leading to a 21-yard kick from Robbie Gould that cut the deficit to 21-10. Penn State had one more possession.

"I probably second-guess myself now," Paterno said. "If we were at the 2, I probably would have gone for it. I figured we'd get on the board, put some pressure on them rather than score twice and get a two-point play to win."

But mistakes and losses aside, Penn State still found a sliver of optimism. Even in a defeat that ended the team's postseason hopes and effectively put the stamp on a season.

Said Hunt: "We improved greatly today."