UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Ohio State has won or shared three consecutive Big Ten championships and has played in the past two BCS national championship games.

Despite that success, the No. 10 Buckeyes could find themselves in an unusual role tomorrow night at home: 2 1/2-point underdogs against No. 3 Penn State.

The last time Ohio State was an underdog at the Horseshoe occurred in 2004, when bitter rival Michigan entered as a four-point favorite and lost, 37-21.

The Buckeyes haven't been underdogs against the Nittany Lions since 1999.

"I definitely see us as underdogs," Ohio State tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells said. "A lot of people are thinking we're not a great football team. We really haven't been doing what we're capable of doing."

A 35-3 loss to Southern California earlier this year, along with embarrassing losses to Florida and LSU in the past two national championship games, has somewhat tainted the Buckeyes' reputation nationally.

"I definitely think that if we come out with a win [tomorrow night] it will force some people to respect us again," Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. "Because it seems like we don't have any [respect] across the nation."

Since that ugly loss to the Trojans, Ohio State has won five consecutive games.

Penn State safety Anthony Scirrotto knows the Lions are in for a fight.

"I see a great football team with great tradition the past few years," he said. "They know what it takes to win big games. ... It's going to be a tough challenge for us, but we're looking forward to it. It's going to be an exciting game."

Tale of two QBs

Daryll Clark, Penn State's starting quarterback, is from Ohio. And Ohio State's counterpart, Jeannette's Terrelle Pryor, is from Pennsylvania.

Clark is 8-0 in his first year, Pryor 5-0. Both will be making their first starts against schools from their home states.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel checked out Clark when he was playing at Ursuline High School in Youngstown, but Tressel backed away because of Clark's academic issues.

"Jim Tressel felt they didn't want to take a risk on me and they had Troy Smith there," Clark said. "And I wanted to be different. I really didn't want to go to Ohio State."

Wells thrives on big games

Wells ranks ninth in Ohio State history in rushing with 2,804 yards while averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

He had 133 yards on 25 carries in the Buckeyes' 37-17 win against No. 24 Penn State last October at Beaver Stadium.

"I just love playing in big games," he said. "All my life I've loved big games. I guess it's something you could say I was made for."

Quick hits

Penn State defensive tackle Abe Koroma and defensive end Maurice Evans have waived preliminary hearings on charges of one count of marijuana possession. They are scheduled for a pretrial conference Jan 22, 2009. ... The Lions have picked up their 19th verbal commitment for 2009 as place kicker Anthony Fera de-committed from Michigan. Fera, from St. Pius X High School in Houston, is rated the No. 2 kicker in the country by Scout.com and Rivals.com.