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Wednesday, October 23, 2002

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

When Penn State began its stretch of three road games in four weeks against ranked teams, players talked about finding out about the quality and the character of the team.

As the Nittany Lions prepare for the last of those three games Saturday at No. 4 Ohio State, one of those questions has been answered, but another remains a mystery.

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The Lions have exhibited strong character after some heartbreaking losses, but how good they are remains unanswered. Penn State won Oct. 5 at then-No. 19 Wisconsin, one week after losing in overtime to Iowa. But since that game, the Badgers have lost two more and are 0-3 in the conference. The only other ranked team the Lions beat this season was Nebraska, which has lost two more since losing at Penn State.

After defeating Wisconsin, the Lions fell in overtime at No. 8 Michigan. Ohio State likely will be the final ranked team Penn State plays in the regular season, and a victory would keep hope alive for a New Year's Day bowl game. A loss would almost assure the Lions of not finishing among the top three in the conference for a fifth consecutive season.

"This is the biggest game of the year," junior linebacker Gino Capone said. "This is definitely the biggest of the three-game stretch. Ohio State is in the top five. If we can go on the road and get a win at Columbus and get two of three in this tough road stretch it would make up for the heartbreaking loss to Michigan."

Penn State is in fifth place in the conference. The top three teams will go to major bowl games.

"A win at Ohio State would get us right back to where we feel we could and should have been," senior center Joe Iorio said.

"We've had two real tough games," senior guard Tyler Lenda said. "A play here and a play there, and we could be undefeated. This could be huge for us, especially with them being ranked as high as they are. It would be a huge uplift for us and keep us in contention for some good bowls at the end of the season."

Coach Joe Paterno said he is happy with the way his players have bounced back from some potentially disheartening defeats and is looking forward to the opportunity to face another ranked team on the road. It's one of the reasons he publicly lashed out at the officiating last week. He felt the team was close to being involved in the conference championship race and perhaps the national championship chase.

"I have a bunch of kids who have really worked hard to try and be a good football team and were really close to being in the national picture, except for what I think were a couple of badly officiated games," he said. "They've adjusted to losing tough games. They let me shoot my mouth off and they went about their business.

"I can't control some of the things that have happened. ... Obviously, we are not in the national championship picture. Do you want me to tell you why? You have heard me cry enough. ... This is a fun game. We are playing a really good football team in a great stadium at a great time of year. We are playing well and they are playing really well. I am kind of excited. It's a big football game, and we should all be kind of excited about it."

To pull the upset, the Lions must play better than they have in recent games at Ohio Stadium. Penn State has not won at Ohio State since joining the Big Ten Conference and has been outscored, 111-22, in its past three trips to Columbus, including Paterno's worst loss two years ago, a 45-6 thrashing.

"I don't think it's where you play that's important," Paterno said. "It's how you play. I said that we had to play three good football teams away, and the three teams that I thought were really good had bye weeks before we played them. I think the week off before we play people is a little bit more significant when you are playing eight Big Ten games in a row because it is a physical thing."

While Penn State is finishing up the most difficult stretch in its schedule, Ohio State is just beginning to enter the most strenuous portion of its schedule. The Buckeyes, who have beaten only one ranked team (Washington State), must play Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois and Michigan in the final five weeks of the regular season.