With the clock winding down at the end of the fourth quarter, a dejected Anthony Morelli sat on the Penn State sidelines with his helmet on hiding any emotion running through his head after the Nittany Lions' 37-17 loss to the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
Morelli found the bench after being pulled in favor of backup Daryl Clark after Buckeye corner Malcolm Jenkins returned a Morelli interception for a touchdown with 9:36 remaining in the game.
As Clark took the field, the blue-and-white crowd gave its loudest cheer to that point in the quarter.
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said he made the move to get Clark experience and added it was not made because of Morelli's play.
"The only reason I took him out was I wanted to play Clark a little bit" Paterno said. "I thought by that time, I thought we were out of it at that stage and I thought it would give Clark a chance to get a little work."
Morelli finished the game 12 of 21 for 111 yards and the interception. The Penn State offense was able to move the ball against the nation's No. 1 defense, but had its possessions limited by an Ohio State offense that held the ball for 37:52 and 74 plays compared to the Lions' 49 snaps from scrimmage.
The Buckeye offense was so dominant that punter A.J. Trapasso spent the entire game on the sideline.
"We couldn't stop them," Paterno said. "That's a good football team and they played well."
Well could have been considered an understatement. The Ohio State offense was downright dominating.
Quarterback Todd Boeckman completed 73 percent of his passes for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns. He showed poise and proved he is more than a game-manager.
Even when the Lions were able to force third downs they couldn't get off the field. Ohio State converted 12 of 16 third downs and finished 1 for 1 on fourth down.
In total, the Buckeye offense was able to physically manhandle one of the nation's top defenses. They averaged six yards per play and amassed 453 yards of total offense. Ohio State forced its will on Penn State and the Lions were helpless.
When both teams walked off the field it was obvious Ohio State was the much better team. They sent a message to the college football world proving they deserve their No. 1 ranking.
After the game Paterno said the Buckeyes were just flat out better than his team.
"Offensively, they just moved one step ahead of us all night," Paterno said. "I was impressed with them."
