Buckeyes grind out 13-7 win vs. Penn State

COLUMBUS - Fans who think the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes are a team of destiny or leading a charmed existence saw those beliefs reinforced by Saturday's gritty 13-7 victory over Penn State.

The fourth-ranked Buckeyes (9-0, 4-0 in the Big Ten) overcame four turnovers, the absence of defensive spark plug Cie Grant, the opening series loss of tailback sensation Maurice Clarett and the failure to score an offensive touchdown to remain in the national championship hunt.

It was OSU's fifth home win in as many tries over the Lions and coaching icon Joe Paterno since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993.

"I don't think you can say (we're) destined," quarterback Craig Krenzel said after throwing two interceptions and fumbling for the first time as he tried to lunge across the goal line on OSU's opening drive.

"It just shows what kind of team we are. We may be young, but we're a team with a lot of depth. We've been able to overcome adversity and find ways to win games."

The Buckeyes lost Clarett to a shoulder stinger on the first series after he went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season. Without him, the Buckeyes turned to their "other" phenom, and Chris Gamble responded with a touchdown-saving tackle and game-winning touchdown.

As usual, Gamble ran with the first-teamers at flanker. The sophomore from Sunrise, Fla., also made his starting debut at cornerback, where he picked off the first pass thrown in his direction by quarterback Zack Mills and zig-zagged 40 yards to put OSU in front 10-7 two minutes into the third period.

The defense took it from there, holding the 18th-ranked Lions (5-3, 2-3) to 58 yards total offense in the second half. Mike Nugent added his second 37-yard field goal of the game for an insurance score, running his streak of three-point conversions to 19 straight.

"Chris is a great player, but he's also a smart player," OSU coach Jim Tressel said of Gamble. "There are a lot of talented players, but he has a feel for the game. You could line him up just about anywhere ... and he pays close attention to what is going on on the field."

He may have been the only Buckeye paying attention when cornerback Anwar Phillips scooped up Krenzel's goal-line fumble on the game's opening series and appeared headed for six points the other way. Gamble eventually shed the blocking of persistent corner Richard Gardner and brought Phillips down at the OSU 41.

That tackle loomed even larger two plays later when freshman linebacker A.J. Hawk -- starting for the injured Grant -- intercepted a pass deflected by OSU tackle Tim Anderson to kill that scoring threat.

Penn State rebounded on its next possession to score on a 5-yard option run by Larry Johnson. The senior tailback gained 40 yards, 35 on one carry, during that 80-yard drive. The rest of the afternoon he was held to 26 yards on 14 carries and the Lions mustered only 179 yards total offense.

"We didn't execute; our offense was ridiculous," said Johnson, who one week earlier had a school-record 257 yards rushing in a 49-0 rout of Northwestern. "Our defense played their hearts out. All we had to do was make one or two more blocks and it's a different ballgame."

For the second year in a row, Mills was intercepted three times by the Buckeyes, with OSU converted Saturday's mistakes into 10 points.

Last year Mills compensated by throwing for 280 yards and rushing for another 138 as the Lions rallied from 18 points down for a 29-27 victory. Saturday, he accounted for only 7 yards on the ground and 98 through the air on 14 of 28 completions.

"The coaches got on us all week about Mills breaking the school record for total offense against us last year," defensive end Will Smith said. "For him to do that as a freshman, we took that as a challenge."

Ohio State had scored on 34 of 36 trips inside the red zone entering the game, but Krenzel fumbled at the goal line to ruin a 15-play march on the opening series and wide receiver Chris Vance fumbled at the PSU 15 in the second quarter to waste another scoring opportunity.

The Buckeyes wouldn't be deterred. Its a trait shared by teams of destiny.

"A lot of little things hurt us, and that's a good (OSU) football team," Paterno said. "I think they are better defensively than they were last year. Obviously they didn't know as much about Mills last year as they do now.

"I think it was just a combination of them playing very well and we couldn't make a play."

Originally published Sunday, October 27, 2002