10 THINGS WE LEARNED ABOUT OHIO STATE and PENN STATE THIS PAST WEEKEND

It was a huge week for the Big Ten this past weekend. First of all Northwestern shocked Iowa and Stanzi went down, then OSU played its best game, took a 10-7 lead into half time and pulls away in convincing fashion in one of the marquee Big 10 games of the year.  Here are 10 things we learned about Ohio State and Penn State.

1. Ohio State's Offensive line when healthy can be effective.  Proof?  Over 200 yards rushing and 0 sacks given up against one of the 'elite' defenses in not only the conference, but the nation. 

2. It helps having a healthy RB Boom Boom Herron. He contributed on some key drives and took the load off of Saine.

3. Terrell Pryor, while his numbers were not spectacular, made huge strides.  How? He made great decisions in not turning the ball over, keeping drives going with his legs, and making a few great passes to put the game out of reach. His mechanics seemed better and played very well in a hostile environment.

4.  Special teams do matter.  Just like the winning recipe against Wisconsin, Ohio State used Roy Small's nearly 200 yard special team explosion to cash in on points and assist their struggling offense pull away from Penn States.

5.  Ohio State's offense showed signs of improvement.  They had nearly a 10 minute time of possession advantage over The Lions, but more importantly, Ohio State ran plays and formations that Buckeye fans have been begging for and kept PSU off guard.  They averaged nearly 4.5 yards per carry on the ground, but most signficantly did not turn the ball over.

6.  The Buckeye's Defensive line is elite.  They shut down Clark to 125 yards passing, and held Royster and the 'vaunted' PSU running game in check to only 76 total yards.  They harrassed Clark the entire game and forced PSU into 8 drive ending punts.  Having a healthy Deximore is important, but Heyward was a human wrecking ball.

7.   Little things do matter.  The key 3 plays in this game appeared to come near the end of the 1st half as The Buckeyes responded to Clark's tying TD score.  As Ohio State moved the ball to The Lion's 22 yard line, penalties and defense forced The Bucks into a 1st and 25 situation clearly outside of FG range.  Ohio State safely and effectivley moved the ball all the way back to the 25 yard line assisted by a PSU off sides call enabling them to hit a mid range field goal which gave The Bucks confidence and the lead for good.

8.  It's easy to have great numbers against weaker opponents.  Due to Penn State's impressive stats, the vast majority of CFB analysits really didn't give Ohio State much of a chance against The Lions.  On the Big Ten Channel it was said that Clark was playing as well as any QB in the nation. However in Happy Valley, IA held PSU to 10 pts and The Buckeyes smothered them, pitching a shut out in the 2nd half, giving up only 1 Touchdown.  PSU's DL was called elite and their defense was seen as one of the finest in the nation. However, in Penn State's two games against decent teams they gave up 21 pts. to IA, yes one TD was due to a blocked punt, and  The Buckeyes ran for nearly 230 total yards amassing 24 points in Happy Valley.

9.  Reloading isn't easy. Both PSU and OSU lost key talent this past year.  However, this game showed that Penn State's losses on the, DL, OL and secondary do matter. On this level it's just not talent that counts, but experience as well.

10.  Ohio State is now clearly in the driver's seat for a Big Ten Title and BCS bowl game.  The undefeated Hawkeyes lost, but their leader, QB Ricki Stanzi appaears to not be able to play at Ohio State next week. The Buckeye's also seemed to pick up confidence and momentum on the offensive side of the ball and have regained their defensive swagger.  How that plays out for the final two weeks of the season will be seen, but things look much 'Rosier' for Ohio State than they did just a few days ago!!