September 23, 2006 Week 4 · Regular Season Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 28–6, at home over Penn State.

Home · Defending Holder

Ohio State 28

Away · Challenger

Penn State 6

AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State's defense dominated this matchup, forcing five turnovers to keep the belt in Columbus. Penn State struck first with a Kevin Kelly field goal to take a 3-0 lead, but Ohio State's offense found the end zone in the third quarter when Antonio Pittman punched in a 12-yard rushing touchdown to take the lead. The game was decided in the fourth quarter when Ohio State's defense took over, with Malcolm Jenkins returning an interception 61 yards for a touchdown and Antonio Smith adding another pick-six on a 55-yard return to put the game out of reach at 28-6. Despite Penn State's late field goal from Kelly and a strong rushing attack led by Tony Hunt, the Nittany Lions couldn't overcome their turnover problems and Ohio State's relentless defense.

Penn State's opening field goal gave them early momentum at 3-0
Antonio Pittman's 12-yard touchdown run in Q3 gave Ohio State the lead for good
Malcolm Jenkins' 61-yard interception return for a touchdown in Q4 sealed the game
Antonio Smith's 55-yard pick-six with 1:07 remaining ended any comeback hopes

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Ohio StatePenn State

Total yards253248

Rushing yards138142

Passing yards115124

First downs1416

3rd down conv.5/113/14

Turnovers23

Penalties–yards5–473–20

Time of possession15:2821:30

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 11:39	Ohio State	+0 yd	Troy Smith pass intercepted by Justin King at the PnnSt 25, returned for no gain to the PnnSt 25.
Q1 8:55	Penn State	+14 yd	Anthony Morelli pass intercepted by James Laurinaitis at the OSU 47, returned for 14 yards to the PnnSt 39.
Q1 7:00	Ohio State	+52 yd	Aaron Pettrey 52 yard field goal MISSED.
Q3 15:00	Penn State	+22 yd	Kevin Kelly kickoff for 65 yards returned by Ted Ginn Jr. for 22 yards to the OSU 22.
Q2 0:00	Penn State	+21 yd	Kevin Kelly 21 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 13:20	Ohio State	+0 yd	Troy Smith pass intercepted by Dan Connor at the OSU 26, returned for no gain to the OSU 26.
Q3 12:36	Penn State	+42 yd	Kevin Kelly 42 yard field goal MISSED.
Q3 9:06	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q3 9:06	Ohio State	+12 yd	Antonio Pittman rush for 12 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 11:36	Ohio State	+20 yd	Antonio Pittman rush for 20 yards to the OSU 48 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down.
Q4 12:56	Ohio State	+38 yd	Troy Smith pass complete to Brian Robiskie for 38 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 12:56	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q4 7:33	Penn State	+23 yd	Kevin Kelly 23 yard field goal GOOD.
Q4 9:57	Penn State	+34 yd	Tony Hunt rush for 34 yards to the OSU 5 for a 1ST down.
Q4 7:33	Penn State	+22 yd	Kevin Kelly kickoff for 57 yards returned by Ted Ginn Jr. for 22 yards to the OSU 30.
Q4 2:31	Penn State	+61 yd	Anthony Morelli pass intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins at the OSU 39, returned for 61 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 2:31	Ohio State	+0 yd	Aaron Pettrey extra point GOOD.
Q4 1:07	Penn State	+55 yd	Anthony Morelli pass intercepted by Antonio Smith at the OSU 45, returned for 55 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 1:07	Ohio State	+0 yd	Ryan Pretorius extra point GOOD.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Troy SmithOhio State	12/22	115	5.2	1	2	24.7
Anthony MorelliPenn State	16/25	106	4.2	0	3	16.7

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Antonio PittmanOhio State	20	110	5.5	1	19
Troy SmithOhio State	3	18	6.0	0	17
Chris WellsOhio State	5	11	2.2	0	3
Maurice WellsOhio State	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Tony HuntPenn State	24	135	5.6	0	34
Matt HahnPenn State	2	7	3.5	0	4
Anthony MorelliPenn State	9	7	0.8	0	13
BranDon SnowPenn State	2	0	0.0	0	0
Derrick WilliamsPenn State	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Daryll ClarkPenn State	2	-6	-3.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Brian RobiskieOhio State	3	51	17.0	1	37
Anthony GonzalezOhio State	2	16	8.0	0	12
Ted Ginn Jr.Ohio State	2	15	7.5	0	12
Antonio PittmanOhio State	2	14	7.0	0	17
Stan White Jr.Ohio State	2	11	5.5	0	7
Brian HartlineOhio State	1	8	8.0	0	8
Jordan NorwoodPenn State	5	30	6.0	0	13
Derrick WilliamsPenn State	3	22	7.3	0	11
Deon ButlerPenn State	2	17	8.5	0	11
Tony HuntPenn State	3	12	4.0	0	9
Patrick HallPenn State	1	11	11.0	0	11
Brendan PerrettaPenn State	1	8	8.0	0	8
BranDon SnowPenn State	1	6	6.0	0	6

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Malcolm JenkinsOhio State	1	61	1
Antonio SmithOhio State	1	55	1
James LaurinaitisOhio State	1	13	0
Dan ConnorPenn State	1	0	0
Justin KingPenn State	1	0	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Aaron PettreyOhio State	0/1	0.0	0	3/3	3
Ryan PretoriusOhio State	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1
Kevin KellyPenn State	2/3	66.7	23	0/0	6

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Ted Ginn Jr.Ohio State	3	29	9.7	14	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
AJ TrapassoOhio State	5	191	38.2	0	0	53
Jeremy KapinosPenn State	6	303	50.5	0	0	68

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

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