The College Football BeltThe CFB Belt
Belt / 2006 season / Reign #260 · Game 1,369 of 1,643
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 StateAP No. 1 28
AT
Away · Challenger
Penn StateAP No. 24 6

AP poll, week 4: Penn State No. 24 at Ohio State No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Ohio State came in 14 days into reign #260, which began with a win over Texas, with one defense already behind it; this was its second defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 8 more times before Florida took it on January 9, 2007, 122 days after the reign began.

For Penn State this was its 20th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 4 times before.

It was the first of 3 meetings between the two with the belt on the line; all-time Ohio State leads 3–0. Every meeting →

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.

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

Ohio State

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTQBR
Troy Smith12/221155.21224.7

Penn State

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTQBR
Anthony Morelli16/251064.20316.7

Rushing

Ohio State

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
Antonio Pittman201105.5119
Troy Smith3186.0017
Chris Wells5112.203
Maurice Wells1-1-1.000

Penn State

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
Tony Hunt241355.6034
Matt Hahn273.504
Anthony Morelli970.8013
BranDon Snow200.000
Derrick Williams1-1-1.000
Daryll Clark2-6-3.000

Receiving

Ohio State

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Brian Robiskie35117.0137
Anthony Gonzalez2168.0012
Ted Ginn Jr.2157.5012
Antonio Pittman2147.0017
Stan White Jr.2115.507
Brian Hartline188.008

Penn State

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Jordan Norwood5306.0013
Derrick Williams3227.3011
Deon Butler2178.5011
Tony Hunt3124.009
Patrick Hall11111.0011
Brendan Perretta188.008
BranDon Snow166.006
Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Ohio State

PlayerINTYDSTD
Malcolm Jenkins1611
Antonio Smith1551
James Laurinaitis1130

Penn State

PlayerINTYDSTD
Dan Connor100
Justin King100

Kicking

Ohio State

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Aaron Pettrey0/10.003/33
Ryan Pretorius0/00.001/11

Penn State

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Kevin Kelly2/366.7230/06

Punt Returns

Ohio State

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Ted Ginn Jr.3299.7140

Penn State

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Ohio State

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
AJ Trapasso519138.20053

Penn State

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Jeremy Kapinos630350.50068

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 262660194) · This game in the downloadable dataset