Nittany Lions' defense too much

[bullwark]

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - With four capable backs who are practically interchangeable, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats figured that running the football would be their strength this season.

Then they met the Penn State defense.

After rushing for 293 yards last week against Eastern Michigan, the Bearcats' running game was stopped cold by the Nittany Lions, who allowed a paltry 31 yards on 34 attempts and drilled UC 42-24 on Saturday before 98,727 fans at Beaver Stadium.

UC, which plays at Nippert Stadium on Saturday against Division I-AA Western Carolina, is 1-1. Penn State is 2-0.

The UC running backs never had a chance against the Penn State defensive line.

"They controlled the line of scrimmage up front," said UC coach Mark Dantonio. "Usually when you're able to do that, you're able to win the football game. It was difficult to run the football. "

UC's longest run of the day was 13 yards and that didn't occur until less than two minutes remained. The Bearcats' leading rusher was Butler Benton with 15 yards, 13 of them coming on that one play.

Bradley Glatthaar gained three yards on eight carries, Mike Daniels 13 yards on five carries.

"We basically were killing ourselves," said offensive tackle Steve Eastlake.

"We were always one person away from having a breakaway play. It's not like it was a total breakdown of the offensive line. It was just one person at a time and you can't have one person messing up every play. You have to play as a team."

UC got into an early hole when redshirt freshman Dustin Grutza was intercepted for the first time in his young career trying to convert a third-and-12 from his own 18-yard line. That set up Penn State's initial touchdown less than four minutes into the game.

"It was third down and I wanted to make a play," Grutza said. "But that's something the coaches tell me, that if you don't have it just throw it away. I probably should have on that play."

UC trailed 14-3 at halftime after outgaining the Nittany Lions 81 yards to 50 in the second quarter, and appeared poised to make a game of it in the second half.

"We came in at halftime and we thought we were going to win the game," Dantonio said.

But after a Daniels fumble on the Penn State 41-yard line with 10:06 left in the third quarter, Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson hit Justin King with a 59-yard touchdown pass over UC freshman cornerback Mike Mickens to make it 21-3. Unable to move the ball on the ground, UC was forced to pass. Despite being under almost constant pressure, Grutza completed 27 of 47 passes for 286 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked four times but it could have been eight or nine except for some nifty escapes on his part.

"That kid is a good quarterback," said Penn State coach Joe Paterno. "He scrambles well and has got a lot of poise, but we let him off the hook too many times."

Trailing 42-10 with 2:23 to go, the Bearcats tacked on two touchdowns to make the score more respectable. Dantonio viewed those last two touchdowns as an indication of the resolve his team displayed and that's what he chose to dwell on after the game.

"I'm not going to walk out of here with my head down," Dantonio said. "I'm not looking for moral victories. I'm just looking for guys who will play with toughness and will compete and I think we did that. Maybe (Penn State) thought we were going to go in the bag, but I was going to keep playing. "

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050911/SPT0101/509110373/1064

[bulls96go]

now our play at penn state looks even better!

and our o-line looks spectacular