By: Josh Langenbacher (AltoonaMirror.com) –

UNIVERSITY PARK – When Penn State finished off Ohio State, 13-6, at Ohio Stadium last season, the victory touched off an emotional scene as defensive tackle Jared Odrick and another teammate joined forces for a chest bump at the Horseshoe’s 50-yard line.

Captains A.Q. Shipley and Anthony Scirrotto slapped hands with the Penn State contingent that comprised part of the 105,711 in attendance that night, then hugged before heading into the locker room.

Afterward, as the Nittany Lions thrust themselves into the national championship discussion with the win – at least until an upset loss at Iowa the next week – players beamed.

“I told a lot of guys in the locker room you don’t even know what it means for these seniors,” wide receiver Deon Butler said after the game. “For buy doxycycline online them it’s another year, another couple years. You don’t understand until you’re a senior that now or never mentality.”

Nationally, however, Penn State’s first win at the Horseshoe in 30 years was panned as a boring outcome in sharp contrast to the wide-open, high-scoring games seen in the Big 12 and SEC, among other conferences.

As this season nears, that perception still hasn’t shaken. Los Angeles Times writer Chris Dufresne counted down in May the 10 biggest college football games of the season, and the Ohio State-Penn State rematch Nov. 7 was No. 6 in the list.

“It could decide the Big Ten title, whatever that means these days,” Dufresne wrote. “And remember, if the final score is 13-6 again, that’s just hard-nosed Big Ten football and not a long, boring, low-scoring sleeping pill.”

A long, boring, low-scoring sleeping pill?

“It’s still a great football game, a close game, a battle,” center Stefen Wisniewski said at Lift for Life. “We don’t have to care about how many points we scored. We’re just worried about winning a game on the road, and we did.”

While Wisniewski may not care about the perceived brand of football played in the Big Ten, the conference’s reputation will factor into the polls.

And until the Big Ten improves on a 4-11 mark in BCS games this decade with eight of those losses coming by at least 13 points, the Big Ten may have a difficult time convincing the rest of the country that a 13-6 Penn State-Ohio State contest is just as enjoyable as, say, a 61-41 Oklahoma-Oklahoma State final.

Of the 49 Big 12 conference games last season, at least 30 points were scored by both teams in 14 games, and one team scored at least 30 points an additional 30 times.

The Big Ten offers a sharp contrast. There were 44 conference games in 2008, and at least 30 points were scored by both teams only three times. In the other 41 games, the winning team scored at least 30 points 20 times.

“It’s definitely different football,” safety Drew Astorino said. “They’re playing in the south, we’re playing in the cold snow. It’s two different styles, two different weather types, two different teams. … Everybody loves the offensive guys who score TDs, who throw touchdown passes. That’s the more exciting thing about football.”

One defensive play from Penn State’s thrilling victory over Ohio State provided plenty of excitement. The Lions trailed, 6-3, and Ohio State faced a third-and-1 at midfield with 11 minutes left when former safety Mark Rubin forced Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor to fumble.

Former linebacker Tyrell Sales threw running back Chris Wells to the turf, poked the ball away to prevent Pryor from recovering, and linebacker Navorro Bowman came up with possession at Ohio State’s 38-yard line. Penn State scored to take a 10-6 lead with 4:13 left.

“It just proves one play can change the game,” wide receiver Graham Zug said. “It can make or break the game and win or lose the game. That fumble made it for us. It’s amazing how one play in one game can make a huge difference.”

But for all the Lions’ claims about a 13-6 game being just as enticing as a 61-41 final, Wisniewski knows where he draws the line.

He mentioned Iowa’s 6-4 futile win over Penn State in 2004.

“Maybe if we won 6-4, that wouldn’t be too great, but 13-6, we’re happy with that,” Wisniewski said before laughing and coming back to that unforgettable game five years ago. “No, especially because we were on the losing end, that’s not good football.”

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