STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Maybe now No. 1 Ohio State will get the respect it's looking for.
Todd Boeckman threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns and Chris Wells ran for 133 yards, leading the Buckeyes to another easy victory, 37-17 over No. 25 Penn State on Saturday night.
"We couldn't stop them," Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said. "That was a good football team and they played really well."
Several Buckeyes (9-0, 5-0, Big Ten) earlier this week complained they weren't getting enough respect despite their No. 1 ranking in the polls and Bowl Championship Series standings. Penn State (6-3, 3-3) was only the second ranked team Ohio State has faced, so the strength of the Buckeyes' schedule had been called into question even though they've dominated almost every game.
This was Ohio State's toughest test yet, a night game in one of the loudest venues in the country. A crowd of 110,134, the secondlargest in Beaver Stadium history, started out loud but was quieted quickly, and the Buckeyes went on to their seventh victory of at least 10 points this season.
Ohio State has won 19 consecutive Big Ten games, tying the mark set by Michigan in 1990-1992. The Buckeyes' last Big Ten loss came Oct. 8, 2005, 17-10 at Penn State.
Sports, Pages 43 on 10/28/2007