Sep 21, 2006 4 min read

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – Texas couldn’t stop him. Northern Illinois and Cincinnati were mere speed bumps. Now Penn State gets a crack at trying to contain Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith on Saturday, a tough task that the top-ranked Buckeyes’ first three opponents couldn’t handle.

“People say you have to put pressure on him and you have to do this and that,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. “Yeah, sure, try to catch him.”

Smith has thrown for 769 yards and seven touchdowns, completing 69 percent of his passes for No. 1 Ohio State (3-0). The senior has yet to throw an interception.That puts the 24th-ranked Nittany Lions (2-1) in a quandary familiar to the Buckeyes’ other foes this season.

“You put pressure on him and you are running around trying to make sure Ginn, Gonzalez and the other kid aren’t running wild on you,” Paterno said. “You plug away and plug away. I think our defensive line is working at it. We are going to have to play a lot of people because they are going to get tired.”

If there’s any solace for Paterno, Penn State has had some success in bottling up Smith. Nearly a year ago at a rocking Beaver Stadium, Smith was 13-of-25 for 139 yards and an interception, and ran for 15 yards on 19 carries in Penn State’s nail-biting 17-10 win over Ohio State that eliminated any national title hopes for the Buckeyes.

Smith did run for Ohio State’s only score then, and was involved in two other big plays. Unfortunately for him, he was on the wrong end each time – sacked by Tamba Hali with about a minute and a half left and chased down by Paul Posluszny for a 10-yard loss with about five minutes to go.

Things have changed. Penn State lost seven starters from that impressive defense. Ohio State hasn’t lost a game since then.

Smith said he has watched last year’s Penn State game a couple times.

“I don’t want to say that Penn State was a turning point,” Smith said. “I would like to say that we gradually increased and got better as a team. That was just a step along the way.”

He’s more sure of himself now, and hits the film room to try to fix any potential problems.

“It’s a totally different comfort level than last year,” Smith said.

He’s running less, with just 12 attempts for minus-14 yards in his first three games. By comparison, he ran 11 times for 66 yards in the Fiesta Bowl last season against Notre Dame.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Smith hasn’t run as much this season in part because the offense has been effective without his scrambling abilities and in part to better protect the quarterback.

“What do you do to stop us. I guess first of all you’ve got to stop Troy Smith,” said guard T.J. Downing. “But to stop Troy, you’ve got to get through the offensive line. … It’s a big question mark for the defensive coordinator for Penn State and for the rest of their team.”

Penn State linebacker Dan Connor said the key to stopping Smith last season was keeping him in the pocket, but he has noticed a difference this year.

“He definitely looks real good in the passing game, looking people off, defensive backs and linebackers,” said Connor, who has a team-high 30 tackles. “He definitely looks more polished as a passer.”

Still, the Lions are aware of Smith’s ability to break a defense down on the run. They know firsthand how disruptive an athletic quarterback can be since they had to practice against one every week last season when Michael Robinson guided Penn State.

Texas can relate. The Longhorn defense also had the experience of practicing against an athletic quarterback last season, Vince Young. Smith torched them anyway two weeks ago for 269 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-7 win.

Which would make stopping Smith even more impressive for a Nittany Lion defense still jelling after incorporating the fresh faces into the starting lineup, including three sophomores in the secondary. Penn State has been taut against the run, giving up just 63 yards a game, but more porous against the pass (205 yards per game).

The Lions have had some success getting to the quarterback, with 12 sacks in their first three games.

“Anytime you have a mobile quarterback like that who can run the option and also throws the ball downfield really well, it’s always very tough to prepare for them,” Posluszny said.