The Morning Call du lieu suivant : Allentown, Pennsylvania • 57

'HORNS HOOK 'EM: Texas crushes Oklahoma, Page 3 DANDY DONNELLY: Mules coach sets wins record, Page 7 FOOTBALI EXTRA SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2005 THE MORNING CALL SECTION CC PENN STATE 17, OHIO STATE 10 dbylbft row tate ds back Lions knocked off No. 6 Ohio State, 17-10, with just enough offense and a spectacular display of defense. After back-to-back losing seasons in 2003 and 2004, Penn State is 6-0 for the first time since 1999. The Lions hadn't beaten a Top 10 team since they defeated then eighth-ranked Nebraska in 2002. And, though it's certainly an afterthought at this point, Penn State is bowl eligible for the first time since 2002 with five regular-season games left, no less.

"I'm pleased, obviously," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said, "but I don't feel like this is the end of the road for this team." Nittany Lions upend undefeated Ohio State in front of 109,839 fans. By Beth Hudson Of The Morning Call UNIVERSITY PARK Five minutes after the game had ended, the student section was still packed with kids in white shirts. Apparently, the second-largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history didn't want to leave. Hey, they had waited a long time for opportunity three years, in fact. But on Saturday night, it became official: Penn State is back.

The 16th-ranked Nittany I U3 Jjt I Hi T.vl A JI Steve Manuel Associated Press PSU SAFETY CALVIN LOWRY (left) flies through the air after intercepting a pass. Lowry landed at the 2 and Penn State scored three plays later. Whole lot of stadium shaking going on PSU PAGE CC2 turned Penn State into (dare we say it?) a national power again. And they, along with Ohio State's just-as-crushing defense, made this game enormously entertaining in spite of their coaches. The 16th-ranked Lions, inspired like no team since the unbeaten team of 1994, won the most influential game of any since then.

Penn State's 17-10 victory over sixth-ranked Ohio State on Saturday night was the page-turner this program needed, longed for and aspired to. WOGENRICH PAGE CC2 points when they took the second-half kickoff and marched 57 yards for a touchdown that snapped a 7-7 tie. Then their defense let loose, limiting Columbia to 7 yards over the final two quarters to hold on for a 14-7 win in a driving downpour at Fisher Field. "I can tell you those were some of the worst field conditions I've been associated with in my 19 years of coach ing," Lafayette coach Frank Tavani said. "You can't appreciate until you try to walk across that field at the end of the game just how bad those field conditions were.

LAFAYETTE PAGE CCS Comment MARK WOGENRICH UNlVERSfTY PARK Beaver Stadium shook for the first time since, well, probably ever. Fourth quarter, 109,000 people jumping up and down, concrete joists absorbing the sway, a thunder of noise releasing into the clearing night. Two plays. On a night of epic defensive pitch and yaw, Calvin Lowry and Tamba Hali made the two plays that PENN STATE QUARTERBACK MICHAEL ROBINSON (bottom) rolls into the end zone for a touchdown as tackle Andrew Richardson leaps over him during the second quarter against Ohio State. Freshman Derrick Williams scored Penn State's other touchdown on a run.

Leopards show resiliency, buoyancy slides by opener Carolyn Kattcr Associated Press Jane Therese Special to TMC LEHIGH RUNNING BACK ERIC RATH had 21 carries for 144 yards despite monsoon-like conditions. Even though the game began in monsoon-like conditions that only grew worse, Lehigh seemed to be in control after run-dominated drives of 73 and 83 yards pro- LEHIGH PAGE CCS Iff i. i jiinua. i WM '1 'ri HOP 25 SCOREBOARD No. 1 USC 42, Arizona 21 No.

2 Texas 45, Oklahoma 12 No. 3 Virginia Tech 41, Marshall 14 No. 4 Florida state 41, Wake Forest 24 5 Georgia 27, No. 8 Tennessee 14 No. 16 Penn St 17, No.

6 Ohio St 10 No. 7 Alabama, idle No. 9 Miami 52, Duke 7 No. 20 UCLA 47, No. 10 California 40 No.

11 LSU 34, Vanderbilt 6 No. 12 Notre Dame, idle No. 13 Florida 35, Mississippi State 9 Northwestern 51, No. 14 Wisconsin 48 No. 15 Texas Tech 34, Nebraska 31 No.

25 Oregon at No. 17 Ariz St, late No. 18 Boston College 28, Virginia 17 No. 19 Michigan State, idle Minnesota 23, No. 21 Michigan 20 No.

22 Auburn, idle No. 23 Louisville 69, North Carolina 14 LOCAL SCOREBOARD Bloomsburg 12, Kutztown 0 ESU 56, Clarion 0 Holy Cross 13, Lehigh 10 Lafayette 14, Columbia 7 Muhlenberg 20, Dickinson 2 Holy Cross Lehigh in Fumbles hinder Hawks, who lose their first league-opener in 8 years. By Keith Groller Of The Morning Call As wet as they were, a few dozen Holy Cross football players couldn't resist. Running off the Goodman Stadium field toward their locker rooms, the Crusaders immersed themselves in the small pond in the right corner of the north end zone. They dived, they slid, they belly-flopped.

They laughed. Holy Cross may have left Bethlehem a bit waterlogged on Saturday, but the Crusad Lafayette slogs its way to 14-7 watery win over Columbia. By Stephen Miller Of The Morning Call Everyone understood the situation. Pools of water were drowning the hash-marks. Holding the football had grown difficult; throwing it verged on impossible.

So Lafayette and Columbia left their locker rooms after halftime knowing the next points scored would probably decide their non-league game Saturday afternoon. The Leopards got those ers also left with a watershed win for their program. The Crusaders stunned No. 10-ranked Lehigh with two big scoring plays in the fourth quarter to post a 13-10 upset, snapping the Mountain Hawks' seven-game winning streak over Holy Cross and another seven-year streak of winning Patriot League openers. If Lehigh (3-2, 0-1 Patriot) is sitting home on Thanksgiving weekend when the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs begin, it might just blame it on the rain.

"We knew going into today that a lot of strange things could happen and the ball could take some funny bounces," Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said. "We knew there could be some tough breaks.".