Another killer interception. Another Penn State loss.

If you live somewhere in Nittany-crazy Pennsylvania, that is the storyline you will pursue as you scrounge up the pieces of Penn State's 38-14 loss to the the No. 8 Buckeyes last Saturday in the Biggest Horseshoe before its seventh largest crowd ever -- 105,467.

On the other hand, cross the border and discuss last Saturday's events with the Buckeyes weathered faithful and you get a quizzical look and a question: "What (insert your favorite oath here) happened in the first half?"

What happened was indeed Charles Dickensian in nature, a classic Tale of Two States' primary college football programs. And indeed, the old Brit's classic opening lines play true here. "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times."

The timing, of course, depends on which colors you wore.

The first half, which ended with Penn State up 14-3 after a flawless display of taking what a opposing defense allows and maximizing its few offensive opportunities, was Exhibition A as to why Joe Paterno, 83, can still fire up a team and get maximum results.

The second was proof positive that the 2010 Buckeyes (9-1 over all, 5-1 in Big Ten play) are among the nation's most resilient teams. With the usually Mister Rogers-esque Jim Tressel's fiery halftime homily threatening to chip the walls of the Buckeyes locker room -- like they hadn't heard the boos bounce off the walls of the 88-year-old 'Shoe, the second half became a cause.

The Bucks were 18-point favorites, a highly-unusual occurrence in this annual interstate scrum, but Tressel didn't need a lowlights tape to get inside his players' heads.

"Well, the halftime locker room was not a fun place," Tressel told The Columbus Dispatch's O.S.U. beat writer Ken Gordon. "But it was not a place that looked like there was any quit in anybody. And our guys went out in the second half and took over.."

And how.

In running their November record to 27-4 under Tressel, it was a key first half stop on fourth down with a yard to go at the O.S.U. 20 that prevented a possible 21-3 deficit.

Silas Redd, part of a fleet of successful first-half Lions rushers, was stopped by safety Jemale Hines, with help from Orhian Johnson inches short.

It was thisclose. "(Redd) almost stiff-armed me," Hines said to Gordon. "But I hung on for dear life and Orhian came and cleaned up."

It was the Bucks who cleaned up from the opening whistle in the second half.

Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, a backup with an extraordinary future in blue and white, showed much of his potential by guiding the undermanned Nitts to a logic-defying 212-yard first half that was as much a tribute to Paterno and offensive bigwigs Galen Hall and Jay Paterno as to the gutsy sophomore, who threw second-quarter T.D. passes to wide open Justin Brown and Derek Moye.

Too wide open, if you were watching through through scarlet and gray binoculars.

"When Coach Tress comes out and screams at us, we really know we need to pick it up," said cornerback Chimdi Chekwa. "That got us fired up. I'm glad he did it."

Uh, maybe not. But the message unmistakably permeated every Buckeye who took the field in the second half.

Right from the opening series. Which turned from disaster to display model, eating up 8 minutes, 22 seconds and terminating with Daniel "Boom" Herron's 5-yard scoring bolt up the middle.

When McGloin faded to pass in the Lions' next series, what had worked expertly in the first half blew up in their faces. Michael Zordich, whose father had excelled at Penn State in the 1970s, fanned out on the left flank and McGloin floated a safety-valve swing-pass to him. But this time, it turned out to be football's equivalent of a hanging curveball and cornerback Devon Torrence cut in front of the startled Zordich, tipped it to himself and raced 33 yards to the end zone to put the Bucks up 17-14.

As the crowd hooted and hollered in the background, the Lions sideline wore the shell-shocked look.

McGloin had come off a 4-touchdown effort against Northwestern, so the Bucks corners knew what was coming. Although it took the painful first-half adjustment period for Torrence and Travis Howard, who ran a fourth-quarter interception 29 yards in a 21-point final-quarter blitz.

"We had to (know McGloin's m.o.)," Howard told The Dispatch's veteran football maven Tim May. "That's all the talking was about this week, how (McGloin) was saying he was going to come at the defensive backs."

Terrelle Pryor added a much-awaited fourth-quarter flourish, hitting Dane Sanzenbacher for a perfect 58-yard post-pattern T.D. and Jake Stoneburner on 3-yarder to the right end zone corner around Howard's INT.

For the visitors from Happy Valley, so much promise. For the pressurized Bucks, so much angst.

The emotions of college football were never more defined.

And so Penn State (6-4, 3-3) takes on moribund Indiana in a "neutral site" game in Landover, Md. Saturday, one the Lions should find rewarding. Ohio State, meanwhile, faces the daunting challenge of visiting Iowa City to face the No. 21 Hawkeyes (7-3, 4-2).

"I think I'm really frustrated," said right guard Stefan Wisniewski, whose offensive line teammates sparkled in the first half and fizzled in the second. "To play like we did in the first half, we were in control of the game."

Talking to Harrisburg (PA) Sunday Patriot-News Penn State regular Bob Flounders, he could have been talking for EveryLion when he added, "Most people looking at (the final score) are going to think that Ohio State dominated. They didn't. We blew it."

Maybe Tressel's out-of-character blowup had something to do with that. We'll find out soon enough.