Pryor ready for ‘reception’ at PSU

ASSOCIATED PRESS

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Welcome home, Terrelle Pryor.

No. 15 Ohio State and its talented dual-threat quarterback visit No. 11 Penn State in a high-stakes Big Ten game. For Pryor, it will be his first game at Beaver Stadium since the western Pennsylvania native spurned Penn State last year to end one of the most publicized recruiting races in recent memory.

Nittany Lions fans haven’t forgotten, and Pryor knows it.

“It’s going to be a crazy atmosphere, but that’s what we come here for,” said Pryor, a sophomore. “We’re going [in] as a team, so if I get spit on, they spit on the whole team and stuff like that.”

As if the annual grudge match between the Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) and Nittany Lions (8-1, 4-1) needed any subplots.

Both teams could use a signature win to solidify their credentials for a BCS bowl berth.

The game also will break their tie for second place in the conference, putting the winner in better position for at least a share of the Big Ten crown should unbeaten Iowa falter down the stretch.

“We definitely feel like we have something to prove. There’s a whole bunch of talk that we haven’t played anybody yet,” Penn State receiver Derek Moye said.

In fact, today’s game will be the first time two FBS coaches with a combined 600 or more wins will have met in the regular season, according to Penn State’s sports information department. The other time it happened was in the 2006 Orange Bowl, when Penn State and Paterno beat Florida State and Bobby Bowden.

“I came here to Ohio State to play in this type of game. I have my teammates with me, all 70 guys,” Pryor said. “We’ll feed off of that, whether it’s our fans or their fans. It’s going to be exciting, electric.”

Notre Dame-Navy

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No one on No. 19 Notre Dame needs convincing about how tough Navy is to play.

The Fighting Irish (6-2) remember how the Midshipmen gave them a scare last season by recovering two onside kicks and scoring two touchdowns in the final 99 seconds before the Irish held on for a 27-21 victory.

Just as vivid is a season earlier, when Navy beat Notre Dame 46-44 in three overtimes to end a 43-game losing streak to the Irish.

“That was kind of the low point of my career,” Irish center Eric Olsen said. “Obviously that season wasn’t a season that any of us really want to remember. But when you have a streak that long against a team, you hate to be the team that gives that streak up.”

The Midshipmen (6-3) say the memory of ending the NCAA’s longest losing streak by any team to a single opponent gives them confidence.

“We’ll keep that in the back of our minds as a reminder that we have done it before,” cornerback Blake Carter said.

Oklahoma-Nebraska

NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson proclaimed that his front line was as talented as any in the country at the start of training camp.

For a group that had lost four starters from a season ago, it was a bold statement of support for mostly unproven players charged with protecting Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and opening holes in the running game.

It was also in stark contrast to coach Bob Stoops’ comments in the spring that the offensive line was the “weak link” of the team.

Two-thirds of the way through the season, the line is still a work in progress for the No. 20 Sooners (5-3, 3-1) as they prepare to face Big 12 preseason defensive player of the year Ndamukong Suh and Nebraska (5-3, 2-2) tonight.