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Ohio Vs. Penn State 2012: Bill O'Brien Era Begins With 24-14 Loss To Ohio

The Penn State Nittany Lions lost their opening game of the season, 24-14, to the Ohio Bobcats, a disappointing start to the head coaching career of Bill O'Brien, trying to replace the late Joe Paterno.

Penn State was leading 14-3 at halftime thanks to two Matt McGloin passing touchdowns — one to Bill Belton, the other to Matt Lehman — but couldn't score in the second half as the Bobcats, doing their MAC traditions proud, starting to rack up the points.

Tyler Tettleton threw three second-half touchdowns, the last one, a 5-yard strike to Donte Foster, clinching the victory with three minutes to play.

McGloin was 27-48 for 259 yards, a performance that would have been unheard of in the Paterno era. Bill Belton toted the ball just 13 times for 53 yards, but lost a crucial fumble. Beau Blankenship and Landon Smith led the Nittany Lions in receiving, with seven receptions for 72 yards and three receptions for 82 yards, respectively.

For more on the Nittany Lions, visit Black Shoe Diaries. For more on the Bobcats, make sure you check out MAC blog Hustle Belt. For everything on college football, visit SB Nation's dedicated hub.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.