Pat Devlin came off the bench for injured starting quarterback Daryll Clark in the fourth quarter, leading two scoring drives and sneaking in for the go-ahead touchdown to give No. 3 Penn State a 13-6 victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Saturday night.

The win put the Nittany Lions (9-0, 5-0) in command in the Big Ten and severely crimped the chances of the Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1) grabbing an unprecedented third consecutive outright league title and a piece of their fourth conference championship in a row.

Penn State, with coach Joe Paterno coaching from the press box for the fourth straight game, solidified its position as a national championship contender and also erased the ugly memories of an 0-7 mark in Columbus since joining the Big Ten in 1993.

Defenses controlled most of the game before an Ohio Stadium-record crowd of 105,711.

Ohio State had the ball and a three-point lead when Terrelle Pryor fumbled, defensive back Mark Rubin using his left hand to knock the ball away as the freshman quarterback carried on a third-and-1 early in the fourth quarter. Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman fell on the loose ball at the Buckeyes 38 after players scrambled to recover.

Immediately, the Nittany Lions were at a disadvantage as Clark remained on the sideline. He was meeting with team doctors.

In stepped Devlin, who had seen action in seven games but had only been on the field for 45 plays.

He promptly led the way on a seven-play, 38-yard drive that took 4:13 and ended with his touchdown giving Penn State a 10-6 lead.

The big play in the march came on third-and-2 at the Ohio State 6 when Royster skirted right end, tiptoeing along the sideline for a 4-yard gain and the first down.

Three plays later, Devlin scored on his second straight keeper and Kevin Kelly converted the point-after for a 10-6 lead with 6:25 left.

Penn State’s defense then forced an Ohio State punt, and with Royster carrying most of the load, the Nittany Lions almost ran out the clock. Royster went for 3, 10 and 9 yards on his first three carries before Devlin sneaked for a first down at the Ohio State 24.

While the Buckeyes were using all their timeouts, the Nittany Lions continued to stick to the ground attack. Finally, they let the clock run down until Kelly converted a 35-yard field goal with 1:07 left to push the lead to 13-6.

Ohio State had one last chance to tie it. Taking over at their own 20, Pryor hit Ray Small for gains of 23 and 14 yards to the Penn State 43 with just over 30 seconds left. But Pryor’s long pass to the goal line was intercepted by cornerback Lydell Sargeant with 27 seconds left.

No. 3 PENN ST. 13, No. 10 OHIO ST. 6

Penn State 0 3 0 10 — 13

Ohio State 0 3 3 0 — 6

Second Quarter

PSU—FG Kelly 31, 1:33.

OSU—FG Pettrey 41, :00.

Third Quarter

OSU—FG Pettrey 36, 3:19.

Fourth Quarter

PSU—Devlin 1 run (Kelly kick), 6:25.

PSU—FG Kelly 35, 1:07.

A—105,711.

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PSU OSU

First downs 18 14

Rushes-yards 37-160 31-61

Passing 121 226

Comp-Att-Int 12-20-0 16-28-1

Return Yards 12 0

Punts-Avg. 4-43.5 5-38.6

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 0-0 4-48

Time of Possession 31:26 28:34

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Penn St., Royster 19-77, Clark 8-39, Green 3-23, Williams 3-17, Devlin 3-3, Lawlor 1-1. Ohio St., C.Wells 22-55, Pryor 9-6.

PASSING—Penn St., Clark 12-20-0-121. Ohio St., Pryor 16-25-1-226, Team 0-3-0-0.

RECEIVING—Penn St., Royster 3-20, Williams 3-13, Butler 2-11, Zug 1-49, Brackett 1-18, Shuler 1-6, Norwood 1-4. Ohio St., Sanzenbacher 6-82, Robiskie 4-56, Small 2-37, Saine 1-20, Hartline 1-15, C.Wells 1-13, M.Wells 1-3.