COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Under Chris Gamble's entry in the Ohio State football media guide, it says the sophomore wide receiver "could play cornerback in an emergency."

The Buckeyes didn't bother to wait for that emergency, but this past Saturday, they were in a bit of one.

Though the Buckeyes' defense wasn't allowing the Penn State offense to do much of anything, Ohio State's offense was being stifled on the other side of the ball. Someone on the defense needed to make a play, and Gamble, whose job is to do that for the offense and special teams, obliged for the defense.

Gamble, who was making his first start ever at cornerback, intercepted a pass from Nittany Lions quarterback Zack Mills early in the third quarter and took it back 40 yards for the Buckeyes' only touchdown of the game in their 13-7 win.

"I saw that one of their receivers was running a post and one was running a wheel," Gamble said. "I just looked into Zack Mills' eyes and saw he would throw to the wheel and I attacked. I just wanted to help the team and make a big play."

Ironically, the score was Gamble's first of the season, despite the fact that the Buckeyes starting flanker and punt returner was second on the team in receptions and first in punt return yardage coming into the game.

That was where Gamble's athleticism was expected to pay off for the Buckeyes when the season began, but in practice, it was discovered that his talents could also be used elsewhere.

He was first used as a defensive back in the Cincinnati game, and he proved his worth immediately with an interception in the end zone on his first play in the game. Last week against Wisconsin, he once again proved he could be valuable to the defense, picking off another ball in the end zone with the Badgers driving late in the game.

This week, the Buckeyes decided not to pull any punches late in the game and got him in the starting lineup for the first time.

"The coaches decided he should play Thursday," Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel said. "They came to me and said, 'Hey, this kid has really earned it. He needs to play.' And I agreed with him, because I always do."

Tressell was lucky he did. Gamble also had two pass deflections and made a touchdown-saving tackle on Lions nickel back Anwar Phillips when he was trying to take back a fumble recovery. He helped the Buckeyes suffocate the Lions' wide receivers. Combined, the Penn State wideouts managed just five catches for 45 yards.

His teammates in the secondary have noticed an immediate difference in their play as a group with Gamble's addition. The Buckeyes ranked next to last in pass defense in the Big Ten coming into the week, yielding 263.2 yards per game. However, they allowed just 160 yards passing to Wisconsin and just 98 to the Lions.

"Gamble may be the biggest factor in our secondary," All-American safety Mike Doss said. "We wanted to stop them from throwing deep, and certainly they're going to be scared with a guy back there like that."

There is some question as to whether Gamble can keep doing this. Though he did not make any catches on Saturday, he did return five punts for 64 yards.

"I was cramping up at the end today," Gamble said. "My body's not used to it. I was hurting."

The rest of the teams the Buckeyes play should hope that his time at defender is too much for him to try it again.