COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Reality hit first. Then, perhaps, pessimism.

And eventually, the hopelessness of it all was digested.

That must have been about the time when Michael Robinson turned to his fellow quarterback, Zack Mills, and asked the agonizing question that no one in a nauseous Nittany Nation wants answered.

"What more can go wrong for us?" Robinson said to Mills on the sideline, as Ohio State ran out the clock in the fourth quarter to seal a 21-10 victory.

It's a timely question now that Penn State has lost five straight in such demoralizing fashion.

And an understandable one, too, especially after everything that could have gone wrong for the Nittany Lions (2-6, 0-5 Big Ten) did in the early going during Saturday's game at Ohio Stadium. The Lions even managed to get nearly as many first downs on their first drive (four) as the six they earned the whole game in the 6-4 loss to Iowa a week earlier.

But with the way things have gone for the Penn State offense lately, it almost felt logical when Robinson threw an ill-fated pass directly into the arms of Buckeyes cornerback Ashton Youboty, killing the promising drive.

On offense, Ohio State's true freshman speedster, Ted Ginn Jr., fielded the punt at the Ohio State 33-yard line and made the first man miss before he shot through a seam in the coverage, untouched, for a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Minutes later Penn State allowed another touchdown return by the Buckeyes, when Ohio State safety Tyler Everett stepped in front of Lions wide receiver Terrance Phillips on a screen play at the Penn State 24-yard line.

Everett took the pick into the end zone, and the Buckeyes led 14-0 despite having run only three offensive plays.

The sudden deficit made the Lions' offense even more flustered, as one mistake built on the next.

On Penn State's next possession, there was promptly a false start, and then Robinson, who was 7-for-21 passing for 69 yards and two interceptions, threw a poor lateral that went out of bounds for a loss of 7 yards.

This, just before horribly overthrowing a wide-open Phillips along the sideline for what would have been at least a 20-yard gain.

"It's like a snowball rolling down a big hill; it just keeps getting bigger and bigger," Robinson said of the early mistakes. "You can feel it. You can feel it coming."

Penn State was able to run the ball to an extent, but the Lions' passing attack was never functional enough to establish any sort of effective offense.

The Lions only touchdown came off of a turnover in the second quarter when defensive end Matt Rice forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Derek Wake at the Ohio State 41.

Some productive running plays and a conversion on third-and-11 from the Ohio State 42 led to a 3-yard run into the end zone by tailback Tony Hunt.

On the following possession, a 4-yard touchdown plunge by fullback Branden Joe made the score 21-7.

With less than 10 minutes left in the third quarter, the Lions drove deep into Buckeyes territory.

Despite needing two touchdowns to tie, Penn State settled for a 21-yard field goal rather than risk a conversion on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line.

"I probably would have second guessed myself on that," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "If we were two yards out, I probably would have gone for it."

The Lions only got the ball one more time, but a pass by Robinson on fourth-and-9 from the Ohio State 40 was knocked to the ground by Youboty, the same cornerback who intercepted Robinson's pass on the first drive of the game, sending Penn State on another road toward ruin in a disastrous season.

"I don't know what to tell you," Paterno said, groaning in frustration. "We find different ways to kill ourselves."