The old phrase "defense wins championships" never grows old for the Penn State men's rugby team. The Ruggers did not allow a score in Sunday's 37-0 win against rival Ohio State yesterday.

"I keep preaching that adage to them," men's rugby coach Don Ferrell said. "We have been focusing on our defense and now we are seeing the results."

Sunday's shutout was an improvement on last week's victory against West Chester, in which the Ruggers gave up just eight points. Despite the final scores of each of the last two games, the Ruggers feel there is still much on which to improve.

"We had a lot of good moments and a lot of just normal or mediocre moments," captain Tim Ryland said. "The shutout is obviously a confidence builder but we still had a couple of mental lapses."

The Ruggers made up for their mental errors by forcing turnovers and keeping Ohio State on the defensive. The Buckeyes had just one real scoring opportunity, and that did not come until the match's final seconds.

"We forced a lot of turnovers and were able to capitalize on them," scrum half Mike Petri said. "We were able to counterattack well, our wings played well, and Mike Sell maintained his nickname."

Sell, called "The Finisher" by teammates, led the Ruggers to an early, 5-0 lead with a long run to score a try.

The Ruggers never looked back; Petri scored another try and fullback Luke Roberts made the conversion kick to put the Ruggers up, 12-0.

Later in the first half, center Fabian Rouch went on a long run down the sideline and pitched to wing Galen Rivers to set up another score. Roberts made the Ruggers' final try of the half when he pop-kicked the ball to himself to elude a defender and score the try.

"Just get one [try] before halftime, just get one," one Ohio State player said after Roberts' try. The Buckeyes were not able to score that one try and entered halftime trailing, 22-0.

Both teams got off to a slow start in the second half and the half remained scoreless until Rivers and Sell each scored to increase the Ruggers' lead.

The Ruggers kept the pressure on the Buckeyes, scoring another try and stopping Ohio State on a last-second scoring opportunity to seal the 37-0 win.

Despite the 37-point victory, assistant coach Terry Ryland felt the team could have won by an even bigger margin.

"We left at least two scores out there because we dropped a few too many passes," Ryland said. "That's why we play -- to get better."

However, Ferrell was glad to get a W.

"Any time you get a victory against Ohio State you have to be pleased," Ferrell said. "But as a team we still have plenty to improve on."