COLUMBUS, Ohio — In about the time it took 79-year-old Joe Paterno to jog to the locker room, Troy Smith and No. 1 Ohio State's defense turned a close game into a rout.

Smith threw an acrobatic 37-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter, then Malcolm Jenkins and Antonio Smith returned interceptions for touchdowns as the Buckeyes beat No. 24 Penn State, 28-6, yesterday.

"In the Big Ten, it's always a four-quarter game," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "We won a four-quarter game."

Paterno, the Nittany Lions' coach for the last 41 years, ambled to the locker room midway through the second quarter and didn't return until the start of the fourth because he was suffering from the flu.

He got back just in time to see Smith turn a possible sack into a critical score as the Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) expanded a 7-3 lead on Brian Robiskie's 37-yard touchdown catch.

"That play that Smith made when we almost had him, he threw that ball on the button in the end zone," Paterno said. "That was a super play."

With the Nittany Lions (2-2, 0-1) seeking a touchdown and 2-point conversion that would tie it, Jenkins picked off an Anthony Morelli pass and raced down the left sideline 61 yards for a score to make it 21-6 with 2:31 left.

The play was reviewed by officials to check if Jenkins had stepped out at the Penn State 35. But several replay angles appeared to show Jenkins spiking the ball to the ground before he got into the end zone.

"I was lucky they didn't review me spiking the ball on the 1-yard line," Jenkins said with a grin.

Moments later, Antonio Smith stepped in front of a pass by Morelli meant for Deon Butler and sped along the same route as Jenkins for a 55-yard score.