My name obviously gives away my loyalties. However, I would be hard pressed to say that this was an obvious illegal batting. If it were called, it could have been justified, but I would think that the majority of officials who saw this play live would have called nothing, and I would agree with them.

No, not at all. The announcer tried to sell that, but it was no different than any other runner's decision, and if it hadn't been for a stellar play to knock the ball (which was being carried on the proper side) away, it could well have been a good run.

Robert

I wish we knew someone that was in the replay booth so we could know why it wasn't reviewed and corrected. I guess the booth can't fix this one, right?

Not only that, the announcers went on how the QB made a decision to run to the side instead of straight ahead. The thing is they have no idea if the QB was told by the coaches to do that. Maybe he was coached to run to the side because they thought he would have a better chance over there.

That's possible. There was a lot of profanity and two frightened dogs from where I was watching. Nobody was really concerned about the bat because it wasn't completely, holy-roller obvious.
Maybe he didn't want to risk a dive when the line had been choked, maybe he saw daylight to the right side. That can be talked about for weeks or months. Tressel isn't known for taking many risks, so I can see them thinking that the 3rd & 1 is their last chance to make yardage before having to punt. That can drive you to do a lot of things once you're in the thick.

What a great definition of what makes a foul worth calling. I'm going to use this from now on...;)

Can't the replay official tell if it was a bat? Is he not allowed to call an obvious bat in this case, when it means the whole game?

Come on guys this is just wrong!

It looked pretty obvious like a bat to me. Are the college batting rules different then NFHS?

2008 NCAA® FOOTBALL RULES
RULE 2-8 / DEFINITIONS FR -45
SECTION 10. Fumbling, Muffing, Batting,
Touching or Blocking a Kick
Batting
ARTICLE 3. Batting the ball is intentionally striking it or intentionally
changing its direction with the hands or arms.

RULE 9-3 / CONDUCT OF PLAYERS AND OTHERS SUBJECT TO RULE FR -129
SECTION 4. Batting and Kicking
Batting a Loose Ball
c. No player shall bat other loose balls forward in the field of play or in any
direction if the ball is in the end zone (Rule 2-2-3-a)

PENALTY—15 yards from the basic spot and loss of down if the loss
of down is not in conflict with other rules [S31 and S9]
[Exception: No loss of down if the foul occurs when a legal
scrimmage kick is beyond the neutral zone (Rules 10-2-2-c,
d, e and f)].

So according to the rules it is ok for B to bat a loose ball backward in the field of play?

I thought it was a bat when I saw the play live. But on replay I didn't think so. Someone in this thread said the ball was backhanded, but because one could easily be slow in wrist movement, a player could hit the ball with the back of his hand while trying to recover a rolling ball. And if you're not sure it was intentional, it wasn't.

Robert

It does not look obvious enough to call this a penalty. I was thinking that the player might have batted the ball, but it would be a very hard sell. Do not go looking for stuff to call.

Peace

Seems even a Penn State player thinks it was a bat:

From the Centre Daily Times:

Recovery effort

Penn State safety Mark Rubin made the play of the game, if not the season, in Columbus, knocking the ball out of the hands of Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor on a quarterback sneak in the fourth quarter. But if not for linebackers Navorro Bowman and Tyrell Sales, the Buckeyes might have been able to recover the fumble and pin the Nittany Lions in their own territory with a punt.

Bowman, who has forced two fumbles this season, dove on the ball at the Buckeyes’ 38-yard line after a mad scramble.

“I was just trying to slow it down with my eyes and hands and just fall on it,” he said.

Sales knocked Ohio State tailback Chris Wells to the turf, giving Bowman the chance to fall on the ball.

“If he hadn’t done that, there’s no telling who would have got the ball,” Bowman said. “It just comes from awareness, having guys keep the ball alive.”

There were 2 bats when the ball was loose after the fumble. It was a "foreward bat" for PSU #46, and then it was a "backward bat" for PSU #10.

YouTube - Penn State at Ohio State - Fumble recovery

I'd be willing to bat, I mean bet that when the season is over and PSU has won their BCS game, the player is finally going to come out and say if I had not batted that ball in the OSU game, we'd not have been here to win another championship.