For the first time all year, coach Jim Tressel left open the possibility that Smith could be his starting quarterback after he led the Buckeyes to a win over Indiana, breaking a three-game losing streak.

Asked yesterday if Smith could hold onto the job after Zwick's separated right shoulder heals, Tressel said, ''I'm sure if Justin was a three-year or a two-year starter like Craig (Krenzel) was É that guy would seldom lose a job because of that. But obviously we're not in that situation, and therefore we will have an ongoing evaluation.''

That shocked Smith, seated two feet away from Tressel, as much as anyone.

''I was somewhat surprised just like you were,'' Smith said. ''But he made a decision and I'm ready to go with it.''

Smith played well against Indiana, completing 12-of-24 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. He also scrambled 11 times for 58 yards, but most importantly to Tressel, he didn't turn the ball over.

In six of Zwick's starts, that only happened twice.

''In order to have no turnovers, I think you have to do a good job making decisions,'' Tressel said. ''If you make great decisions, you're going to have a chance to make big plays, you're going to have a chance to make no turnovers. So I think the decision-making that he did was solid.''

That could speak volumes for Smith's future chances, since one of Tressel's biggest gripes about him previously was his decision-making. That seemed to be the one area where Zwick held the edge, which in Tressel's world, won him the job.

Smith's performance on Saturday, while far from perfect, at least proved to Tressel he is capable of making the correct decisions and not forcing plays that become costly mistakes.

''Our concern on anyone that has the ball in their hands is making sure we have good decision-making as high a percent of the time as we can,'' Tressel said. ''I think his decision-making, I don't know if there were 70 plays, I'd say he made the proper decisions the majority of the time.''

The offense churned out 443 yards under Smith, the most production this year since the opener against Cincinnati. While acknowledging that came against Indiana, one of the worst defenses in the Big Ten, tailback Maurice Hall admitted the offense felt a different type of spark under Smith's direction.

''I definitely think Troy was a factor,'' Hall said. ''We had to get something going and Troy fired us up in the huddle. The first pass was a long pass that was nearly completed and we just kind of felt like we were going to make plays.''

The challenge this week will be far greater and a much better barometer of where Smith stands. Despite a 2-5 overall record and 0-4 in the Big Ten, Penn State is 14th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing an average of just over 14 points a game, and second in the Big Ten and 18th nationally in pass defense.

''Penn State is always tough, they're a great team and they have great tradition,'' Smith said. ''They like to line up and go after it. They might have some differences in coverage, but I know they're going to be physical.''

Zwick is still limited to light throwing with a tennis ball and he's yet to throw a football full speed. Whether or not that changes this week remains to be seen.

For now, Smith will take 80 percent of the snaps in practice this week, Tressel said, and the rest will go to freshman Todd Boeckman. Smith is assured the start Saturday because of the amount of time Zwick has missed.

''I think there's no question,'' Tressel said, ''(Smith starting is) the best thing for us.''

jlloyd@morningjournal.com