Ohio State's football program has gotten verbal commitments from 17 members of the high school class of 2011.

Texas has gotten 22. Oklahoma has 18, Alabama has 17, Florida 12, Pittsburgh 11.

Penn State has gotten four. Again, that's: 4.

Only two BCS schools, Arizona State, and N.C. State, have fewer, through Saturday, according to Scout.com.

Big deal or no?

"Nowadays it's a bigger thing than it was five years ago, with so many kids committing early," Tom Lemming, host of CBS College Sports' recruiting show, "The Lemming Report," said Saturday.

"They got off to a slow start, and there may not be a lot of knockout kids left."

It's still six months to National Letter of Intent day for the Class of '11.

But Penn State has a relatively modest number of scholarships available, as few as 15 and, with transfers and defections, perhaps 18.

"If it ends up being only 15, they have a good shot at filling those," Cory James, a Penn State recruiting analyst for Scout.com, said last week.

"If it's 18, they could come up a little short."

It isn't just, apparently, that the Lions are being cautious, with their traditional reluctance to offer scholarships early in the process.

They've already lost some key battles where they did offer.

Notre Dame beat Joe Paterno and Co. on Ben Koyack of Oil City, according to some the top-ranked tight end prospect in the class.

Virginia edged Penn State out for Maryland defensive back/wide receiver Brandon Phelps.

Pitt, which continues to fare better in recruiting than on the field under coach Dave Wannstedt, beat Penn State (and Florida State, Georgia and Oklahoma) for Marquise Wright, a defensive tackle from New Jersey.

Factors:

1. More than ever, the best high school players hail from Florida, Texas or California.

None of those areas have ever been Penn State strongholds, partly by choice. Joe Pa's long-held preference is to recruit closer to home.

Florida, for example, has 49 four- or five-star players according to Rivals.com. Penn State is involved with none of them.

"My one criticism of Penn State is they should be recruiting more nationally," Lemming said.

"At least pick one [of the powerhouse states], probably Florida, and spend a ton of time down there."

2. The areas that are Penn State strongholds, the Mid-Atlantic region and Ohio, don't appear especially fertile at the moment.

Ohio and Pennsylvania — especially Western Pennsylvania, where Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley is a recruiting monster — are said to be especially down.

Compare Florida's 49 four- and five-stars to Pennsylvania's seven four-stars and zero five-stars.

3. Paterno kept a very low profile this off-season. The 83-year old coach has long since stopped making recruiting road trips, but this spring and summer he made virtually no public appearances of any kind, cancelling several speaking engagements owing, he says, to intestinal distress related to an antibiotic he took for dental work.

"I don't think that has much to do with anything," James said.

"The only factor might be if he isn't around much to sign off on an offer, like if an offer would sit on his desk for a week. No head coaches are on the road right now, anyway."

James refers to the fact that by NCAA edict head coaches can't leave campus to recruit from signing day in February until the following season.

"Texas has signed 22 kids," Lemming said. "I guarantee you [head coach] Mack Brown hasn't talked to any of them in person, unless they came to campus.

"Joe is the biggest name in college football. He's an asset.

"If his assistants are doing their jobs, they should be telling kids that if they come to campus, they can get as much one-on-one time with him as they want."

The four commits Penn State has corralled: Angelo Mangiro, a guard from New Jersey; Jordan Kerner, a defensive end from Fairview, Pa.; Shawn Oakman, a defensive end from Landsdowne; and Kyle Carter, a tight end from Delaware.

Of those, Mangiro is the prize. He's ranked in the top five in the country at his position, has prototype size (6-3, 295) and athleticism and carries a 3.5 grade-point average.

Mangiro committed last week. Penn State beat Rutgers in its own backyard, and USC, Florida and Ohio State were also involved.

Oakman is an intriguing prospect. He's 6-9, 245, with enough athletcism that he's known as much for basketball as football. His high school team, Penn Wood, won the District One Class AAAA hoop title last year and reached the state final.

Kerner is considered a mid-level prospect. He had offers from Boston College, West Virginia, Iowa and Rutgers.

Carter is off the national radar. His other offers were from Bucknell and Delaware.

If there's one game-changer Penn State has a real shot at, James believes its Ishaq Williams, a 6-6, 220-pound two-way end from Paterno's old neighborhood in Brooklyn.

 The top-rated player in New York, Williams has offers from Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, regionally-ubiquitous Pitt and Rutgers and 11 other BCS schools. But Penn State is the only school he's visited twice.

One more thing to think about: The commitments we're talking about are only verbal. They're not binding. And they're from teenagers.

Lemming pointed out that two years ago, about 200 prospects de-committed nationally.

"You have to stay at it, committed or no," he said. "You have to be relentless."