STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Just when you thought you had seen Joey Bosa's signature sack shrug for the last time Saturday night, the standout sophomore defensive end had one more left in him.
With Ohio State leading 31-24 in double overtime, Penn State was facing a 4th-and-5 with the game hanging in the balance.
Bosa shot through the Nittany Lions' offensive line where he made contact with a Penn State running back, only to knock him directly into quarterback Christian Hackenberg for a game-clinching sack.
The play sealed the Buckeyes' victory and preserved what would have been an epic collapse after Ohio State blew a 17-point halftime lead.
“That wasn’t what I was supposed to do — I was supposed to hit the guard and wrap out but he blocked down so the hole opened so I took it," Bosa said of his game-clinching sack. "I was tired of trying to work my way around the back so I just ran him over.”
Sounds simple enough.
But against the Nittany Lions, Bosa made it look relatively easy all game. He finished Saturday's contest with 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. He's now recorded a TFL in 13 straight games.
"Joey Bosa, one thing I'd say: I'm really glad he's on our team," Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett said following the win.
Bosa exploded onto the scene last year as a true freshman. But this year, he's been even better as the leader of Ohio State's dominant-at-times defensive line.
But the Buckeyes' defense, as a whole, was dominant for the most of the game while the offense was simply shut down after the first half. Penn State finished with just 240 yards of offense in the game, but only had 89 through three quarters. The Nittany Lions finished with only 16 yards rushing.
"As a defense, I thought we played our best half ever our first half," Bosa said. "We just made some small mistakes in the second half but we still ended up playing a good game. It was a fun crowd, it was a good environment we played in.”
Ohio State had been carried by its offense in the previous four games, all four of which were blowouts.
But on a night when the offense stalled big time, especially in the second half, head coach Urban Meyer needed the defense to make plays when the Buckeyes needed them most.
And after Ohio State allowed Penn State to go the length of the field and kick a field goal with nine seconds left to send the game to overtime, the defense was called upon again in the game's second overtime period..
That's when Bosa delivered.
"For how good of a player Joey Bosa is, you expect him to make a play to go win the game," Meyer said, "and that's what he did."
