In a game where it nearly blew a 17-point lead, Ohio State escaped Penn State and Beaver Stadium’s house of horrors, 31-24, in double overtime Saturday night.
On the game’s final play, sophomore defensive end Joey Bosa blasted past defenders before slamming sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg to the field.
Redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett put it like this:
“Joey Bosa, one thing I’d say: I’m really glad he’s on our team. That’s for sure.”
Last week, the Buckeyes — which swelled with momentum after smashing Rutgers the weekend before — talked of having the chance to make a primetime statement on national television. When all was said and done, there were no were no style points to be awarded in this game against the unranked and overmatched Nittany Lions.
“They played their tails off,” head coach Urban Meyer said. “Out-played us up front, I think.”
Still Meyer, like most of the team, radiate with a certain sense of when joy and relief after a contest in which the din of Beaver Stadium became a legitimate impediment to Ohio State’s communication and, seemingly at times, its confidence late in the game.
“I’ll take it, great win against a quality opponent in one of the toughest environments that you’ll have.”
Still, for a team that’s amassed at least 50 points and 500 yards of total offense in its last four outings, the Buckeyes looked mortal against the unranked Nittany Lions and under the lights in State College.
They cobbled together a season-low of output of 293 yards and averaged 3.9 yards a play.
Bad performances happen on the road, sure. But Penn State seemed to expose holes in an Ohio State offense that had been declared defect-free last week. It raises questions that seemed laid to rest after the Buckeyes demolished Cincinnati, Maryland and Rutgers.
“I didn’t like the operation of the offense in the second half,” Meyer said.
For as gutsy as Barrett — who passed for 74 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-19 throws and ran for 75 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries — was, he threw two interceptions — one of which was promptly returned for a touchdown at the start of the third quarter. Meyer said Barrett played through a sprained knee which he suffered late in the second quarter. He gushed about his ability to fight through the injury.
“I can imagine the way he raised,” Meyer said, alluding to Barrett’s family and the transformation the Wichita Falls, Texas, native has made from the wide-eyed kid charged with replacing Braxton Miller to the one who’s coming into his own as Ohio State’s starting quarterback.
And on this night, Barrett had to carry the Buckeyes by himself at times.
Ohio State’s skill players on the perimeter — like Michael Thomas, Dontre Wilson, Jalin Marshall, Devin Smith and Evan Spencer — almost felt non-existent and limited what a noticeably-conservative offense could and couldn’t do against. The offensive line, which had looked so improved after melting down against Virginia Tech earlier in the season, struggled to neutralize Penn State's defensive front.
“We were trying to take some shots (down the field),” Meyer said, “we just couldn’t get it done.”
Part of that, of course, was thanks to a Penn State defense that played lights out in the second half after getting gut-punched by Barrett and sophomore running back Ezekiel Elliott in the first half. Meyer said:
“Penn State’s a very rugged defensive unit. Boy, do they play hard.”
Thing is, Ohio State’s defense was just as ferocious, limiting the Nittany Lions to just 240 yards and an average of three yards a play.
How bad was it? By the start of the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions had amassed less than 90 yards of total offense (yet still curiously trailed only 17-7). They came to life in the fourth quarter, but it was far too little and much too late to overcome a miserable display of true futility.
Sophomore safety Vonn Bell said:
“We knew what was coming … We played aggressive tonight, but I know they couldn’t stop us. We were gonna make them play the short game and we were gonna come up and tackle.”
Which is true: Ohio State clogged the inside running lanes and stripped away the vertical passing game from Hackenberg and his cannon for an arm.
And while the Buckeyes’ own offense floundered, they relied on the long-maligned unit to temper the storm in the final two quarters of play.
Barrett said:
“Defense really kept us in the game tonight. Without them, it would’ve definitely been a whole lot worse.”
Redshirt freshman linebacker Darron Lee said:
“If the offense can’t convert on some stuff, we gotta go out there and stop them. That’s our job. That’s what Coach Meyer reiterates to us is to stop them. I felt like we did that for a long time. I felt like we were dominating a lot of the game and then in overtime we had to finish.”
Bell said:
“We always do the dirty work here, we always hold them out. They relied on us so we stepped up to the challenge.”
