Five Things: Ohio State Owns Line of Scrimmage, Earns Big Road Victory Over No. 3 Penn State

By Chris Lauderback on November 3, 2024 at 10:10 am
Carson Hinzman, Justin Frye and Seth McLaughlin
Adam Cairns via Imagn Images
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A week after a narrow escape against Nebraska despite being 25-5-point favorites, many fans weren't supremely confident in Ohio State's prospects on the road at No. 3 Penn State. But to Ryan Day's credit, his program made a statement yesterday with a 20-13 victory in Beaver Stadium. 

Often criticized even in wins as being a soft of finesse team, the Buckeyes won the line scrimmage repeatedly, came up with clutch plays, and choked out Penn State with a game-sealing possession in which the run game singlehandedly exhausted the final 5:13 of clock even with everyone in the stadium and watching on TV aware run plays were about to be served.

The win was Ohio State's 8th-straight over the Nittany Lions and Day's sixth in a row versus James Franklin. Franklin dropped to 1-10 versus OSU in his career. 

Ohio State improved to 7-1 and kept control of its goal to play for a Big Ten title in early December. 

The Buckeyes must first stack four more wins starting next Saturday versus lowly Purdue in the Shoe. But before we spend any time thinking about the Boilers, here are Five Things from a sturdy 7-point win over Penn State in Happy Valley. 

OH!-LINE

The chief angst-driver following the close win over the Huskers fell at the feet of an offensive line that failed to generate any push as the run game tallied 64 yards on 2.1 per try with two sacks last weekend. The performance came on the heels of Ohio State's run game disappearing in the second half in Eugene two weeks prior, after left tackle Josh Simmons was lost for the season. In that one, OSU managed 19 rushing yards on 1.6 a pop after halftime meaning over the last six quarters, Ohio State's run game averaged 1.9 yards per carry. 

With those failings threatening to torpedo the season, Day, his offensive line coach, Justin Frye, and offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, went into the lab. They emerged with a lineup that moved left guard Donovan Jackson to left tackle, inserted backup center Carson Hinzman at left guard, and kept the rest of the line intact: Seth McLaughlin at center, Tegra Tshabola at right guard and Josh Fryar at right tackle. 

All five came together in a hostile environment and helped the run game tally 176 rushing yards on 4.4 per try against a defense giving up 93 yards on 3.2 per attempt coming into the matchup. The retooled line also helped Ohio State convert 6-of-12 third down conversion tries including a perfect 4-for-4 when running the ball, chewing up 23 crucial yards. 

The offensive line saved its best for last as Ohio State took possession of the football at its own 1-yard line after the defense turned in a clutch goal line stand. Leading 20-13 with 5:13 left in regulation and a chance to run out the clock, Frye's unit did exactly that, and did so in dominating fashion. Behold: 

  • 1st-and-10 from OSU 1: Will Howard sneaked right up the gut for 4 yards 
  • 2nd-and-6 rrom the OSU 5: Quinshon Judkins right up the gut for 9 yards and a first down
  • 1st-and-10 from the OSU 14: Judkins up the gut for 6 yards 
  • 2nd-and-4 from the OSU 20: Judkins up the gut for 15 yards and a first down
  • 1st-and-10 from the OSU 35: TreVeyon Henderson off left tackle for 6 yards
  • 2nd-and-4 from the OSU 41: Judkins up the gut for 2 yards
  • 3rd-and-2 from the OSU 43: Howard keeper off left tackle for 3 yards and a first down
  • 1st-and-10 from the OSU 46: Henderson up the gut for 7 yards
  • 2nd-and-3 from the PSU 47: Henderson up the gup for no gain
  • 3rd-and-3 from the OSU 47: Howard keeper around left end, slides for 7 yard gain. Blouses. 

Howard would take a knee on the next snap to run out the clock and set off a wild celebration highlighted by Day hugging everyone in sight. Rightfully so as his offensive line dominated Penn State on the final series, chewing up 59 yards on 5.9 per carry before the kneel down. 

Jackson gave up a couple sacks in his first start at left tackle but those came against a guy who will play on Sundays for a long time. Just a gritty performance from that guy. Same for Hinzman, who was seemingly in purgatory since the 2023 bowl season. McLaughlin and Fryar were solid all day and Tshabola played his best game as a Buckeye. 

What else can you say but props to the staff and players for turning things around in such a dominant way. Just about everyone willing to be honest did not see that coming. 

SILVER BULLETS DON'T MISS

The offensive line stole the show partly due to results and partly due to fans having fairly low expectations for how it might perform. For the defense however, expectations coming in where very high based on its performance versus Nebraska in which it held the Huskers to 17 points, executed a goal line stand for a turnover on downs and intercepted QB Dylan Raiola on a last gasp drive. 

The Ohio State defense built on that performance yesterday.

Jim Knowles' group absolutely stifled the big play challenged Nittany Lions, keeping them out of the end zone allowing just two field goals. Penn State actually made three trips to the red zone but generated one lone field goal. Despite having two different 1st-and-Goal chances from the OSU 3, Penn State failed to generate points from either golden opportunity. 

The first denial from 1st-and-Goal at the OSU 3 came near the end of the second quarter as Davison Igbinosun made a spectacular play to intercept a Drew Allar pass intended for Trey Wallace in the end zone for a touchback. The incredible individual effort allowed Ohio State to take a 14-10 lead into the locker room instead of trailing by three after dictating much of the first half action. 

The second goal line stand came near the end of regulation with Ohio State nursing a 20-13 advantage. The Buckeyes came up with three-straight run stuffs before forcing an incomplete pass on 4th-and-1 to complete the stand. 

The clutch performance allowed OSU's offense to take possession at the 1-yard line and you already know what happened from there.

Ohio State held Penn State to 3.8 yards per carry while limiting PSU's tailback tandem of Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton to 42 yards on just 2.3 yards per attempt. 

The Buckeyes also dominated third down, stopping the Nittany Lions on 8-of-11 tries including three in four tries in the second half. 

Cody Simon built off his strong Nebraska performance, matching his career-high with 10 stops including a sack. Igbinosun was a gamer with four tackles and a key PBU along with his seismic interception in the end zone. Caleb Downs showed his usual versatility in coverage and run support and JT Tuimoloau chipped in 1.5 tackles for loss. 

HOWARD HANGS IN

A Pennsylvania kid, Will Howard talked earlier in the week about how he wanted to play for Penn State as a kid but was never recruited by the school. As such, he was pretty amped to play this game and maybe that contributed to some of his ups and downs in what was still a winning performance. 

Things started rough for Howard as he tossed a pick six on Ohio State's third play from scrimmage, following a Penn State opening-drive field goal, putting OSU in a 10-0 hole with 5:27 left in the first quarter. 

To his credit, Howard answered quickly, leading OSU on a touchdown march. He converted a 3rd-and-1 QB sneak to extend the drive before finding Emeka Egbuka for a 25-yard score trimming Penn State's lead to 10-7. 

On the next Buckeye possession, he converted a 3rd-and-5 via a 20-yard connection with TreVeyon Henderson before a 2nd-and-9 throw to Brandon Inniss resulted in a catch and run touchdown giving Ohio State a 14-10 lead it would not relinquish. 

It looked like Howard was about to push Ohio State's lead to 21-10 on its next offensive possession. He found reserve tight end Jelani Thurman for 19 yards on 4th-and-1 and then with 1st-and-10 at the PSU 13, Howard called his own number and reached the 2-yard line before fumbling the ball off his knee and through the end zone for a momentum killing touchback. It's tough to excuse that fumble but to have it first bank off his knee and then fly forward over the pylon instead of out of bounds was some bad luck. 

After regrouping at halftime, Howard led the Buckeyes to two field goal drives. The first saw him run for 11 yards to move the sticks before hitting Jeremiah Smith for 14 yards to set up what became a 46-yard field goal giving OSU a 17-10 lead. 

Howard found Smith for 18 yards, Innis for 12 and Smith again, this time on 3rd-and-9 for 14 yards, on the next field goal drive putting the Buckeyes in front, 20-13, with 10:13 left in the game. Truth be told, Howard should've had a touchdown pass on the drive but Smith slowed down on a go route and appeared to lose track of the perfect throw. 

Still nursing the 20-13 lead after Ohio State's defense completed it's late goal line stand, Howard chipped in three key run plays to help run out the clock. 

He completed just 16-of-24 throws on the afternoon, ending a streak of three-straight games completing at least 80% of his passes (and 4 of the last 5), but still threw for 182 yards and two scores while adding another 24 yards rushing. 

While much of the adversity he faced was of his own doing, Howard showed poise in the hostile environment and made enough winning plays to help engineer a huge win. 

THE OTHER GUYS

I mentioned a few of these guys above but there were so many key contributions from non-stars that they deserve their own Thing. 

Brandon Inniss only played six offensive snaps across the previous two games - and only played three offensive snaps against Penn State - but the sophomore came up big with two catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. His 21-yard touchdown saw him catch the ball at the 17 and beat two PSU defenders to the left pylon giving Ohio State a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter. His other catch - a 12-yard snag on 2nd-and-10 - moved the chains leading to an OSU field goal and a 20-13 lead with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

Tight end Jelani Thurman logged a modest 12 snaps over the previous two games yet contributed a ridiculous 19-yard catch on 4th-and-1 to keep a drive alive yesterday. Howard would fumble through the end zone to make Thurman's catch inconsequential to the outcome but it should be a nice building block for a kid with all the tools to be a major contributor for OSU down the line. 

Carson Hinzman, the starting center last year who had didn't see the field the previous two games and logged just three snaps the game before that, shifted over to left guard for this one and turned in an outstanding performance. Ohio State ran up the middle with success much of the day as Hinzman sealed his man to open lanes multiple times. I also didn't see him allow a pressure but we'll see what the advanced metrics say here in a day or so. Bottom line, this dude was buried on the depth chart before yesterday and it's clear he stayed ready despite what I'm sure has been a tough time dating back to last year's bowl season. Going forward, he looks like the starting left guard and here's to hoping increased reps will only sharpen his play further. 

I already talked about cornerback Davison Igbinosun but got dayum that was a hell of an interception at a huge moment in the game. Iggy gives up a touchdown there and OSU goes into halftime trailing. Instead, he preserved the lead and fired up the entire team. The play happened right after Igbinosun was beat by Trey Wallace on a 21-yard catch down to the OSU 3. He also turned in a tough PBU and played run support like he always does. Dude takes some punches but he never stops throwing his own. 

He's a star but I haven't mentioned Quinshon Judkins much yet. Yeah, the offensive line displayed some major toughness opening holes but Judkins did his part too rushing for 95 yards on 6.8 per attempt. His violent running style revs up teammates and helped demoralize Penn State late. He approaches blocking with the same intensity (and so does his running mate, TreVeyon Henderson). 

And how about placekicker Jayden Fielding? He only had four field goal attempts all season before yesterday and missed his most recent - a 42-yard push with OSU leading Nebraska 14-3 late in the first half. In front of the largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history, Fielding calmly connected on a pair of second half field goals, one from 46 yards and another from 39. Clutch. 

SEE YOU AT THE CROSSROADS 

We knew this was a huge game for Ohio State given the state of offensive line play last weekend alongside the importance of leaving Happy Valley with a W in hand. 

What we didn't know before yesterday was just how much Day was feeling the noise. In his postgame presser, which should you watch in-full if you haven't already (although if you're still here at ~2,100 words I'm guessing you already watched it lol), he spoke of how everyone around the program does, in fact, hear and feel the noise. 

Day talked about the reality his program was at a bit of a crossroads before the statement performance. He specifically mentioned the win was against a top-five team and what that meant. Yeah, he felt the noise. 

If you don't watch all of Day's postgame comments, at least watch his response to Rob Oller's question (4:45) about the head coach showing so much emotion postgame. Oller asked what those emotions were and Day said there were too many to unpack in that moment, among other thoughts. Just a fantastic exchange between writer and coach. 

Winning is one thing but doing so by overcoming the things that have been, at-worst, your Achilles heel, or at best, an annoying narrative - stuff like Running. The. Damn. Ball., dominating the lines of scrimmage, making clutch plays in clutch moments and beating top-five teams, was obviously beyond sweet for Day. He needed this win badly and his team delivered. That rules. 

For the record, I think some of the noise was justified or at least understandable, although not the stuff about Day and his players lacking emotion or leadership. That's partly why Day felt so excited about the win. 

At the top of his reasons to be excited however had to be how the reshaped offensive line performed. As mentioned earlier, Day, Frye and Kelly, and their players up front, earned their flowers against a solid Penn State front. 

With the defense on the rise again and the offensive line pulling a 180 from last week, Day is on a high as the Buckeyes sprint further down the backstretch with all their goals intact. 

 

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