Ohio State vs. Penn State Notebook: Will Howard Bounces Back After “Worst Game of the Year,” Jayden Fielding Proves Dependable

Normally Will Howard has been limited to, at most, one major gaffe a week. At Penn State, he had two which directly resulted in a closer score than Saturday’s contest otherwise would have produced.

Howard’s first pass attempt of the day was a pick-six that set Ohio State behind 10-0 after just one possession for each team. He and the Buckeyes clawed their way back to take a 14-10 lead and assembled a fruitful drive that had them at Penn State’s 13-yard line with a chance to go up two scores before halftime, getting the ball back to start the third quarter.

Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly dialed up a gorgeous designed run for Howard, and running back TreVeyon Henderson cleared the road to the end zone with a massive block. But Howard had the ball stripped from his grasp at the 1-yard line, and it launched over the pylon for a turnover and touchback.

“I probably played my worst game of the year, just right now (my) feeling walking off the field,” Howard said. “But we willed that game. We talked about it earlier in the week, man, said, ‘We're going to have to will ourselves to win this game. There's no way we're going to be able to lose.' And that was the way we played.”

“I probably played my worst game of the year. ... We talked about it earlier in the week, man, said, ‘We're going to have to will ourselves to win this game. There's no way we're going to be able to lose.'"– Will Howard

After his two snafus, Howard completed six of his final nine passes for 64 yards, but he also posed a threat with his legs, picking up a sack-adjusted 25 yards on six rush attempts. That included two critical third-down conversions on Ohio State’s 11-play, 58-yard drive to eat 5:13 off the clock and seal the victory.

Most importantly, Howard played a critical leadership role in the Buckeyes' top-five win in one of the most hostile environments in college football. He showed that leadership by passing the credit to his teammates for the 20-13 win.

“Defense stepped up. Two huge stops right on the goal line,” Howard said. “Right on the goal line. That changed the game, man. The O-line, for all the stuff they took during the week and all the flack they were getting, them to step up the way they did, for us to run the ball and keep the ball in our hands and win the game with the ball in our hands, that's unbelievable.”

Brandon Inniss Scores First TD of Season in Big Spot

Ohio State’s No. 4 wide receiver couldn’t have picked a better spot for his first touchdown of the season.

With the Buckeyes trailing 10-7, Inniss got the call on a quick 3-yard in-route, schemed up against man coverage to give him plenty of green grass to run to. He took advantage, jaunting to the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown that put Ohio State ahead 14-10. The Buckeyes never trailed again.

BUCKEYES STRIKE AGAIN @OhioStateFB takes the lead in the Happy Valley pic.twitter.com/g9Cuj5bQCX
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 2, 2024

There was also some window dressing in terms of personnel from Kelly. Inniss entered the ballgame the play before with the Buckeyes’ other two backup wideouts, Bryson Rodgers and Jayden Ballard. Ohio State handed the ball off to Henderson the first play where the trio was on the field.

When the Buckeyes dropped back to pass with their second tier of weapons on the field on Inniss’ touchdown, it may have caught the Nittany Lions off guard.

“We knew whenever we needed to go in the game, whatever play needed to be made, we were going to make the play,” Inniss said. “We do practice situations like that. It was a long drive. Guys are tired, so we just go in and handle the job.”

Inniss also picked up 12 yards and a first down on a fourth-quarter grab during Ohio State’s second field goal drive. He’s now up to 10 receptions for 125 yards and the touchdown on the season, adding 12 punt returns for 109 yards.

“We knew whenever we needed to go in the game, whatever play needed to be made, we were going to make the play.”– Brandon Inniss on he and the second group of OSU receivers

Jayden Fielding Executes in the Kicking Game

Ohio State’s placekicker has had his share of lows in 2024, kicking three straight kickoffs out of bounds against Marshall in Week 4 and missing his lone field goal attempt last week against Nebraska.

The Penn State game marked the first time this season he attempted multiple field goals in a game and he nailed both of them, one from 46 yards on the Buckeyes’ first drive of the second half to extend their lead to 17-10 and sneaking a 39-yarder through the left upright from the left hash to re-extend the edge to 20-13 in the final quarter, which proved the final score.

Fielding improved to 5-of-6 (83.3%) this season on field goals and remains a perfect 38-of-38 on extra points. He also didn’t sail any kickoffs out of bounds, rather keeping Penn State inside its own 30-yard line on each of his boots from the tee and recording one touchback.

Punter Joe McGuire also had a solid day as special teamers go, with two punts for 94 yards (47 yards per punt) with a 53-yard boot in the third quarter.

Franklin Remains Big Game James

Penn State head coach James Franklin is now 1-10 against Ohio State and has lost eight consecutive contests to the Buckeyes. Of coaches with at least 10 losses against the Buckeyes in their tenures, only former Indiana coach and ESPN College GameDay star Lee Corso has a worse record at 0-10.

Franklin is now 3-18 against top-10 opponents at Penn State.

Excluding the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, Franklin's squad has reached 10 wins in five of its last seven full campaigns but never gotten to 12 victories. His 2016 team is Penn State's only Big Ten Championship in his tenure. They've been firmly entrenched at the top of the second tier of the conference for almost a decade, unable to break through that next barrier and become one of college football's elite programs.

Penn State fans have started voicing their displeasure toward the head coach. Franklin had some words with a heckler following Saturday’s game and a “Fire Franklin” chant even arose after the Nittany Lions’ loss.

“I understand the frustration,” Franklin said postgame. “Guys in the locker room are just as frustrated, if not more. But college football has changed, and we have an opportunity moving forward to right some wrongs from today, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.

“I get it. We’ve got an unbelievable crowd here. We get unbelievable support. You don’t do that without passion. And there’s great things that come from that, and there are hard things that come from that. That’s part of the job. That’s part of the job. And I own it all. I own it all.”