Moment of the Game: Ohio State’s rebuilt offensive line won the game vs. Penn State

I did not expect that o-line performance, but they were masterful.

What a game, what a win, what a collection of moments. Ryan Day, his staff, and his team put together a championship effort against a very good Penn State Nittany Lions team. It wasn’t a perfect effort, and it wasn’t a perfect Penn State team, but it was one that was full of progress and fixes to problems that had plagued the Buckeyes throughout the season and especially since the game in Eugene against the Oregon Ducks.

To me, the major storylines were the dominance of the defense (for the second year in a row against PSU) and the completely out-of-left-field performance by a reconfigured Ohio State offensive line. While I was surprised by how often they let Donovan Jackson — in his first-ever start at left tackle — go one-on-one against the fantastic Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter on third downs.

Aside from that, without going back to rewatch the game, I have very few complaints about how they played. The way that the unit routinely got incredible push off of the snap, allowing Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson, and Will Howard to pick up solid yardage at almost every turn was not something that I expected against a very good Penn State.

Nonetheless, that was one of the best big-game offensive line performances that I can remember (admittedly, I have a terrible memory), and it was never more dominant than on the final, game-sealing drive. Chip Kelly and/or Ryan Day knew what was at stake and knew what their team was doing well, so after getting the ball on their own one-yard line with 5:13 left in regulation, they called 11 straight runs to ice the game.

What made that all-run drive possible was the fact that the Buckeyes were able to stay ahead of the chains. In the last 5:13, OSU averaged 5.75 yards on first down — again, all runs — and only got to third down twice.

On 3rd and 2 from OSU’s 43, Howard kept it and ran behind Jackson and Hinzman to pick up three yards with 1:19 remaining.

Then, after three timeouts — one from OSU, one from PSU, and one for the two-minute break — the Buckeyes found themselves in 3rd and 3 from Penn State’s 47 with 1:11 left, and again Howard kept it and ran to the left again, picking up 7 yards and sliding (this time appropriately) to effectively end the game.

I think Howard could have kept running and potentially even scored a touchdown, but there was no need for that; we’ve seen how what appears to be a clear touchdown can end up being a turnover.

So, Howard got down and then knelt down on the next play to get Ohio State a top-5 victory and essentially save their championship hopes. OSU certainly could have still made the College Football Playoff with two losses, but I sure like their chances with only one L.

Yes, I am a prisoner of the moment, but my faith in this team (and humanity at large) has been restored, and I am back to looking for Atlanta hotels in mid-January!