The Buckeyes went on the road and defeated the No. 3 team in the country.
No. 4 Ohio State overcame some adversity on Saturday, falling behind 10-0 almost immediately before rallying to defeat No. 3 Penn State 20-13 in Happy Valley. The Buckeyes’ defense, which had come under fire over the last few weeks, did not allow an offensive touchdown in the game as the Nittany Lions were stuffed on 4th-and-goal on their final possession before Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins and the offense ran out the clock on a big win for Ryan Day’s group.
Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from Ohio State’s victory over Penn State.
The Good
The Defense
After a terrible performance against Oregon and a less-than-impressive outing against Nebraska, many began to question Jim Knowles’ defense. On Saturday, the Ohio State defensive coordinator completely flipped the script, allowing zero offensive touchdowns and coming up big in the fourth quarter against Penn State.
The Buckeyes were especially effective at stopping the run. The Nittany Lions came into the game with the third-best rushing attack in the Big Ten, but Knowles’ group managed to hold the dynamic duo of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton to 18 carries for 42 yards. Overall, Ohio State held the Nittany Lions to just 270 yards of total offense, and James Franklin’s group was limited to 3-of-11 on third down as well as 1-of-2 on fourth down — including, of course, the huge stop on 4th-and-goal on Penn State’s final possession of the game.
The goal line stand was one of two huge plays for the Silver Bullets in the red zone, the other being an impressive toe drag interception by Davison Igbinosun at the end of the first half in the end zone. Penn State had first-and-goal at the Ohio State 3-yard line twice in the game, and came away with zero points both times.
Run the Damn Ball
With the defense stuffing Penn State on the goal line, Ohio State got the ball back on their own 1-yard line, needing to escape the shadow of their own end zone and avoid a safety with a little over five minutes remaining. After Will Howard picked up four yards on a QB keeper up the middle, Quinshon Judkins ran the ball three-straight times to put the Buckeyes in position to ice the game.
The Ole Miss transfer rushed for nine yards on his first touch to pick up a first down, followed by gains of six yards and 15 yards to move the chains yet again, moving the ball to the 35-yard line and getting the game clock down near the final two-minute timeout. From there, a mixture of run plays by Howard and TreVeyon Henderson picked up two more first downs, and that would be all she wrote.
Those first three runs by Judkins were critical in allowing Ohio State to run out the clock on a one-score victory. Overall, the Buckeyes ran the football 10 consecutive times to end the game, not including the final kneel down by Howard, in an impressive feat of bully ball. Which brings us to our next point…
The Offensive Line
Ohio State had two weeks to figure out its offensive line after losing Josh Simmons to injury in the Oregon game, and yet came out against Nebraska with one of the worst blocking performances the program has seen in quite some time. After Simmons’ backup Zen Michalski went down with an injury of his own against the Cornhuskers, Justin Frye was once again tasked with coming up with a plan — this time against one of the nation’s top defensive lines.
The solution was to move Donovan Jackson to left tackle and insert Carson Hinzman at left guard, and that will likely be the formula for the Buckeyes moving forward after an impressive showing by the offensive line against Penn State. Ohio State put Jackson in some impossible 1-on-1 scenarios against future NFL first-rounder Abdul Carter, leading to a pair of sacks, but the unit otherwise played tremendously in what was a massive test for the offense as a whole.
Howard was sacked just one other time in the game on a scramble outside the pocket, and the Buckeyes’ rushing duo of Henderson and Judkins combined for 149 yards on 24 carries, good for more than 6.2 yards per carry against a team that entered the day allowing only 93 yards per game on the ground. It was a very promising performance for a group that looked much maligned a week ago.
Jeremiah Smith
In case you missed it, Jeremiah Smith broke the Ohio State freshman receiving record against Penn State with his 14 catches for 95 yards. After only eight collegiate games, Smith has racked up 678 yards and eight touchdowns on 39 receptions, surpassing the 648 yards amassed by Cris Carter during his freshman campaign in 1984. He will likely break the program’s freshman record for receptions in his next game, needing just two more catches to tie Carter’s first-year mark of 41, and is currently tied with Carter with his eight scores.
Saturday’s game against Penn State marked the first time this season that Smith did not score a touchdown. Looks like he will have to make up for it with two of them against Purdue next week…
The Bad
Making Donovan Jackson block Abdul Carter 1-on-1
As previously mentioned, it was unfair to Donovan Jackson to make him block one of the country’s premiere edge rushers in his first career start at tackle. The Buckeyes did a decent job most of the afternoon with helping to chip Carter on the outside with either a tight end or a running back — or both — but on the few occasions they left Jackson on his own, things did not go particularly well.
It’s hard to blame Jackson for allowing those sacks, especially with both coming on obvious passing downs. Carter’s first sack was on a 3rd-and-7 play, and his second was on a 3rd-and-8. You cannot expect a guy to hold up in those situations playing out of position against a truly elite player like Carter, and in both instances there should have been at minimum a running back there to help alleviate some of that pressure.
Overall, it seemed like Jackson played pretty well given the circumstances, and he will hopefully get more comfortable at tackle moving forward with the Buckeyes almost certainly sticking with this group the rest of the way.
Five-Star Defensive Ends
As a whole, Ohio State’s defense played well. It’s hard to argue with the results, given that the Buckeyes did not allow an offensive touchdown. That being said, I am still waiting to see something from the pair of senior five-star defensive ends that specifically came back for another season to try and lead the charge for a national title.
Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau have both had pretty pedestrian seasons for Ohio State. Tuimoloau had been credited with four sacks heading into Saturday, and Sawyer with 2.5, but neither have been able to get any sort of consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks this season — especially in the team’s biggest games. Against Penn State, the duo combined for 0.5 sacks, as Tuimoloau helped clean up a sack that was started by Kenyatta Jackson. Sawyer tallied one solo tackle, and whiffed on at least two sacks where he had a clear lane to Drew Allar in the backfield.
The Buckeyes simply need to get more from these two guys if they are going to continue to see the lion’s share of the snaps. Now more than ever it seems as though both guys are having trouble winning their 1-on-1 battles, which is basically the only situation Larry Johnson’s archaic system puts them in. We have seen flashes from both Jackson and Caden Curry when thrust into action, and maybe it is time those guys start to play a bit more if the starters aren’t getting the job done.
The Ugly
The Pick-Six
Ohio State had the worst possible start to the game it could’ve had offensively, with Howard’s very first pass of the afternoon being picked off and returned for a touchdown by Zion Tracy to give Penn State a 10-0 lead. It was a poor read by Howard and a bad throw behind Smith that the safety saw coming the entire way, and it put the Buckeyes in a precarious spot right from the jump.
Credit to Chip Kelly and the Ohio State offense for not letting it alter their plans, as the Buckeyes responded by scoring touchdowns on their next two drives to take a 14-10 lead that they would never relinquish. Howard made some really good decisions with the football the rest of the way, completing 16 of his 24 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns as well as picking up some big first downs with his legs, but he has also now thrown an interception in five of his last six games.
A Super Unfortunate Fumble
Speaking of Howard’s turnover woes, his fumble midway through the second quarter was an incredibly unlucky turn of events that had a chance to completely change the game.
Ohio State had driven the ball all the way down the field, set up with a first down inside the Penn State 15-yard line. A first down keeper by Howard originally looked like it may have resulted in a touchdown. Instead, it was a catastrophic turnover.
Defensive back Zakee Wheatley knocked the ball free from Howard along the sideline at the 2-yard line, and the ball bounced off Howard’s knee into the end zone and out of bounds, resulting in a touchback for Penn State. The Buckeyes were able to get a stop on the Nittany Lions’ ensuing drive to limit any damage, but Ohio State easily could have held a 21-10 lead with what would have been three-straight scoring drives and a chance to put the game away in the first half.
Another Injury
Already missing its best offensive lineman, Ohio State could’ve suffered another big injury on the other side of the line after Tyleik Williams went down late in the fourth quarter.
On Penn State’s final possession, the defensive tackle fell awkwardly and got rolled up on following a short run by Kaytron Allen. Williams was helped off the field by trainers, walking on his own power but hobbling, and was taken straight into the injury tent. Luckily for the Buckeyes, Kayden McDonald stepped in and was a key part of making the goal line stop to effectively end the game, but of course the worry postgame was the severity of Williams’ injury.
It sounds as though Ohio State dodged a bullet, as Ryan Day said after the game that Williams ‘should be fine.’ The Buckeyes do have some good depth along the defensive line, but it is obviously good news that Williams’ injury doesn’t seem to be long term, as he has been one of the team’s most consistent players in that unit. The tackle is tied for second on the team with 2.5 sacks despite missing two games, adding 20 total tackles and four tackles for loss.
That being said, Larry Johnson should consider getting McDonald some more playing time, as the sophomore has looked excellent in his limited reps. It would be a lot of fun to see an interior defensive line of McDonald and Williams playing side-by-side.