A week after losing the way they did against Illinois, Penn State had nobody believing they belonged on the same field as the Ohio State Buckeyes. But after 60 minutes of football on Saturday night the Nittany Lions proved not only that they belonged, but they haven’t quit on a season that has taken a drastic detour after a 5-0 start to the season.
But as it has been so often the case in matchups with Ohio State, Penn State was reminded that in order to take the next step they cannot afford to pass up on golden opportunities when presented to them.
Penn State’s defense never let the game get out of hand, and it played a huge role in the game being as close as it was. Ohio State put 30 points on the scoreboard, but only 23 came against the defense. A Sean Clifford fumble was returned by Ohio State for a defensive touchdown in the second quarter, a play that really came back to haunt the Nittany Lions on this one.
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But so did a sequence that saw Penn State’s defense force a turnover on the opening drive of the game that was followed immediately by Penn State giving the ball right back to Ohio State on the very next play. And when Ohio State head coach Ryan Day opted to go for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter from the Penn State 13-yard line, the Buckeyes had an easy touchdown if not for miscommunication between C.J. Stroud and Chris Olave. It should have been an easy touchdown to put the Buckeyes up 34-24. Instead, Penn State took the ball over on downs and four plays later Clifford was intercepted on a poorly thrown ball under pressure. That led to a field goal by the Buckeyes after the defense once again did its job to keep things within reach.
Where Penn State goes from here remains to be seen. The November schedule includes a big home game in a few weeks against Michigan and will wrap up on the road against a Michigan State Spartans team that continues to climb the polls without a loss so far. It also includes games against Maryland and Rutgers, which certainly appear to be favorable matchups for Penn State.
Penn State will face Maryland next week.
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