Ohio State dominates the second half to hand Penn State its first loss of the season

COLUMBUS, OHIO — No. 7 Penn State hit the road on Saturday to face off against its fellow top-10 conference opponent No. 3 Ohio State.

The Buckeyes defense put on a clinic as they shut the Nittany Lions out for the majority of the second half to take a 20-12 win in the Horseshoe.

Penn State received the opening kickoff after Ohio State won the coin toss and deferred until the second half.

After the kick went into the endzone for a touchback, second-year quarterback Drew Allar led the offense out against the best defense it has faced all season long.

The Buckeyes, who came into the game third in the country allowing just 9.67 points per game, forced a three out on the first drive that included two incompletions from Allar.

When fellow first-time starting quarterback Kyle McCord took the field right after the Riley Thompson punt, the offense got started right away. An 11-play, 57-yard drive for the Buckeyes stalled out at the Nittany Lions’ 15-yard line forcing a Jayden Fielding 33-yard field goal.

Fielding nailed the attempt as the Penn State defense bent but didn’t break in similar fashion to what it did in the first half during last year’s matchup. Like Noah Ruggles, who went 3-for-4 in last year’s game including a make on Ohio State’s opening drive, Fielding gave the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead.

Harrison Wallace III’s reception on the first play of the second drive of the game went for Allar’s first completion, but the next three plays looked reminiscent of the first drive as Thompson came out for another punt.

This time around following Thompson’s punt McCord and his offense went three-and-out. Johnny Dixon got the final stop on the drive as he came from his cornerback spot to sack the Buckeyes junior quarterback.

Mike Yurcich turned to the run for the next drive as Nicholas Singleton took the first play 20 yards up the middle of the Buckeyes defense.

The second-year running back followed his longest carry of the season with another explosive play of 16 yards. His last carry of the drive went for six yards, but didn’t make up for a sack of Allar as the Nittany Lions momentum stopped at the 23-yard line.

Alex Felkins drove a 40-yard field goal straight through the uprights to tie the games up at three.

The next four drives, two for each side, saw a little bit of ball movement including a Miyan Williams 10-yard rush and a KeAndre Lambert-Smith 12-yard reception, but the defensives went four-for-four on stopping drives.

Just when it looked like the Penn State defense picked up its biggest stop, which would’ve come in the way of a Curtis Jacobs’ scoop-and-score, the flags came out. That defensive touchdown was called back on a Kalen King defensive holding, before a Marvin Harrison Jr. reception also saw a pass interference penalty on King, and eventually a negative play that turned positive after an unsportsmanlike call on Kobe King.

The penalties aided Ohio State’s drive down to the two-yard line where Williams punched it into the endzone for the first touchdown of the game.

That 13-play, 61-yard drive was followed by a 7-play, 51-yard drive by the Nittany Lions. Allar found two of his tight ends, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren, for a combined 45-yards that led to a 41-yard field goal.

Felkins’ was good on his second attempt of the game, which made the score 10-6. That 10-6 score not only stood through halftime, but also through the entirety of the third quarter into the fourth quarter.

Towards the later part of that third quarter, Daequan Hardy, who had several pass breakups in the first half, allowed a punt to go over his head rather than fielding it. The Nittany Lions were then backed up to their own 24-yard line rather than having it near the 45.

The Nittany Lions did not do anything on that drive except for the punt the ball back to the Buckeyes. McCord found two of his top targets in Harrison Jr. and Cade Stover on big plays that put the Buckeyes within 10 yards of the endzone.

Devin Brown and Williams were stopped right against the goal line before McCord fired a fourth-down pass over to Carnell Tate who was quickly tackled by Jaylen Reed and Zakee Wheatley for the huge goal line stand.

Allar and the Nittany Lions continued to struggle on offense as another three-and-out forced Thompson off the sideline again. This time though Thompson’s punt deflected off of Ohio State, and Tyler Elsdon picked it up for a takeaway.

On the ensuing drive, the Nittany Lions didn’t capitalize on the takeaway instead forcing another Thompson punt. That drive, which started in the third quarter and ended in the fourth, signified the end of a blue and white streak of 38 consecutive quarters with points.

Ohio State took over and went downfield for another Fielding field goal, this one from 37 yards away. The Buckeyes made it back-to-back drives with a score when after another quick drive by Penn State, big plays favored the Buckeyes.

Harrison Jr. had not only an 11-yard reception to put the scarlet and gray in the red zone but had the final dagger as he hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass on his 11th reception of the day.

With only a slimmer of daylight left, the Penn State offense got some life with a couple of penalties in its favor. However, right after the penalties favored them, miscues of their own made the offense go backward as the Nittany Lions turned the ball over on downs.

The Nittany Lions got possession back, which led to a 12-play, 73-yard scoring drive that finished with a Kaden Saunders eight-yard score.

Allar finished the day 18-of-42 passing for just 191 yards as the Buckeyes took possession on the onside kick attempt and took the game from the Nittany Lions 20-12.

Justin Ciavolella is a third-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu or justinciavolella@gmail.com.