In what seemed like déjà vu from last year, the Ohio State
Buckeyes found themselves down by double digits in the fourth quarter and
history repeated itself as they came from behind to win by one point for the
second consecutive year.
An inconsistent offense, beset by penalties, finally managed
to put it together when it mattered most in the fourth quarter. Dwayne Haskins, hampered by several drops
from his receivers and a fierce Penn State rush, turned in a Heisman-type final
drive, leading Ohio State on the winning drive that covered 96 yards and
shutting up Penn State’s Shareef Miller’s bulletin board material. Both Binjamin Victor and K.J. Hill overcame a
sluggish first half to get touchdowns in the fourth quarter as I noticed the
receiving corps as a whole really picked up their game in the second half. I saw better routes and better downfield
blocking, and the result was scoring drives when the game was on the line. Victor made the biggest play of his career,
catching a pass over the middle and showing some nifty moves in weaving his way
for 47 yards to the end zone to get the Buckeyes back in the game; the first
score of the fourth quarter. Victor
finished with one other reception for eight yards. Parris Campbell led the Buckeye receivers
with 60 yards on seven catches and Hill had 59 yards on six catches including
his game winner. The rushing attack was
inconsistent at times, as Penn State loaded the box quite a bit, so Dobbins and
Weber had a tough road at times. Dobbins
picked up 57 yards on the ground and Weber picked up 51. Dobbins proved his worth as a receiver,
scoring on one and making an awesome catch and run on the first play of the
game winning drive to get Ohio State out of bad field position.
Ohio State’s defense bent at times (they gave up another 93
yard play), but kept the team in the game, especially during the first half
when the offense couldn’t get anything going.
But, I noticed good play by Tuf Borland and, of course, Chase Young, who
really stepped up in the second half.
Young finished with six tackles, two sacks, and two tackles for loss,
including on Penn State’s final fourth down play. Penn State QB Trace McSorley is every bit as advertised
and I would be shocked if he doesn’t find himself in New York as a Heisman finalist. He managed to gain 461 all-purpose yards,
including 175 yards on the ground. In
addition to the 93-yard touchdown pass to K.J. Hamler, McSorley also had a
51-yard run and was able to scramble and hit receivers on several other
occasions. McSorley can make any defense
look bad, but the Ohio State defense stepped up when it had to after Penn State
took a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, shutting down McSorley the rest
of the way.
Still, the win wasn’t as pretty as it should’ve been. Ohio State made more than enough mistakes to
lose. Penalties once again proved to be
a real issue for this team. The most
costly was a penalty on Luke Farrell that wiped out a field goal in the third
quarter. The Buckeyes are fortunate the
toughest part of their schedule is now behind them and they are thus far
unscathed. They will not face a team
capable of giving them a serious challenge until the November 10 trip to
Michigan State and are now big favorites to repeat as conference champions and
get to the playoff. So, hopefully, the next four games will give
them a chance to correct some of these errors so their march to the playoff can
continue.
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