Ohio State vs Penn State -(Image Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Penn State missed out on a great opportunity to hand Ohio State their first loss of the season.
Trace McSorley and the 9th ranked Nittany Lions led 26-14 with eight minutes left. When you have Ohio State against the ropes like that, you have to put them away.
And the game was in Happy Valley, in front of over 110,000 screaming fans dressed in white. It was Penn State’s annual white-out game.
But Ohio State found a way, for the second consecutive year, to battle back and snatch the victory.
The Buckeyes, clinging to a 27-26 lead, needed a defensive stop on fourth-and-5 from their own 43-yard line. Everyone watching had to think McSorley was going to make a play. Especially after Penn State head coach James Franklin called a time out to strategize.
But Franklin draws up a McSorley handoff to the running back instead. Miles Sanders had no chance, Ohio State’s defense stopped him cold and that was ballgame.
“We obviously didn’t make the right call in that situation, and that’s on me, nobody else,” Franklin said.
That might be the understatement of the season.
Here's what Penn State went with on 4th and 5 with the game on the line. pic.twitter.com/onhYZGP2RH
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) September 30, 2018
Game on the line, you have to let your playmakers shine in that moment. I’m not taking anything away from Miles Sanders, but that’s McSorley’s game to win or lose.
Takeaways
McSorley deserved better. He set a school record with 461 total yards. The football should’ve been in his hands for that final play on fourth down.
Another quality road win for head coach Urban Meyer and Ohio State. Love him or hate him, Meyer’s going to have the Buckeyes in strong position for the College Football Playoff picture. Penn State, meanwhile, will have a tougher road to go in order to get back into the playoff picture. It’s important for the Nittany Lions to remind themselves they’re not down for the count yet. But this loss makes their margin for error extremely thin.
Quarterback Dwayne Haskins played cool and calm down the stretch for the Buckeyes. He looked shaky in the first half but threw two touchdown passes in money time.
