Joey Kaufman|The Columbus Dispatch
Observations on Saturday's Ohio State-Penn State game by Joey Kaufman:
The game at hand
• Short-attention span synopsis:It was hardly a pretty win by Ohio State, one that will do only so much to impress the College Football Playoff selection committee ahead of the release of its initial rankings on Tuesday. The Buckeyes had to prevail in another slugfest against Penn State, which has proven to be capable of losing to Illinois, but remains scrappy. Once the Achilles' heel for the Buckeyes, the defense came to their rescue as their offense was challenged.
'Big man touchdown, 304 pounder': Ohio State lineman Jerron Cage scoops and scores against Penn State
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• Pregame buzz:With FOX, one of the primary broadcast partners for the Big Ten, putting its best matchups in the noon window, the Buckeyes had gone several years without hosting a game of this magnitude in primetime. It made for an anticipated scene around the Horseshoe with parking lots packed with tailgaters and fans packing the Horseshoe as part of a “scarlet out,” making up the first capacity crowd of 2021.
• Spread the wealth?:The Buckeyes had covered the point spread in four straight games, but that streak ended against Penn State while they were installed as 19.5-point favorites. It has, though, been characteristic of the recent meetings between these Big Ten East foes. Ohio State has now only covered once in six seasons, cominglast Octoberin State College.
• Strategically speaking:It looked as if coach James Franklin was tempted to go for it when Penn State faced a fourth-and-5 at its 30-yard line and trailed the Buckeyes, 30-24, with 6:05 left. But he called for a punt, and Ohio State responded with a drive that ended with a 26-yard field goal by Noah Ruggles, making it a two-score game and wiping away a chance for the Nittany Lions to pull ahead.
The View
•How the team sees it:A close win over a division nemesis is a building block for us.
•How the pollsters will see it:You’ve played two ranked teams. Lost the first one. Eked out a win in the second. That gives us pause about putting you any higher than No. 5.
•How Buckeye Nation will see it:We can turn the channel in the third quarter of most Big Ten games. Penn State makes us stay until the finish.
Hey, what did Ryan Day say?
•What he said: "It's one-game seasons. It's March Madness. You win, you survive, you move on."
•What it means: "Hopefully a Cinderella doesn't crash our run."
They said it
• Talking heads: ABC's Kirk Herbstreit praised Penn State's defensive coordinator and said future Ohio State opponents are taking notes. "Look on the horizon," Herbstreit said. "Purdue can score. You never know about Nebraska. They're all going to be tough. Ohio State is going to go back in the film room and see what Brent Pry did to cause such fits."
• Pregame chatter:Before the game, ABC's Booger McFarland was not sold on the Ohio State defense. "I wantto see this defense against a consistent offense," he said. "What are you going to do against an offense up to caliber, up to speed with someweapons on the outside? We're going tofind out a little bit tonight against Penn State with with Jahan Dotson, an explosive wide receiver, a first-round pick. How do they handle a receiver like that?"
Numbers for dummies
466: Total yards of offense for Ohio State, its fewest since last season’s national championship game loss to Alabama.
16.7%: Red-zone touchdown percentage for the Buckeyes, who came away with seven points only once out of their six trips inside the 20-yard line.
1: Touchdown passes thrown by quarterback C.J. Stroud, matching his lowest in a game this season. He also threw only one against Tulsa.
3.1: Yards per carry by freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson outside of his 68-yard run in the third quarter.
7: Passes caught by wide receiver Garrett Wilson, his second-most receptions in a game this season.
6: Defensive touchdowns by Ohio State this season, the latest coming when defensive tackle Jerron Cage recovered a fumble and returned it 57 yards for a score.
4: Games with double-digit tackles by safety Ronnie Hickman, who led the Buckeyes with 14 tackles against the Nittany Lions.
9: Combined sacks (four) and quarterback hurries (five) for Ohio State, the second-most this season behind only the total of 11 against Akron.
61.1%: Penn State’s conversion rate on third down, the highest mark allowed by the Buckeyes this season.
9: Wins by Ohio State in its last 10 games against the Nittany Lions, including winning five in a row.
On tap
It’s hard to envision Nebraska being much of a trap game for the Buckeyes after it lost at home to Purdue, a 28-23 setback that marked its third consecutive defeat and put it on the brink of missing a bowl game for the fifth straight season. It’s fair to wonder if these are the final days of the Scott Frost era in Lincoln.
Tweethearts
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.
