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Buckeyes Win at the White Out

WOW.

What. A. Game. 

The Ohio State Buckeyes counter-punched Penn State Nittany Lions late in the football game for the second straight season in an intense 27-26 comeback win on the road to bring the Buckeyes' record to an undefeated 5-0. 

Just when things looked about as bleak as possible, Dwayne Haskins and the cavalry rattled off 13 unanswered points in just shy of six minutes of game time for the second straight comeback victory against the Nittany Lions. 

Did I say comeback?

Takeaways

There are good football players on the Ohio State defensive line. Even without Nick Bosa, Ohio State has a couple (NFL) guys that can pick up the slack very well. Chase Young (Predator, best nickname?), Dre'Mont Jones and Jonathan Cooper picked up their level of play and intensity. Which is everything Ohio State fans could have asked for. And having a guy with dreadlocks dominate on national television is great for street cred.

Trace McSorley would probably beat most Ohio State linebackers in a playground foot race and would be in consideration for my capture-the-flag first pick. As a fan, it pains me to make this comment, but McSorley was able to simply run past the Ohio State linebackers on a handful of plays on his way to 175 yards on the ground. He did just about everything he could to keep his team in the game.

Chris Fowler, definitely a childhood Penn State fan. I read some comments on Twitter that during the game Fowler seemed giddy for Penn State and less than enthusiastic for Ohio State. I re-watched the game and that is 100% accurate. I'm normally a Fowler guy because we share an affinity for tennis, but after the game, our potential future friendship is on hold. I did read his Wikipedia page and his father was a professor at Penn State. Extremely disappointing.

Linebacker Tuf Borland caused a monumental turnover late in the second half that lead to an Ohio State fumble recovery in Penn State territory. Ohio State easily could have gone into halftime with zero points, but the turnover lead to a JK Dobbins touchdown two plays later. 

Although Dwayne Haskins had a not-so-Dwayne Haskins night, he was still able to pull it together when it counted and got the ball to his playmakers late in the football game. Ohio State was able to steal the win because Haskins had more athletes to get the ball to, i.e Binjimen Victor, statistically Ohio State's sixth leading receiver, scoring a 47-yard touchdown after basically catching the ball of the side of his helmet. Ohio State was too deep and too talented for Penn State at the end of the day and that was the difference.

Oh, and that 4th down and 5 call with 1:16 left in the game from Penn State. Well, from Coach Franklin.

The Little Things

The Buckeyes were sound in some of the underrated parts of the game.

Ohio State Punter Drue Chrisman pinned Penn State behind their 30 yard-line on every punt in the first half, including a couple behind the 20 and one behind the 10. He helped keep the score within striking distance while the offense struggled early. Overall, Chrisman punted nine times and in five that were returnable, the coverage team limited Penn State to 1.4 yards per return. 

Johnnie Dixon chased down Penn State's Garrett Taylor after he intercepted a deflected Haskins pass to keep Taylor out of the endzone. Penn State kicked a field goal on their next possession and Dixon single-handedly kept an extra 3 (probably 4) points off the board. 

Final Beat

Penn State gave Ohio State a couple of their best shots the past two seasons and Ohio State was able to survive. Trace McSorley is a senior, so I anticipate the world to be restored back to order next season in the Ohio State v Penn State game. Thank god that's over. 

The Penn State game last year was followed by the game-that-shall-not-be-mentioned. 

So, please, guys...do not lose to Indiana.




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