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With Ohio State, Ryan Day at a “crossroads,’ Buckeyes earned a few weeks of solace

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With Ohio State, Ryan Day at a “crossroads,’ Buckeyes earned a few weeks of solace

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State is the great elixir for Ohio State. The Nittany Lions are good enough to make the Buckeyes feel as if they accomplished something by beating them, but never good enough to actually beat Ohio State.

Take the final two possessions of the game, which took 10:13 of game clock, included 20 plays and resulted in no points.

The first of those two drives ended with a goal-line stand by the Ohio State defense, stopping the Nittany Lions on four plays after a first-and-goal at the 3. The second was a clock-draining, soul-sucking march by the Buckeyes, led by their beleaguered offensive line and capped by victory formation that secured not only a top-five win but a few weeks of peace for a program and coach facing more pressure than any in the country this season.

With a 20-13 victory Saturday against No. 3 Penn State that felt very familiar, the fourth-ranked Buckeyes didn’t necessarily make an emphatic statement as much as punched their way off of the ropes.

“We were at a crossroads,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day. “This was a big game. We really didn’t want to publicly say that. We said that behind closed doors. This was a big game for us for a lot of reasons.”

Day improved to 3-6 in AP top-five matchups at Ohio State.

The expectations are enormous for Day and these Buckeyes. They are the $20 million team filled with players who could already be cashing NFL paychecks. Those players were swayed by NIL deals and unfinished business — not necessarily in that order — to return for one more year. None of these Buckeyes have ever beaten Michigan. Ohio State has not won the Big Ten since the 2020 pandemic season.

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Getting into an expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff is considered a given for Ohio State, but after losing to Oregon three weeks ago and barely slipping past Nebraska at home last week … well, panic sets in quickly in Columbus these days.

Even just one more loss and making the Playoff would be an iffy proposition for the Buckeyes. Imagine Day’s team snapping the three-game losing streak against Michigan and then playing in the Citrus Bowl. Would it even be Day’s team anymore?

The results of the last two games were worrisome, but even more so was the loss of two left tackles to injuries. A unit that was already considered the biggest question mark on a star-studded offense appeared to be in crisis.

The solution: Slide All-America guard Donovan Jackson to left tackle and re-insert Carson Hinzman, last season’s starting center who had been relegated to reserve, at Jackson’s left guard spot. Hinzman lost his job this season to Seth McLaughlin, the Alabama transfer. Day said they turned to the junior Hinzman because the staff felt experience would be important against a good defense in a loud and hostile environment.

“There was no concern whatsoever at Carson going to left guard. We knew he was going to dominate,” Jackson said.

Jackson had not played tackle since high school. “It’s different personnel you go up against. At guard, you’re going against guys who are about 300-plus (pounds) and when you pass block, you take two steps and they’re running into your face, trying to bull rush or work a move on you. At tackle, man, you’re on an island, almost. And you’re going against guys who are as fast as wide outs.”

Jackson faced one of the freakiest pass rushers in college football in Penn State’s Abdul Carter, and twice got beat off of the edge for a sacks.

“I’m not saying I had a Herculean performance by any means. I had help by a lot of guys getting me in the right spot, but I was proud of what we did on the field,” he said.

Ohio State should come away encouraged.

Last week against Nebraska, both of Ohio State’s uber-talented tailbacks, Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, were held under 3.0 yards per carry. Against a Penn State defense that came in ranked seventh in the country at 3.18 yards allowed per carry, the two ran 24 times at 6.2 yards per attempt — including when they needed it most.

But first, it was the Buckeyes’ defense that needed to assert itself.

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After shutting down Drew Allar and Penn State for most of the day, the Nittany Lions put together a drive down 20-13 in the fourth quarter that reached first-and-goal at the 3.

Even though it had only been a one-score game, Ohio State felt very much in control to that point. That feeling suddenly vanished and as Tyler Warren rumbled toward the goal line with one of the very few explosive plays the Nittany Lions mustered all day.

The next three plays, Penn State tested the middle of Ohio State’s defense with Kaytron Allen runs and could only manage two yards.

“We got to thrive in those moments,” Ohio State defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau said. “You know, if you shy away from those moments, you’re not here to play Big Ten football. And for us, you know, we solidified who the silver bullets are and what we’re supposed to be and what we’re capable of.”

A fourth-down pass had almost no chance, the Buckeyes’ defensive backs smothering Penn State receivers as they had all day.

“It shows that there’s grit, there’s toughness, there’s a never-give-up, there’s a give-me-an-inch-and-I’m-gonna-defend-it kind of mentality,” Day said.

Day has seemingly been on an eternal mission to prove his team’s toughness, whether Lou Holtz is calling it out or not. If the defensive stand wasn’t enough to make Day’s point, the Buckeyes’ final drive most certainly did.

It started with 5:13 left on the clock with a pile-pushing four-yard quarterback sneak from Will Howard to get off the goal line.

“Our O-line is unbelievable at that,” Howard said. “The biggest thing on that drive was the quarterback sneak on the first play.”

Nine more running plays followed, none more than 15 yards.

“Once the situation arose where we had to run to win the game, we’re like, come on now. This is where all the film sessions, all the teachings, all the practices we do, comes down to this,” Jackson said. “So we’re like, come on, let’s run the ball.”

On the second of two third-down conversion keepers from Howard, he slid while signaling first down. All that was left for the Pennsylvania native who landed at Kansas State after not being recruited by the Nittany Lions was to take a knee.

“We willed that game. We talked about it early in the week,” Howard said. “We’re gonna have to will ourselves to win this game. There’s no way we’re going to be able to lose. And that was the way we played.”

Of course, this is the way it goes for Ohio State against Penn State. The Buckeyes have now won eight consecutive meetings. Most of them go like this one: Odd plays — Howard had two turnovers worth 14 points in the first half – close into the fourth quarter, Ohio State wins.

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“Probably the most animated locker room I’ve been in in a long time,” Day said.

The Buckeyes return home now with their groove back and games against Purdue and Northwestern ahead. Everybody can breathe easy for a little bit around the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Two more challenges remain: No. 13 Indiana at home on Nov. 23 (imagine writing that sentence in August?) and Michigan — which admittedly doesn’t look like much of a challenge right now.

“There’s a lot that goes with being the head coach at Ohio State,” Day said. “You can say ignore everything that goes on, but your players read it, your coaches read it, your staff members read it, your families read it and you’ve got to stay strong in those moments.”

(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty)

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