Blue White Illustrated

Ohio State Postgame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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and that stung. "This one hurts, obviously," Franklin said. "We didn't finish the game the way we should have finished the game. We played a great first half but weren't able to finish late in the game." Ninth-ranked Penn State dominated the first half, racking up a 293-93 edge in total yards. But it only led by six points at hal;ime a;er a Miles Sanders fumble set up a 26-yard touchdown pass from Haskins to J.K. Dobbins. Ohio State took its first lead early in the third quarter, and then it rallied back from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit, echoing last year's game in which it dug itself out of a 15-point hole in Columbus. The Nittany Lions (4-1, 1-1) will look to regroup against Michigan State in two weeks, and one of the things they'll be trying to put in the rear-view is their last offensive play of the game, an inside handoff that got stuffed on fourth-and- 5. The play touched off an instant social- media freakout and will no doubt be debated for at least the next few days. Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • What more is there to say about Mc- Sorley? In the face of fierce Ohio State pressure, he threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns, and that wasn't even the most impressive part. Penn State's of- fense was only able to move the ball in fits and starts against the Buckeyes, but when nothing else was working, McSor- ley carried the ball himself, finishing with a career-high 175 rushing yards. His 461 total yards were a Penn State record, breaking the mark of 456 yards set by Christian Hackenberg against UCF in 2014. • The defense got off to a great start. Ohio State had been all but unstoppable in its first four games, but through two quarters Penn State forced seven punts and gathered in an interception. There were some unforced errors that con- tributed to that strong showing, as Ohio State's wideouts dropped a few seem- ingly catchable throws. But the Nittany Lions were outstanding until only eight minutes remained. The Buckeyes fin- ished with 389 yards, 103 yards fewer than Penn State and 210 below their per- game average. • Penn State's wideouts had an up- and-down night, but the highlights bor- dered on miraculous. K.J. Hamler had one of the night's biggest plays when he caught a slant on third-and-long and raced into the end zone for a 93-yard touchdown. Also, Pat Freiermuth had a terrific catch in the end zone early in the fourth quarter to give the Lions a 20-14 lead. And then there was Juwan Johnson. His leaping one-armed catch on Penn State's second drive gained 31 yards and was one of those plays that is sure to show up in highlight videos for years. THE BAD • The play that Penn State ran on fourth-and-5 with the game on the line never had a chance, as Ohio State stuffed Sanders for a loss of 2 yards. The junior running back was fresh off a 200-yard night against Illinois, but Ohio State kept Sanders under wraps, allowing him only 43 yards on 16 carries. "Obviously, we should have called something different there," Franklin said. • While the defense was very solid for the first 52 minutes of the game, the last eight were hard to watch. A;er taking a 26-14 lead, the Lions did the one thing they couldn't afford to do: They allowed Ohio State to score quickly. The Buck- eyes needed 1 minute, 18 seconds to turn it back into a one-score game, getting a 47-yard touchdown catch from Victor Binjimen to cap a three-play drive. Penn State's season-long tackling SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 4:58 PSU Pinegar, Jake 34-yard field goal 8 plays, 63 yards, TOP 3:37.........................................................0-3 2ND 11:18 PSU Pinegar, Jake 39-yard field goal 4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 1:30........................................................... 0-6 5:59 PSU Hamler, K.J. 93-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Pinegar, Jake kick) 3 plays, 98 yards, TOP 1:03....................................................... 0-13 1:50 OSU Dobbins, J.K. 26-yard pass from Haskins, Dwayne (Nuernberger, S. kick) 2 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:42........................................................7-13 3RD 10:22 OSU Dobbins, J.K. 4-yard run (Nuernberger, S. kick ) 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:38.................................................... 14-13 4TH 12:22 PSU Freiermuth, Pat 2-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Pinegar, Jake kick) 6 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:22..................................................... 14-20 8:00 PSU Sanders, Miles 1-yard run (Hippenhammer, M. rush failed) 7 plays, 52 yards, TOP 2:18...................................................... 14-26 6:42 OSU Victor, B. 47-yard pass from Haskins, Dwayne (Nuernberger, S. kick) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:18....................................................... 21-26 2:03 OSU Hill, K.J. 24-yard pass from Haskins, Dwayne (Haskins, Dwayne pass failed) 8 plays, 96 yards, TOP 2:32.................................................... 27-26 S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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