The Penn State Nittany Lions (4-3, 1-2) came into Columbus with high hopes after defeating the previously undefeated Michigan Wolverines. The Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0) refused to be another Nittany Lion chew toy. Both teams were on a collision course for the primetime game hosted on ABC.
Carlos Hyde was the go to guy again as he rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns. The strategy of riding Hyde continues to work to perfection. He scored Ohio State’s first touchdown not even three minutes into the game.
Ohio State displayed another air assault as Braxton Miller passed for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for two touchdowns, including a 39 yard score in the first quarter. Miller spread the ball around to Corey Brown, Devin Smith, Chris Fields, and Dontre Wilson. Brown hauled in 67 yards and one touchdown, Fields found the end zone once, and Wilson added a score as well. Smith led the receivers in yards with 90.
Miller said,” We just want to prove ourselves even more.” “The game plan just works out.”
The Buckeyes defense pressured the quarterbacks Tyler Ferguson and Christian Hackenburg. They were unable to slow down receiver Allen Robinson, who torched the Buckeyes with 12 receptions for 173 yards and one touchdown.
Close Call
Penn State nearly tied the game early on at 7 but a key interception in the end zone prevented the Nittany Lions from doing so.
Halftime- Time to waive the white flag
The game was just about over at half time as the Buckeyes unleashed fury upon Penn State with a 42-7 halftime lead.
Second Half- Adding insult to injury.
The Buckeyes outscored Penn State 21-7 in the second half. Wilson scored his only touchdown in the third quarter on a 26 yard pass from Miller. Buckeyes backup quarterback Kenny Guiton rushed for two yard touchdown with just over 4 minutes to go in the third quarter.
Guiton was not finished as he added insult to injury as he rushed for an 11 yard touchdown in the 4th quarter, making it 63-7 at that point.
Robinson hauled in a 65 yard touchdown pass from Ferguson to try to give Penn State a little consolation after taking a beating in Columbus.
Silencing the critics
After three narrow victories against the Wisconsin Badgers, Northwestern Wildcats, and Iowa Hawkeyes, the Buckeyes clearly sought a major blowout win in order to erase doubts about the weaknesses on defense and their inability to be strong enough to win against the nation’s top teams such as Alabama, Florida State, and Oregon. They will still be #4 but this win could help them vault to #3 or #2 if Florida State and Oregon fail to run to table.