The Buckeyes kept their win streak over James Franklin and the Nittany Lions alive, making it eight wins in a row dating back to 2017. It was a strong defensive performance for Ohio State in the 20-13 win, only six points given up by Jim Knowles’ unit.
The win kept the Buckeyes hopes at winning the Big Ten championship alive and earned Ryan Day another win over a top-five team the third of his head coaching career.
Here are Buckeye Sports Bulletin’s picks for who deserves Buckeye Leaves after the win.
Patrick Engels: Ohio State’s Jayden Fielding has experienced an up-and-down season so far — a year that is still highlighted by his kickoff gaffes against Marshall that caused him to be bench — but in the biggest game of the season to date against Penn State, he played his best game.
Fielding has not had a lot of opportunities this season to make some pressure-packed kicks, but that opportunity came up in the third quarter when the Buckeyes’ drive stalled near the PSU 28-yard line after a Kobe King sack of Howard. This required Fielding to line up for a tough 46-yarder in front of a raucous Penn State student section, and the veteran kicker seemed unfazed and drilled it to give the Buckeyes the 17-10 lead.
If Fielding missed that field goal, it would have given Penn State a lot of momentum heading into the fourth quarter. But instead he only extended Ohio State’s lead, and did it again a few drives later on a 39-yarder to lead 20-13.
Fielding also did not boot any of his kickoffs out of bounds, which is always a plus.
Bobby Gorbett: Ohio State junior cornerback Davison Igbinosun turned a bad drive into a great one, when he made a potentially game-saving interception in the end zone at the end of the first half. Igbinosun’s outstanding interception is the primary reason for my Buckeye leaf, as he ripped the ball from Penn State receiver Harrison Wallace III in the end zone, while the Nittany Lions were at the OSU 3-yard line at the end of the first half.
Igbinosun committed a defensive holding penalty and gave up a reception on the same play that put the Buckeyes’ backs against the wall.
The spectacular interception in the end zone completely redeemed his previous slip up and allowed the Buckeyes to carry a 4-point lead into halftime.
In the first half, Igbinosun made a similarly important stop on third-and-two when he was left one-on-one on Penn State receiver Liam Clifford. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar lobbed a decent pass to Clifford, but Igbinosun made a key pass breakup to get the Nittany Lions off the field.
Igbinosun finished the game with four tackles and one pass break ups along with his interception.
Greg Wilson: After what might have been his strongest game as a Buckeye against Nebraska on Oct. 26, Cody Simon responded against Penn State with another impressive showing. In a game which saw the Ohio State defense give up just X points, Simon was a big part of making stops throughout the entire game.
He delivered in a big way when the Buckeyes were up by just four points late in the third quarter, needing a big stop after the Nittany Lions got themselves into good field position via a punt return, Simon led the charge on a second-and-8 play, splitting the offensive line and taking quarterback Drew Allar down for a 9-yard sack.
He also had an ever-important stop on the Nittany Lions last drive of the game when the Buckeyes allowed them to get down to the OSU 3-yard line in the fourth quarter. Simon set the tone inside the 5 with the first stop of that series, taking down running back Kaytron Allen for no gain, a drive that would end up with Ohio State keeping Penn State out of the end zone.
Simon finished the game with a team-leading 10 tackles, five solo and the sack that came at an important point of the game for Ohio State. He has now been able to put together two straight good games and could be taking the next step to becoming exactly what the OSU defense needs in the middle of its unit
