The Ohio State football team extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 20 games Saturday, defeating Big Ten rival Penn State 63-14.
“I like where we’re at as a team,” OSU coach Urban Meyer said after the game. “I’m very pleased with arguably our best team win.”
OSU wasted no time getting on the board, as senior running back Carlos Hyde found the end zone from two yards out on its first drive to put the Buckeyes up, 7-0 just 2:17 into the game.
The Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0) found the end zone on the ground a few drives later, but this time it was junior quarterback Braxton Miller, who scored from 39 yards out.
Miller found pay dirt again on OSU’s next drive after Penn State freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg threw an interception to senior safety C.J. Barnett. The six-yard scamper made it 21-0 OSU.
Following a three-and-out by Penn State, Miller hit senior wide receiver Chris Fields in the end zone from three yards out to extend OSU’s lead to 28-0. It was Fields’ fifth touchdown reception of 2013.
Miller said after the game he is “very comfortable” with the passing game right now.
“I know what I’m doing and (what the) defensive coverage (is) and I know where the guys is going to be,” Miller said. “It’s exciting to see a guy with the ball in his hand do something with it.”
The Nittany Lions (4-3, 1-2) got on the board on their ensuing possession, as Hackenberg hit graduate senior Brandon Felder for a 12-yard touchdown to make the score 28-7.
Freshman running back Dontre Wilson nearly took the following kickoff back for a touchdown, returning it to the Penn State 45 yard line. Two plays later, Hyde took a handoff from Miller 39 yards untouched for his second score of the game.
OSU would score one more time before the half, as Miller found senior wide receiver Corey “Philly” Brown from 25 yards out with just three seconds left. OSU led 42-7 at the break.
Miller found Wilson out of the backfield for a 29 yard touchdown on OSU’s second drive of the second half to extend the lead to 49-7.
“I just love where Braxton’s at right now,” Meyer said. “I love the fact that he’s acting like a quarterback…I felt like he was an athlete playing quarterback a year ago. Feel like he’s a quarterback that’s a really good athlete now.”
Redshirt-senior quarterback Kenny Guiton entered the game at the end of the Buckeyes’ next drive, taking the snap with Miller lined up at wide receiver and running two yards up the middle for a score.
Guiton’s second touchdown of the night, this one from 11 yards out, made the score 63-7.
Penn State junior receiver Allen Robinson reversed the field twice on his way to a 65-yard touchdown against the OSU second-team defense to make the score 63-14 in favor of the Buckeyes.
OSU racked up 686 total yards of offense in the 63-14 win, the third-most yards gained in school history.
Meyer said beating a team like Penn State by such a large margin “helps” to impress across the country, but it was not what was on the team’s mind going into the game with the Nittany Lions.
“That was not certainly our mindset,” Meyer said. “Our mindset is find a way to win this game against a very talented team. What we’re worried about is find a way to win the game. And things usually work out.”
Next up the Buckeyes are set to travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on Purdue. Kickoff is set for noon.