Ohio State redshirt junior defensive lineman Dre’mont Jones (86) sets up at the line of scrimmage in the third quarter of the game against Penn State on Sept. 29. Ohio State won 27-26. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Photo Editor
In No. 4 Ohio State’s 27-26 victory over No. 9 Penn State, there were many moments throughout the game that pushed the defense to its limit.
The first three drives of the game all went into Ohio State territory. The fifth drive started at the Ohio State 28-yard line. Redshirt senior quarterback Trace McSorley found redshirt freshman wide receiver KJ Hamler for a 93-yard score, tied for the longest play against Ohio State in school history.
But the Buckeyes slowed McSorley and the Nittany Lions offense just enough to pull out the one-point victory in Happy Valley.
Junior defensive end Jonathon Cooper said it’s all part of the game.
“We’re tough, our mentality is tough,” Cooper said. “There’s going to be mistakes, you can’t play a perfect game, I mean there’s going to be big plays and everything, it’s just rallying together as a team, as a unit, and realizing that we have to get the job done and just do better.”
That is exactly what this Ohio State defense did late in the fourth quarter to slow down the Penn State offense enough to earn the victory.
After forcing a fourth down on Penn State’s final drive, sophomore defensive end Chase Young made the game-winning play, breaking through the offensive line and getting to junior running back Miles Sanders in the backfield to seal the game.
The Buckeyes defense did much of the same to start the game.
While Ohio State’s offense struggled to get anything going in the first half, the defense allowed only six points on Penn State’s first six drives, even with the Nittany Lions getting into Buckeye territory on four of them.
The defense also was the major cause of the Buckeyes’ first score, a 26-yard catch by redshirt sophomore running back J.K. Dobbins, made possible by a forced fumble from redshirt sophomore linebacker Tuf Borland recovered by redshirt junior defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones.
Cooper said it was the defense’s job to step up early on.
“You know the saying, defense wins championships,” Cooper said. “Every time something would go wrong or anything would happen on offense or whatever it was, we knew the defense would have to step up.”
Even with the victory and some key stops, this was not a textbook game for Ohio State’s defense.
The Buckeyes allowed 492 total yards, 461 of which came from McSorley, who broke the Penn State record for all-purpose yards on Saturday.
The redshirt senior used a run-pass option to find holes in the defense on numerous occasions, ending the day with 175 yards on the ground.
But, when it mattered the most, Ohio State found the stops, kept Penn State out of a scoring position and came up with the victory.
Jones said the defense fed on big plays by the offense late.
“We feed off their energy and they feed off ours, when someone makes a big play it’s hard not to want to go out there and respond,” Jones said.
For a defense still looking for answers without redshirt junior defensive end Nick Bosa, there are sure to be mistakes. But even without its star player, Ohio State’s defense did just enough to pull out a major victory against the No. 9 team in the country.
