Ohio State is no stranger to close games against Penn State, and with the scoreboard showing 17-14 at halftime, it looked like we could be in for another one of those classic battles. That was not to be the case, however, as the Buckeyes’ defense pitched a second half shutout and Julian Sayin further solidified his Heisman campaign in a 38-14 Ohio State win.
Here is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the Buckeyes’ latest victory…
The Good
Julian Sayin
Every week it seems like the national college football media
has tried to crown a new Heisman Trophy frontrunner. Several big names have since come and gone, but one constant has remained: Julian Sayin.
Ohio State’s redshirt freshman quarterback has gotten better and better as the season has gone along, and his performance on Saturday against Penn State was yet another masterpiece. Sayin finished the game completing 20-of-23 pass attempts for 316 yards and four touchdowns. His surgical precision and complete control of the offense was on full display against Jim Knowles and the Nittany Lions.
Finishing this latest contest with more touchdown passes than incompletions, Sayin is completing nearly 81% of his passes on the season. With just under 2,200 passing yards thus far, the California kid has tossed 23 touchdowns to only three interceptions, and has yet to turn the ball over in five games against Big Ten opponents.
All that to say: This is your real Heisman Trophy frontrunner, folks.
Sayin has been incredible in his very first season as a starter, and if he keeps doing what he’s doing while adding wins over Michigan and Indiana to his ledger to end the year, there is zero doubt he will be taking home the hardware this winter.
Carnell Tate/Jeremiah Smith
While Sayin has been exceptional throwing the football, it certainly helps his case to have the best two wide receivers in college football at his disposal.
Everyone knew coming into the season that Jeremiah Smith is the best in the business, and he has looked every bit the part in 2025. It was another big game for Smith against Penn State, catching six balls for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. One of those scores was an insane one-handed grab off a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.
We knew Carnell Tate was a solid option in his own right opposite Smith, but the Chicago native has reached a new gear in his junior campaign. Rapidly shooting up NFL Draft boards, Tate put together his fourth 100-yard game of the year with a five-catch, 124-yard outing against the Nittany Lions. Tate has now caught at least one touchdown pass in six of Ohio State’s first eight games.
It is entirely possible that the Buckeyes have the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2026 NFL Draft and the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2027 NFL Draft as their top two pass-catching options. It is a pleasure to watch these guys play every week.
Silver Bullets
Ohio State’s defense was a little shaky at times during the first half against Penn State. The Buckeyes allowed a touchdown in the first half against a Big Ten opponent for the first time all season, and twice they allowed the Nittany Lions to score in the red zone.
One of those scores was a result of a really bad turnover, which we will get to later, but with a 17-14 lead at halftime, it was clear that Matt Patricia made some changes during the break.
The Silver Bullets were completely lights out in the second half. Outside of Penn State’s final garbage time drive, which still resulted in a turnover as Caleb Downs recorded an interception in the end zone, the Nittany Lions were held to -8 total yards over the final two quarters. Penn State ran 16 plays over its first three drives coming out of halftime, netting them seven yards and resulting in three punts.
Overall, the Ohio State defense held the Nittany Lions to 200 yards, including only 55 yards rushing. The Buckeyes racked up four sacks — two for Kenyatta Jackson, one for Arvell Reese and one for Eddrick Houston — and kept everything in front of them throughout the game. Downs’ interception was Ohio State’s lone takeaway, but Houston also forced a fumble, which Penn State recovered.
There is no clear weakness for Patricia’s group right now. Ohio State has played well at all three levels, with a secondary capable of locking down any passing attack and a front seven that gives up very little on the ground. In a game that featured both the Buckeyes’ current and former defensive coordinator, they are more than happy with the guy they’ve got at the helm.
The Bad
Early Pressure
Ohio State defeated Penn State by its largest margin since 2015, when the Buckeyes defeated the Nittany Lions 38-10. With a performance that dominant, we’re going to nitpick a little bit to find the bad.
One of those nits worth picking was the play of the offensive line in the first half. If there was one area it looked like Penn State may have had an advantage on Saturday, it was along the defensive line, where guys like Chaz Coleman and Dani Dennis-Sutton were really making Julian Sayin work for it.
The Nittany Lions were able to get pretty consistent pressure up the middle early on, and while Sayin did a great job of avoiding it, it was still throwing a bit of a wrench in Ohio State’s offensive plans. That pressure was a huge factor in the Buckeyes having to settle for a field goal on their second possession of the game.
To their credit, it felt like they were able to hold up much better in the second half, both in pass protection and in opening up some holes for Bo Jackson in the run game.
It is also worth noting that while Josh Padilla only played eight snaps, he was once again Ohio State’s highest graded blocker this week at 78.5, per PFF. Tegra Tshabola, meanwhile, who starts over Padilla, was one of the worst on the team with a 47.6 pass blocking grade.
Something to think about…
That One Sequence
This is a reaaaal nitpicky one, but Ohio State had one really frustrating sequence of events late in the game. The Buckeyes held a 31-14 lead to end the third quarter, and the outcome certainly wasn’t in any doubt, but it was annoying nonetheless.
Getting the ball to begin the fourth quarter, Sayin handed the ball to James Peoples on the first play of the drive and the running back managed to pick up a nice 11-yard gain. With a new set of downs, Peoples picked up two yards on another first down run, and then four yards on a dump off.
Facing a third-and-4 around midfield, the Buckeyes elected to run the ball up the middle with Isaiah West, netting no gain and forcing a punt.
To add insult to injury, Ohio State was then called for kick catch interference on the ensuing punt, moving the ball from Penn State’s 10 up to the 25-yard line.
Again, this series ultimately had no impact on the game, but it was a bit odd that the Buckeyes just sort of laid down to start the fourth quarter. With the way the Ohio State run game has been this season, handing the ball off on third down and anything more than a yard is not going to get the job done.
The Ugly
Fumble
We touched on it briefly earlier, but CJ Donaldson’s fumble towards the end of the first half was nothing short of a disaster, and it is the type of mistake a veteran like him cannot be making.
After forcing Penn State to punt, Ohio State was set up in a perfect situation before the half. Receiving the ball to start the third quarter and already leading 17-7, the Buckeyes had two minutes to go down, try and get some points before the break and really take the Nittany Lions out of the game.
Instead, on the very first play of the drive, Donaldson was stripped, and Chaz Coleman returned the fumble to Ohio State’s 13-yard line. The Nittany Lions would pay off the takeaway with a touchdown. The Buckeyes felt like they were dominating, but the scoreboard at halftime only read 17-14.
Running it on first down there was a bit silly in its own right, and the play likely should have been blown dead for forward progress before the fumble occurred, but it was still a brutal error in what was at the time a key moment in the game. Donaldson made up for his fumble with a touchdown later on, but it really feels like Bo Jackson and Isaiah West should be getting the bulk of the carries from here on out.
