No. 2 Ohio State unleashed an avalanche of points on No. 13 Penn State in the fourth quarter to come away with a 44-31 win in their Big Ten East showdown on Saturday. The game was much closer than the two-score deficit reveals, though it did feel like it would be a blowout early.
Penn State began the game with turnovers on its first two possessions, but the same red-zone issues that haunted Ohio State last week against Iowa were back on display as the Buckeyes were only able to open a 10-0 lead.Penn State would erase that lead in the second quarter as the Nittany Lions took a 14-13 lead into the halftime locker room. Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford recovered from his two early turnovers and tore the Ohio State secondary apart in the second quarter, but the Buckeyes defense made adjustments at halftime and the open spaces for the Nittany Lions offense suddenly disappeared.
Ohio State took the lead back in the third quarter when another drive ended in the red zone, but it was with 9:26 left in the fourth quarter that Penn State’s Kaytron Lee scored from 1 yard out on a fourth down to give Penn State a 21-16 lead. Then everything changed.
