One point was all that made the difference. For the second straight year, the Nittany Lions came one point short against the Ohio State Buckeyes. This time, a late drive from Ohio State is what did the Nittany Lions in, leading to a questionable play call, which will be looked at and reexamined for quite some time, especially when the College Football Playoff selections come out. But the story of this game is an interesting one. Tis a tale of two halves that were close and exciting from beginning to end.

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The start of the game was a story of defensive dominance and low scoring. Penn State received the first kick and marched down the field quickly, but the drive stalled around the OSU 40, which brought up a fourth and two. The play-call ended up being a run from Miles Sanders, who made the down, the first of the many gutsy calls that would come to define this game. The drive ended in a punt a few snaps later, but was the first of many long first half drives.

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The first three Penn State drives went for over 150 yards combined, but despite this, the Nittany Lions only came away with three points. The first touchdown of the game came with Penn State up 6-0 on a 93-yard pass from Trace McSorley to KJ Hamler, which, as a side note, is the largest pass play Ohio State has ever given up. However, the true dominance in the game’s first half came from Penn State’s defense.

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The first eight drives for OSU resulted in seven punts and one interception. The Buckeyes only managed to move more than 10 yards on three drives at that point. At the end of the eighth drive, a punt from OSU landed Penn State at their own 25 yard line. The first play of the drive was a run by Sanders, who fumbled and set up Ohio State deep in PSU territory. OSU scored on the subsequent drive and the first half ended at a score of 13-6.

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Ohio State came out strong in the second half, leading a 75-yard drive to score a touchdown and take the lead back. The Penn State offense stalled out with two punts and a turnover on downs. Penn State then turned on the jets at the start of the fourth quarter. On their first drive of the quarter, a long throw from McSorley to Hamler moved the Nittany Lions to the opposing 30. However, Hamler was injured at the end of the play and one of the OSU players who tackled him was ejected for targeting. This moved PSU into the red zone, where Pat Freiermuth caught a two-yard touchdown pass from McSorley.

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The defense stood tall on the next OSU drive, forcing a turnover on downs, and the Nittany Lions scored again, which brought the PSU lead to 26-14 after a failed two-point conversion. Ohio State got the ball back and responded in kind with a 75-yard drive, including an almost 50-yard pass play, to make it a 26-21 game. The Penn State drive that followed stalled, but the punt pinned the Buckeyes at the four yard line, leaving almost an entire field ahead of them.

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After some long plays moved Ohio State into field goal range, the Buckeyes had to figure out how to get the touchdown. A 24-yard screen pass from Dwayne Haskins to K.J. Hill gave OSU the lead for the remainder of the game.

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Penn State brought out their offense and marched down the field, only to stall out in enemy territory and face a fourth and five. Penn State then called a timeout. The players went out and lined up again. Ohio State then called a timeout. So, the game reset again. Penn State looked at the sideline as it has done so many times this game and hiked the ball. Miles Sanders, who was motioned across McSorley, was then handed the ball and then lost two yards, turning the ball over and handing the game to Ohio State.

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As a result of the loss, Penn State fell two slots in the AP Poll. In post-game interviews, head coach James Franklin took the blame for the play call, and used the podium to say that Penn State is a great team, but not an elite team, and that Penn State is done being great and is going to be elite.