COLUMBUS, OHIO — 342 ticks left on the game clock were too many.
Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley, who’s masterminded more than his fair share of fourth-quarter comebacks, knew it.
“No,’ McSorley said after the game. ‘I didn’t think that would be enough.”
Tyler Davis may have made a 24-yard field goal to give Penn State a 38-27 lead with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter here in The Horseshoe on Saturday.
And while it may have seemed the Nittany Lions had staved off a furious Buckeye rally after leading:
— 14-0 four minutes into the game, thanks to a 97-yard opening kickoff return by Saquon Barkley, a fumble recovery and 26-yard return by linebacker Koa Farmer, and a 13-yard TD strike from McSorley to DaeSean Hamilton;
— 21-3 and then 28-10, thanks to a 36-yard TD run by Barkley and a 6-yard touchdown scamper by McSorley;
— 35-20 at the end of the third quarter, after DeAndre Thompkins wrestled the ball away from Ohio State’s Denzel Ward in the end zone for a 37-yard TD catch.
And even after scoring 38 points in Ohio Stadium, the most ever by the Nittany Lions in their 19 trips to Columbus (besting their previous high, a 37-0 whitewash in 1912), McSorley knew it was not enough.
And he was right.
Not in that game. (Essentially a Big Ten East/College Football Playoff play-in game.)
Against that coach. (Urban Meyer, who entered the game 21-1 following a bye week and 20-1 in the month of October at Ohio State.)
In that stadium. (A Blackout crowd of 109,302.)
So, 38-27 turned into 39-38. Just. Like. That.
WHAT McSORLEY SAID
“I knew we had to get another stop,’ McSorley said. ‘There was still plenty of time on the clock. We had to get another stop and we’d have to go down the field and get another field goal and put points on the board. We had a chance to. We were able to get a turnover, we just weren’t able to take advantage of it on the drive after the fumble recovery.”
That turnover was a fumble by Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett, which came midway in the fourth quarter and was recovered by PSU defensive end Shareef Miller. Penn State took over, lost one yard and three yards.
Then punted. What happened next, said Penn State coach James Franklin, was the turning point of the game.
It was, literally, a 2-in-97 occurrence.
Nittany Lion punter Blake Gillikin’s kick was blocked by Ohio State’s Dante Booker, who returned the ball six yards to the Penn State 41. Leading up to that block, Penn State had punted 64 times in 2016 (with one block), and 33 more times in 2017, leading up to that game-changing block by the Buckeyes’ Booker.
“You look statistically,” Franklin said, “if you get a punt blocked against you’re going to have a hard time being successful. It’s kind of like turnovers.’
From there, the Buckeyes went nuts.
They scored three touchdowns on their next three possessions, on TD passes of 38 and 10 yards from Barrett to Johnnie Dixon, and on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Barrett to Marcus Baugh with 82 seconds remaining, giving Ohio State its 39-38 margin of victory.
That was 19 points for the Buckeyes in the final 11:05 the game, while Penn State managed three in the final 22-plus minutes.
Like his quarterback, Franklin was still a bit uneasy with the 38-27 lead.
“That widened the gap. That gave us a chance,” Franklin said. “That made it a two-score game.”
But…but…Franklin felt it, too.
“But they were gaining momentum, especially offensively,” he said. “We just had a hard time slowing them down, especially offensively. The biggest issue? It was that the momentum was getting to the point where we had a hard time slowing them down. When their offensive line is able to protect like that (Ohio State had 529 yards on 78 plays) — I thought we did a pretty good job against their running game — but when your quarterback is able to stand back there in the pocket that comfortably, they just got momentum.
“They had a bunch of players who can make plays in space and we just couldn’t cover those types of athletes that long.”
Barrett completed 33 of 39 attempts, for 328 yards, with four TD passes. K.J. Hill had 12 receptions for 102 yards, while Austin Mack made six catches for 90 yards. In the fourth quarter alone, Barrett was 13 of 13 for 170 yards, with three TDs, and five rushes for 14 yards.
Conversely, in the fourth quarter, Barkley ran six times for minus eight yards, while McSorley was 4 of 9 passing for 50 yards, with four carries for 22 yards.
Simply put, McSorley said, “They made the plays when they needed to and we didn’t. That goes hand-in-hand. As an offense, it’s our job to score one more point than our defense gives up. For them, that’s what they did.”
Farmer agreed with his quarterback.
“We didn’t make the plays. We didn’t finish the game. And they did,” Farmer said.
Farmer pinpointed when he felt the momentum shift:
“When they stopped our offense. The crowd is going crazy. We’re in a hostile environment. We’re away. Yeah. I mean, you guys can see it yourself,” Farmer told a huddle of reporters. “You can answer it. It’s a big-time game. When that momentum switches, it’s going to hit you hard — especially when you’re the away team.”
It was a night of Urban renewal.
The 28 points Penn State scored in the first half was the most ever in the 202 games Meyer has been a head coach.
But it was the 22 points Ohio State scored in the second half made it a night for him remember.
“Was it the greatest comeback in your coaching career?’ Meyer was asked.
“I think so,” was his reply.
