How difficult is Terry Smith’s job as Penn State’s interim head coach, taking his on-the-ropes 3-4 Nittany Lions to The Horseshoe to face undefeated and top-ranked Ohio State?
Well, Penn State has done it before. And won. Twice, in somewhat similar circumstances — in 1964 and 2011.
That has to provide some hope for Smith when the 2025 Nittany Lions kick off slightly after Big Noon on Saturday at Ohio Stadium this Saturday. It will have been 48 days since they won a football game. And nearly two weeks since James Franklin — 1-10 vs. Ohio State, including 0-5 at The Horseshoe — was fired after 149 games as the Penn State head coach, having lost five of his last 10 games. Ohio State (7-0) is a 20.5-point favorite after having a week off, just like Penn State.
Penn State’s history shows that a victory in Columbus was…is(?)…possible. As it stands, Penn State’s last win in Ohio Stadium was six games and, on game day Saturday, 5,096 days ago.
Here are two instances, that in many ways, sound familiar to what Penn State faces week:
EXHIBIT A
On Nov. 7, 1964, the Nittany Lions were 3-4 when they went into Columbus. But they upset 6-0 and No. 2 Ohio State, 27-0. Coincidentally two of Penn State’s four losses leading up to the Ohio State game in 1964 — 21-14 at UCLA and 22-14 to Oregon in Beaver Stadium — were to teams that the 2025 Nittany Lions also lost to (42-37, 30-24) in their run-up to playing Ohio State. (In 1963, Penn State had also traveled to Columbus and beat the 10th-ranked Buckeyes 10-7.)
A dozen years ago, I talked with Penn State great Glenn Ressler about that 1964 historic victory. Ressler was an All-American offensive lineman, a Maxwell Award winner and a College Football Hall of Famer.
“Our coaches were more confident about winning than we were,” Ressler told me. “Joe [Paterno], who was an assistant at the time, told [sports information director] Jim Tarman he thought we could win. We knew they were good, though. When you go into a game like that, you always have incentives to beat a top-ranked team.”
Penn State shined on both sides of the ball in what the late Penn State football historian Lou Prato later wrote was “one of the greatest upsets in college football history,” as the Nittany Lions led 14-0 at halftime on their way to the 27-0 shutout, Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes’ worst loss in 13 seasons. PSU quarterback Gary Wydman completed 12 of 22 passes for 147 yards, while the Penn State defense held Ohio State to 60 yards and forced five OSU turnovers.
“It felt right for us going in,” Ressler recalled. “We didn’t make any mistakes and that’s what you have to do in that situation. In a game like that you can’t afford to turn the ball over [PSU didn’t fumble or throw an interception] or give up something like a kickoff return. That set the tone. They were never really in the game. They never really got going.”
Penn State’s students celebrated by pushing a Volkswagen into the pond next to University House, where Penn State president Eric Walker lived – and what is now the Hintz Family Alumni Center.
EXHIBIT B
It’s ironic that Smith was recruited to Penn State by Tom Bradley (and the two remain in close touch to this day). For it was Bradley who was the first Nittany Lion interim head coach— just like Smith is now — to take his team to The Horseshoe early into his tenure. And, Bradley won.
On Nov. 19, 2011, Bradley took the Nittany Lions to Columbus as the interim boss, just 10 days after Joe Paterno was fired. Penn State had lost 17-14 to Nebraska in an emotionally-raw Beaver Stadium contest the week before. Although 8-2 and ranked No. 21 in the country, PSU was not given much of a chance against a 6-4 Ohio State team that was also rocked by scandal. Luke Fickell was a one-season replacement for Jim Tressel, who had resigned amidst an NCAA investigation. Bradley busted out the Wildcat offense as the Nittany Lions scored on four of their first five possessions then held on to win, 20-14.
Bradley is the only Penn Stater to have won in Columbus as a player (19-0, 1978), assistant coach (13-6, 2008) and head coach (2011).
In that 2008 contest, with an injured Paterno relegated to the press box throughout the game and even at the half, Bradley ran the team on the sidelines. His defense dominated and held the 10th-ranked Buckeyes to two field goals, OSU’s fewest points at home at the time since 1982. Ohio State gained just 61 yards on 31 carries before a national nighttime TV audience and a then-record Ohio Stadium crowd of 105,711. It was Penn State’s first win at Ohio State since joining the Big Ten in 1993. Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor threw for 226 yards, with one pick and one fumble, while the Nittany Lions did not have a single turnover or penalty themselves.
Bradley has immense respect for The Horseshoe. “It’s an historic stadium with a program rich in college football tradition,” Bradley told me. “After Penn State and the Beaver Stadium atmosphere, it’s the best place to play a game.”
MR. SMITH GOES TO COLUMBUS
Despite what may seem like overwhelming odds, when Smith last met the media as Penn State’s head coach, he was feeling upbeat despite his squad’s late fourth-quarter 25-24 loss in Iowa City.
When it comes to X’s and O’s, Smith admittedly will be much more prepared for Ohio State than he was for Iowa. He had just six days to prep for the Hawkeyes in his new position. Given the bye week, he’ll have 13 days to get ready for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. Expect Smith to be even more involved on both sides of the ball — especially on offense. We’re already going to credit Smith for the 28-to-6 carries advantage (and 145 yards to 15) Kaytron Allen had over fellow senior running back Nick Singleton against the Hawkeyes.
Smith has the offensive chops: As a high school quarterback at Gateway High School, Smith was 24-1-1 as a starter and was the 1986 WPIAL AAA Eastern Player of the Year as he led his team to the league title. At Penn State, he was a three-year starter at wide receiver, with 108 receptions and 15 touchdowns. He could ball: Against USC in 1991, Smith made 10 catches for 165 yards.
Last Tuesday, just three days after the Iowa loss, Smith said, “This week, I’ve already watched more film on Ohio State than I watched on Iowa the whole week last week. So, we’re ahead of the curve. And I think now we’re going to settle on in and kind of get into a routine and just keep putting our best foot forward.”
Franklin was often called a CEO-type coach. Smith didn’t mention CJF by name, but he addressed that when I asked him last week how the transition from cornerbacks coach to head coach was going. “I think the transition has been really good,” Smith said. “This week has slowed down tremendously from last week. I think this week is slowing down.
“This is a big job. This is a CEO job. It is so much more than coaching guys on the football field. It’s all the organization, it’s the media, you’re running everything. So, all of that was kind of rehashing some old memories from when I was a [high school] head coach — times 10,000.”
As head coach at his high school alma mater, Smith had a stellar 101-30 record, with four WPIAL AAAA runner-up finishes. But, as he learned at Kinnick Stadium with a backup quarterback, he’s not in Western PA anymore.
PSU HEAD COACHES VS. OHIO STATE
Overall, Ohio State leads the series, 26-14. Penn State is 6-11 at home, 7-15 on the road and 1-0 at a neutral site (a 31-19 victory over the Buckeyes in the 1980 Fiesta Bowl). Penn State won the first meeting on Nov. 16, 1912, with a 37-0 victory under the direction of head coach Bill Hollenback. Penn State was 8-0 that season, winning by a combined score of 285-6. Here is how Penn State’s head coaches have fared vs. Ohio State in their PSU careers:
Bill Hollenback (1-0) — 1-0 at Ohio State
Rip Engle (3-0) — 3-0 at Ohio State
Joe Paterno (11-14 overall) — 8-14 as head coach/2-9 at Ohio State as head coach; 3-0 as assistant coach
Tom Bradley (9-12 overall) — 1-0 as head coach/1-0 at Ohio State as head coach; 1-0 as a player; 7-12 as assistant coach
Bill O’Brien (0-2) —0-1 at Ohio State
James Franklin (1-10) — 0-5 at Ohio State
