What We Learned: Ohio State Survives Tough, Physical Challenge Against Penn State

The Buckeye defense gave Penn State fits in the run game, Tyreke Smith played his best game in recent memory and Noah Ruggles stepped up in a big way when the offense struggled to finish drives.

The Ohio State Buckeyes survived their toughest test in two months last night with a 33-24 victory over Penn State. The Nittany Lions are easily the best Big Ten team Ohio State has played so far this year and their defense was almost too much to handle. The Scarlet and Gray managed just one touchdown in six red zone trips on Saturday night, but they were able to come away with a win anyways because the defense was so sharp.

Penn State managed just 33 rushing yards on 29 carries. They had a miserable time all night long trying to run the ball against a Silver Bullets defense that played extremely aggressive. Sean Clifford picked them apart on a few bigger pass plays, but the Nittany Lions offense quickly became one dimensional.

Ohio State's offensive line had some issues yesterday, with several snap infractions and missed assignments. That was really aggravating and unlike them, based on the body of work we've seen from them so far this year.

C.J. Stroud made a number of really good plays, but also had a few youthful moments. He will continue to get better as he gets more experience playing in huge games like this one. Still, he finished the night with 305 passing yards and he didn't turn the ball over.

Tommy Zagorski and I share all of our post-game thoughts after last night's huge win in the latest episode of Buckeye Breakdown!

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