Ohio State’s Offense “Just Kept Fighting” In Saturday Night's Win Over Penn State

The Buckeyes were held to a season-low 466 yards but ultimately put points on the board when they needed to.

Author:
Andrew Lind
Oct 31, 2021 2:57 AM EDT

Ohio State entered Saturday night’s game against No. 20 Penn State having won its last four games by a combined score of 231-44, but found itself in unfamiliar territory after the first quarter of play.

The Buckeyes fumbled the ball away on their opening possession, punted on their second drive and ended up settling for a a 35-yard field goal on their lone trip to the red zone to trail the Nittany Lions, 7-3.

It wasn’t until about four minutes left in the first half that Ohio State’s offense was finally able to break through, with redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud engineering a five-play, 69-yard drive that that was capped off by a 38-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Chris Olave.

That gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the game, one that they would ultimately not relinquish.

“I feel like we’re the best offense in the country, no matter what’s going on,” Stroud said during his postgame press conference. “We just kept fighting. Football is not a perfect sport. You’re not going to run the ball well every game, you’re not going to throw the ball every game.

“It’s just about fighting, and that’s what we did tonight. I’m so proud of my team to just keep going. It’s just a blessing to be able to play with these types of guys because a lot of dudes would have tucked their tail and ran to the locker room, but we kept fighting.”

Ohio State led the country with 49.3 points and 559.7 yards per game heading into Saturday, but put up a season-low 466 yards and settled for four field goals of 35 yards despite reaching the red zone six times on the night.

“These types of games are definitely needed because, especially this year, a lot of Big Ten teams are great,” Stroud said. “Just to have this type of gritty win, just to know that we can do anything we put our minds to (is huge).

“Sometimes you come out a little rough. Sometimes you get penalties and other things that’ll shoot you in the foot. We did a great job with just keeping going, not worry about the past.”

Penn State’s defense was by far the best that Ohio State has faced this season, as it came into the game allowing just 14.7 points and 324.4 yards per game.

The Nittany Lions made things uncomfortable for Stroud at times, especially as they called out some of the Buckeyes’ plays before the snap. He and his teammates were able to handle the adversity much better than they did in the loss to Oregon in Week 2, though.

“We needed the Oregon game to happen,” Stroud said. “It sucks to say that we lost, but we learned so much from that. I feel like the best teacher is losing, honestly.

"I feel like, in the future, it’s going to make us better. We just stuck together. We heard all the noise, we heard everything, but we just kept together.”

With the win, Ohio State’s dreams of a fifth straight Big Ten title and third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff remain intact. Up next is a trip to Nebraska, followed by a home date with Purdue before undefeated Michigan State – which knocked off No. 6 Michigan on Saturday – comes to Columbus.

Stroud isn’t concerned with the upcoming opponents, though, as he believes only the Buckeyes can stop themselves from achieving their goals.

“If you look at the history and see every game that we’ve lost, the Buckeyes beat the Buckeyes,” he said. “It’s weird to say that, but it’s the truth.”

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