On This Day: Late Rally Helps Buckeyes Escape Happy Valley in 2018
For much of the early fall night in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lion faithful clad (in their traditional prime-time white) looked to be headed for their second straight home victory against Ohio State.
After a short Miles Sanders touchdown plunge with exactly 8:00 to go in the contest, Penn State stretched its lead to 26-14 in this highly anticipated matchup of Top-10 teams.
The Buckeyes, coming in ranked No. 4, were looking to avenge a seemingly fluke 2016 loss in Beaver Stadium that included the famously blocked field goal returned for a touchdown... leading to the upset victory for Penn State. However, this time around, early Heisman candidate Trace McSorley and the Nittany Lions seemed to be outplaying the Buckeyes from the start.
Holding a 13-7 halftime lead and dominating in both time of possession and total yards, Penn State was looking to continue its home winning streak vs. Urban Meyer and become the only undefeated team left in the conference.
However, Dwayne Haskins and the Buckeyes had other plans as they switched into a gear the 110,889 fans had not seen the entire evening.
Sparked by a 47-yard touchdown pass to Binjimen Victor, in which he eluded a slew of defenders, Ohio State trimmed Penn State’s lead to 26-21 with 6:42 remaining. After a strong defensive stand by the Silver Bullets, Penn State pinned the Buckeyes inside their own 5-yard line.
Ohio State proceeded to march down the field in just eight plays and less than three minutes of game time. The sequence was capped with the second third-down conversion of the drive as Haskins found K.J. Hill for a 24-yard touchdown and the improbable 27-26 lead with 2:03 to go.
Penn State took over with 2:03 on the game clock and seemed to regain composure, immediately marching into Buckeye territory with a 27-yard passing play to tight end Pat Freiermuth. However, the Buckeye defense clamped down in crunch time to force a 4th and 5 from their own 43.
Out of field goal range, James Franklin burned two timeouts and ultimately gave the ball to running back Miles Sanders... who was stuffed for a 2-yard loss. That moment ended Penn State’s hopes and completed the wild comeback for the undefeated Buckeyes.
Urban Meyer certainly made his last game at Beaver Stadium a memorable one, exacting revenge for his only loss to Penn State two years before. Meyer finished his coaching career 7-1 against Penn State.
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