Culture Corner

This is a special post for me, as I had the privilege of watching this game in person. That’s right, I went all the way from the UK to State College, PA, to watch arguably the biggest college football game of the year so far – the Penn State Nittany Lions facing the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The atmosphere in Beaver stadium was ELECTRIC. It was one of the most remarkable things I’d ever seen; 111,030 people in one stadium (a record in Beaver Stadium’s history) watching one of the biggest rivalries in college football head to head.

Over their last 10 matchups, Ohio have come out on top in 9/10 games, with their only loss to Penn State since the 2015/16 season being in 2016, losing by just 3 points. However, coming into this game, the Nittany Lions were undefeated, standing at 6-0 and 3rd in the national rankings, with Ohio ranked 4th, so expectations were high for PSU. Ohio’s only loss coming into this game was handed to them by number 1 ranked Oregon Ducks, where they lost by a single point.

After 14 plays and a gain of 61 yards, PSU kicked a field goal from 29 yards where kicker Ryan Barker drilled it through the uprights. Penn State quarterback, Drew Allar, was showing out in the first quarter, where he ran for 24 yards in 4 attempts whilst his receivers were locked up by Ohio’s defence.

Now the ball was in the Buckeye’s hands. After 2 rushes for 5 yards, Ohio quarterback Will Howard threw his first pass, where it was intercepted by Penn State corner Zion Tracy and returned for 31 yards and a touchdown. At this point, Penn State were up 10-0 at home and things were looking down for the Buckeyes.

With the ball back with Ohio, they had a touchdown 7 plays and 74 yards later, with Emeka Egbuka on the receiving end of a touchdown pass from QB Will Howard. PSU tried to answer back but got stuffed after 3 plays and had to punt, where Ohio turned up the heat and had another touchdown after another 10 plays.

Things were looking a bit too easy for Ohio going into the half up 14-10, which is when Penn State really decided to turn on the defence. With 0 touchdowns in the second half, it was a defensive slugfest. Both teams kicked back to back field goals, to make the score 17-13 OSU, with the deciding field goal would coming in the 4th quarter to seal the game. This wasn’t without effort from the Nittany Lions though, who got the ball to Ohio’s 3 yard line with just 6 minutes left to play.

After some atrocious play calling, PSU turned the ball over on downs after getting the ball to the 1 yard line. I mean, really? 3 plays running the ball straight down the middle and getting stuffed on each and every one. An incomplete pass on 4th down saw the ball back with the Buckeyes who would keep possession of the ball until the whistle was blown. PSU offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and head coach James Franklin certainly had some answering to do.

The Ohio State Buckeyes increased their record to 7-1 after the 20-13 victory in a much needed win. Penn State dropped in the rankings to 6th in the nation, but would climb back to 4th after a win against Washington the week after.

If Penn State remain unbeaten this season, is there a chance to see them compete for a national championship this year? The Nittany Lions face Purdue this Saturday where we’ll find out if they still have their winning spirit.