The running game remained stuck in the mud while the defense flourished, and the passing game picked up the slack what had been the stingiest defense in the country through the first seven weeks of the season.
The threat of the run remained significant enough to create opportunities for Marvin Harrison Jr., Cade Stover and the other pass catchers to do work, but will that be enough for Ohio State to achieve its ultimate goals of beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten and making some noise in the College Football Playoff?
“The most encouraging thing, although it’s like this back and forth, is we come out of this game feeling like we probably should have won by at least two touchdowns,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said Saturday after the Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions 20-12. “I’ll worry about that tomorrow because you have to find these moments to enjoy because it is a top 10 win.
“If you said you’re gonna beat Penn State today 20-12, where do I sign up? This is a good team coming in here. They’re well-coached.”
With starter TreVeyon Henderson out for a third straight game and the staff unwilling to use shifty sophomore Dallan Hayden, Ohio State ran for 79 yards on 41 attempts, including losses from a pair of sacks and two kneel-downs.
Miyan Williams and Chip Trayanum combined for 84 yards on 33 carries, and they were particularly ineffective late in the game when the Buckeyes were looking to move the ball and bleed the clock.
“I know we’re going to watch this film, and there’s still going to be things that we need to grow on, and then things that we did well that we’ve got to enhance,” Day said.
“I know we left a lot of plays on the field on offense, and we did not execute well in certain area, but again it was the No. 1 defense in the country, so it’s all relative. It was good enough to win, but certainly our defense put us in a great situation on offense to win.”
The manner of the victory might not have been ideal for an Ohio State offense in a year-long search for balance, but it was just what coordinator Jim Knowles ordered.
Penn State coach James Franklin laid out why when he was asked why his young-but-talented quarterback Drew Allar completed only 18 of 42 passes for 191 yards.
“I think their combination of man coverage and the pressures they were bringing, they were getting there a half-second before we were able to get open and we weren’t able to make plays in those scenarios,” Franklin said after seeing Allar get sacked four times and hit four other times.
While Knowles frequently talks about wanting to marry his coverage and rush schemes, Ohio State also suffocated the running game that had been the strength of the Nittany Lions’ attack through six games.
Nicholas Singleton had back-to-back runs of 20 yards and 16 yards in the middle of the second quarter, but those were the last — and only — explosive runs of the day for Penn State.
Singleton and Kaytron Allen ended up with 74 yards on 18 carries combined.
“The explosive runs were just bad calls by me,” Knowles said. “And then I started making better calls.”
While the rushing offense remains a concern — perhaps less so if speedy running back TreVeyon Henderson is able to return to the lineup — being able to stop the run without sacrificing pass coverage qualifies as a major positive indicator for Ohio State’s future.
Next up is another test for that unit.
The Buckeyes are set to travel to Wisconsin, home of one of the Big Ten’s best running backs, on Saturday night.
Braelon Allen leads the Big Ten in all-purpose yards (114.3 per game), rushing yards per game (100.1) and yards per carry (5.8).
The Badgers are in the midst of a coaching transition. Former Ohio State defensive lineman and defensive coordinator Luke Fickell has them playing solid defense and running the ball, but a move to a more wide-open offensive approach is still seeking traction.
They lost starting quarterback Tanner Mordecai indefinitely to a broken throwing hand, but Braedyn Locke threw for 240 yards last week as the Badgers scored 18 unanswered points to stun Illinois 25-21 and improve to 5-2.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Ohio State at Wisconsin, 7:30 p.m., NBC, 1410
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