No. 3 Penn State got those three points back with a 44-yard field goal by Ryan Barker on the next drive.
Early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State mounted another drive with a chance to go up two scores, but the Buckeyes made it only to the PSU 21 before having to settle for a 39-yard field goal Fielding just barley tucked inside the upright.
That put Ohio State ahead 20-13 with 10:13 to go.
A pair of explosive plays from star tight end Tyler Warren got the Nittany Lions to the Ohio State 3, but they could not finish the job.
The Buckeyes stuffed three straight runs into the middle of the line, then Drew Allar was unable to connect with tight end Kahlil Dinkins in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
Ohio State got the ball back and kept it for the last 5:13, icing the game when Will Howard converted a third-and-3 with a quarterback sweep around left end and slid down after picking up seven yards.
The Pennsylvania native finished 16-for-24 passing for 182 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for 24 yards despite being sacked three times.
Quinshon Judkins added 95 yards on 14 carries, and TreVeyon Henderson ran for 54 yards for the Buckeyes behind an offensive line that was reconfigured following injuries to tackles in the last two games.
Ohio State needed the win to avoid falling two games behind Oregon, Indiana and Penn State in the Big Ten race. The Buckeyes already lost to the Ducks and play the Hoosiers in three weeks.
They beat Penn State for the eighth year in a row.
FIRST HALF RECAP
The third-ranked Nittany Lions received the opening kickoff and kept the ball for more than eight minutes, but the Nittany Lions stalled out in the red zone and had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Ryan Barker.
They quickly added to their lead when Zion Tracy cut in front of a slant pass from Howard intended for Jeremiah Smith and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.
That gave PSU a 10-point lead with 5:37 left in the first quarter, but the Buckeyes bounced back with a well-crafted, efficient seven-play drive that covered 74 yards in 3:32.
Howard capped it with a 25-yard throwback pass to Emeka Egbuka, who got open on the backside after the Buckeyes feigned a run to the left.
The drive also featured 22-yard run by Quinshon Judkins, who found a lot of open field after taking an option pitch from Howard.
The Buckeyes took the lead on a play similar to the first touchdown pass, lining up receiver Brandon Inniss at tight end, faking a toss to the right then throwing to Inniss on a crossing route to the left. Inniss then outran the defense to the end zone for a 22-yard score.
Ohio State looked like it was going up 21-10 on a 13-yard run by Howard midway through the second quarter, but Penn State’s Zakee Wheatley punched the ball out near the 2-yard line and it went off Howard’s knee out of bounds in the end zone for a touchback.
That gave the ball to the Nittany Lions at their 20-yard line. They were not able to score off that possession but looked prime to take the lead in the closing seconds after getting the ball near midfield with 1:51 left.
They drove to the Ohio State 3-yard line, but Allar’s fade pass into the corner of the end zone turned into another touchback when cornerback Davison Igbinosun took the ball away from Penn State receiver Harrison Wallace III before going out of bounds.
That allowed the Buckeyes to take a knee, run the last 11 seconds off the clock and take a 14-10 lead into the locker room.
Howard completed 10 of 15 passes for 118 yards in the first half while Judkins ran for 47 yards.
Allar was 6-for-13 passing for 62 yards and led the Nittany Lions with 41 yards rushing.
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