Buckeyes stun Penn State
Barrett leads surge from late 35-20 hole
Ohio State rallies from 35-20 hole in final 12 minutes.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was the heavyweight fight of the year in the Big Ten, maybe in the nation, and Ohio State and J.T. Barrett got in the knockout punch.
Barrett, the Buckeyes’ senior quarterback, threw a pair of touchdown passes late in the fourth quarter, including the goahead 15-yard score to tight end Marcus Baugh with 1:48 to play Saturday, as No. 6 Ohio State rallied for a 39-38 victory over the second-ranked Nittany Lions at Ohio Stadium.
“I’ve never had a kid play perfect, but damn he was close tonight,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said of Barrett.
The Nittany Lions (7-1, 4-1), whose chances at a repeat Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff berth took a big step backward, led by 18 points twice in the first half behind Saquon Barkley, who returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and added a 36-yard scoring dash in the second quarter.
The Lions still had an 11-point lead, 38-27, on Tyler Davis’ 24-yard field goal with 5:42 to play but Barrett and the Buckeyes (7-1, 5-0) responded with a pair of touchdowns in a 2:32 span. He threw a 10-yard TD pass to Johnnie Dixon with 4:20 remaining to help his team close the gap to 38-33.
Penn State then went three plays and out on its next drive, and Ohio State took over at its 42. Barrett completed four consecutive passes on the march, with the final one being the TD strike to Baugh. The Buckeyes missed a two-point conversion for the second time in the game, and the Nittany Lions still had enough time to get into position for a field goal.
But the Lions were spent offensively. After two incompletions and a 5-yard sack, McSorley scrambled on fourth down looking for an open man but overthrew Juwan Johnson. Ohio State then ran out the clock as many in the crowd of 109,302 stormed the field.
“I didn’t manage the game well,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “There’s enough blame to spread around.”
Barrett completed 33 of 39 passes for 328 yards and four TDs. He rushed 17 times for 95 yards. Barkley managed just 44 yards on 21 carries.