Big block turns into disaster for Buckeyes

PENN STATE 24 NO. 2 OHIO STATE 21

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Grant Haley returned a blocked field-goal try 60 yards for a touchdown with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter and Penn State beat No. 2 Ohio State, 24-21, Saturday night for the Nittany Lions’ biggest win in the post-Joe Paterno era.

Penn State took its first lead when Marcus Allen leaped high to block Tyler Durbin’s 45-yard field-goal attempt and Haley made the scoop and sprint to the end zone.

“It’s something you dream about as a kid,” Haley said. “Just running to the end zone and falling, it was a huge sigh of relief, like, everything, all the hard work this team’s put in coming into play against the No. 2 team in the country.”

After Penn State’s defense closed out the Nittany Lions’ first victory against Ohio State since 2011 with two sacks of J.T. Barrett, the 107,280 at Beaver Stadium went nuts.

The last time Penn State beat a team ranked in the top five was 1999. The last victory against a team ranked in the top two came against Notre Dame in 1990.

The Buckeyes had their 20-game road winning streak broken, and the Big Ten Conference East race that looked like an inevitable march toward an Ohio State-Michigan showdown Nov. 26 in Columbus, Ohio, took a bit of a detour. Two seasons ago the Buckeyes bounced back from an early loss and won the national title. Last season one loss eliminated Ohio State from the College Football Playoff.

Penn State is in the mix in the East, but Michigan and Ohio State have the advantage. If they all finished 8-1 in the conference and Ohio State beats Michigan, Penn State, which lost to Michigan, would be eliminated from a three-way tiebreaker because of a worse overall record.