Penn State 'didn't finish' Buckeyes in four-quarter battle

Tig Brown knew it was coming. His Penn State defense had largely kept Ohio State’s explosive offense in check throughout the afternoon.

But, with another nine minutes to play in the game, the Buckeyes were sure to strike eventually. 

“You can never just beat a team three quarters and not beat them four,” Brown said. “And that’s what it is about the great teams. The great teams are gonna play all four quarters and make their opponents play all four quarters as well. 

“Unfortunately, we didn’t do that in the fourth quarter. We didn’t finish them.”

To Brown’s point, it was just the opposite. What’d been a close, competitive game quickly transformed into a 44-31 Ohio State win, the Buckeyes finishing off the game with emphasis.

With the Nittany Lions enjoying a 21-16 lead, bouncing back and forth in a captivating, seesaw game, Ohio State’s offense found its spark. After being held out of the end zone for all but one possession through the first three quarters, it did so with a bang. 

Well, three bangs, more specifically.

Taking possession at the Buckeyes’ 25-yard line, quarterback C.J. Stroud, held out of the end zone all day, first found Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 21-yard strike at the right hash. Regrouping to the line quickly, the Buckeyes again played pitch and catch, this time from Stroud to Emeka Egbuka to the Penn State 41-yard line.

Then, the dam broke. 

Ohio State’s offensive line created a big hole for running back TreVeyon Henderson. Hitting it, Brown and the rest of the Penn State defense could only watch as he raced into the end zone untouched.

“They hadn’t broken one all game. Four quarters of execution have to happen at that time of the game. Crunch time. I think he went up the middle untouched,” Brown said. “Everybody knows Henderson is a sprinter. He can run. When we gave him that, that’s what Ohio State thrives on, making explosive plays. That’s what gets them going. They all feed off of each other. So once he got the guys going, I felt like they were pretty much rolling from there.”

The three plays proved to be the start of an avalanche of momentum for the Buckeyes in the game. Capitalizing on a Sean Clifford strip-sack forced just two plays into Penn State’s next possession, Stroud finally got his first touchdown pass of the game, connecting with tight end Cade Stover for 24 yards. 

What’d been a 21-16 Penn State lead transformed into a 30-21 deficit for the hosts in a matter of 69 seconds of game time.

While Penn State managed to cut back into the Buckeyes’ sudden lead, another Henderson touchdown run capped a nine-play drive to put Ohio State comfortably ahead the rest of the way.

Link: Penn State postgame show

It was a flash of frustration for Brown, he said. The letdown was on both sides of the ball, failing to keep the Buckeyes’ offense in check while Clifford had two-of-three possessions end on quick turnovers. 

But, having put the time and energy into finding a way to win this game, Brown added that this one was more bruising than Penn State’s 41-17 loss at Michigan just two weeks prior.

“This loss hurts a lot more because the guys and the coaching staff put in a lot of work this week,” Brown said. “We trusted the game plan, and for us to fall short in one quarter, after we worked all summer, all winter on finishing, finishing, finishing, and for us to fall short in one quarter, it hurt us a lot more than the last loss. 

“But we know we just missed a couple of assignments, we didn’t execute well, and we didn’t play our best game. I feel like we were playing great into that fourth quarter.”