What did Ohio State coach Ryan Day, Penn State players, say about Saturday's game?

STATE COLLEGE — Ohio State coach Ryan Day said the obvious after his team beat Penn State 20-13 at Beaver Stadium: This was a big win for the Buckeyes. It came to town with a loss already on its ledger. A second would have seriously hurt its chances of making the College Football Playoff. But, those can be set aside, at least for this weekend, as the team heads back to Columbus.

“This was a big game for us for a lot of reasons,” Day said. “A top-five team win like this on the road in a tough environment, moving Donnie [Donovan Jackson] over to left tackle. We knew we had to win the rushing yards, the turnover battle was going to be big, and then no negative plays. And that’s what we really focused on, but at the end of the day we had to find a way to get a stop and get that extra first down. So, I think this is going to build us moving forward, and getting this win for our guys is going to go a long way.”

Ohio State made more plays when it mattered most. That included a pair of goal line stands. Penn State made it to the Buckeyes’ 3-yard-line twice and came away with zero points. What helped the visitors buckle down and keep the Lions off the board?

More: Inside the failed Penn State goal-to-go series that sunk it against Ohio State

“It shows that there’s a great toughness, a never give up, give me an inch, I’m going to defend it mentality,” Day said. “You got to give Jim [Knowles] and the entire staff credit on the defense for their preparation going into the game. Penn State does an excellent job of changing formations, motioning, different looks, and you know we found a way to get the stand and when it comes down to the players, coaches can put you in a situation, but the players have to execute, and they did just that.”

What did Penn State players say after the game?

The mood was understandably one of disappointment and frustration in the home team media room. Here is a smattering of quotes from the Penn State players who spoke:

“It was basically just a pass. We wanted to get it to Tyler Warren. The safety or nickel, did a good job of playing over the top of it and driving it. It would’ve been a bang-bang play short ofthe goal line or incomplete. Then, I was looking at Dinkins. We just didn’t connect on it.”

–PSU QB Drew Allar on the fourth and goal pass play in the fourth quarter that fell incomplete.

“We had a play call and we had a man/zone option. They kind of zoned it off, so we went to the zone side, and that was that. But no, I’m going to do my job whatever play is called. There’s a lot of guys that can make plays in those situations. It’s not just me that should be getting the ball.”

—Penn State tight end Tyler Warren on if he was surprised the ball didn’t come to him on the 4th and goal play.

Takeaways: Lions can’t cash in as offense struggles in latest loss to the Buckeyes

“There is still a lot of season left. Back then, if you had one loss the season was done for, but now if you look at the NFL, every team who has been in the Super Bowl has had one loss or even more. So, we just have to come out and play our game at a high level.”

–PSU LB Dominic DeLuca on what one loss feels like under the new 12-team CFP format.

“This is my sixth time losing to them, and to be quite frank, I’m torn up over it. It may not seem like it now, but it’s tough. I’m going to have to police myself and remind my teammates that there’s a lot of football left to be played and remind them that it’s different than in years past.

“We’re going to have teams come in here and want to take another win against us, and we can’t let that happen. We’ve got to constantly remind each other that there are about six or seven games left, and we have to get through those in order to see them again, and you bet that’s what we want.”

–PSU DT D’Von J-Thomas on losing to Ohio State.