No. 7 Penn State falls short yet again to No. 3 Ohio State

COLUMBUS — It’s becoming routine.

The scores may be close, but Penn State historically has found it hard to beat Ohio State. For seven straight meetings, the Nittany Lions have been on the losing end of the yearly Big Ten battle.

Saturday was no different as No. 7 Penn State fell to No. 3 Ohio State, 20-12.

For the second year in a row, Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was a dominant presence. The St. Joe’s Prep alum finished with a game-high 162 yards on 11 catches. He also scored a fourth-quarter touchdown with just over four minutes left that proved the dagger for Penn State (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten).

Only a few plays prior to Mayin Williams’ 2-yard touchdown run that gave Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) a 10-0 lead, Penn State thought it had the lead when linebacker Curtis Jacobs forced Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord to fumble. Jacobs returned it for a touchdown, but Penn State cornerback Kalen King was called for defensive holding, nullifying the score.

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“Obviously that’s a huge play in the game,” Penn State coach James Franklin said afterward. “Then after that followed up with another interference call, but that was obviously significant enough for me to sit here and talk about how that call looked.”

King was later flagged for defensive pass interference on the same drive, again awarding Ohio State a first down. His brother, Kobe King, also tacked on an unsportsmanlike conduct inside Penn State’s 5-yard line. All three penalties occurred in the red zone.

Outside of Williams’ touchdown, it was a relatively quiet first half sprinkled with field goals.

Despite coming up short, Penn State’s defense kept the game close. A critical fourth-quarter stop exemplified it.

In the third quarter, McCord, another St. Joe’s Prep alum, found Harrison Jr. for a 16-yard gain. Two plays later, McCord hit tight end Cade Stover for 30 yards, as Stover caught the ball over Kobe King.

With the ball at the 6-yard line, backup quarterback Devin Brown ran it five yards to the 1, bringing up third-and-goal. With its backs against the wall, Penn State’s defense stopped Williams on third down for a loss of a yard. The Buckeyes went for it on fourth down to no avail, as Carnell Tate caught a short pass for no gain.

“We have a hell of a defense we go against every single day, so I think we were definitely prepared,” tight end Theo Johnson said. “We just didn’t capitalize on the opportunities.”

It wouldn’t matter though, as the Nittany Lions’ offense failed to get anything going. Just how bad was it? Penn State failed to convert on a third down on its first 15 attempts. The Nittany Lions wouldn’t convert a third down until the final 50 seconds of the game.

“They were playing a lot of off man, so they were able to sit on some routes. When we did try to take shots, they recovered and didn’t take the bait,” quarterback Drew Allar said. “It’s a credit to Ohio State and their game plan that they had.”

Harrison’s 162-yard performance was just 23 yards shy of his 185-yard outing in the win over Penn State last year, which is an all-time record for a receiver in the series.

Penn State entered the top-10 matchup scoring 44.3 points per game, but managed just 12 in defeat.

Allar finished with 191 yards on 18-of-43 passing. He had a lone 8-yard touchdown pass late to Kaden Saunders with 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Penn State running back Nick Singleton also finished with 48 yards rushing, highlighted by a 20-yard scamper in the second quarter.

Despite the loss, Penn State could still find itself in the running for a spot in the national championship. However, it would desperately need a win against No. 2 Michigan, which the Nittany Lions host on Nov. 11.

It would also need to win its remaining games and have both Ohio State and Michigan lose at least once, which would conceivably create a tiebreaker situation in the Big Ten East.

Penn State return home to face Indiana on Saturday (noon, CBS).