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Highs and Lows: Ohio State

Penn State will have to live with the demons of the Buckeyes for another year.

Dropping a 1-point loss to Ohio State for the second year in a row, the Nittany Lions fell 27-26 in a thrilling back-and-forth at Beaver Stadium, but the razor's edge loss isn't the only similarity. Leading by 12 points with eight minutes left to play, the Nittany Lions again coughed up a significant lead to the Buckeyes, even more than the 11-point lead with 5:42 remaining at the Horseshoe a year ago.

So what were the high and low moments from the back-and-forth slugfest? Learn more, below:

PLAYER OF THE GAME Even into the summer months, Trace McSorley acknowledged that last year’s result at Ohio Stadium still haunted him. Nearly 11 months later, he's going to be haunted again. The Nittany Lions’ fifth-year senior quarterback put together an all-time performance at Penn State, racking up 286 yards passing and another 175 yards on the ground, plus two touchdowns. The combined 461 yards of offense are the most by a single player in the program's history, and his rushing yards eclipsed the most by a quarterback dating back to 1938. Still, it wasn't enough to propel the Nittany Lions to a win.

Trace McSorley put together an all-time performance, but it wasn't enough to earn a win Saturday night.
Trace McSorley put together an all-time performance, but it wasn't enough to earn a win Saturday night.
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PLAY OF THE GAME Trailing 12 points with eight minutes to play, Ohio State freshman quarterback Dwayne Haskins connected with Binjimen Victor on a perfectly thrown ball, leaving his wideout to do the rest of the work. And Victor did exactly that, weaving through traffic and into the end zone for a 47-yard touchdown to close the gap to 26-21, which the Buckeyes would ultimately overcome on their next possession.

BEST RUN Locked in a field position battle few saw coming, Penn State redshirt freshman K.J. Hamler broke the game open. Facing third-and-5 at their own 7-yard line, McSorley connected with Hamler across the middle of the field, at which point the redshirt freshman flipped into a gear Beaver Stadium has rarely seen. Splitting the Buckeye defense, Hamler flew into Ohio State’s side of the field, then beat the Buckeyes’ remaining tacklers and into the end zone to complete the 93-yard touchdown. It was the second-longest scoring play in Penn State history.

BEST CATCH Everything that happened following Juwan Johnson’s first reception of the game, a 31-yarder in front of his own bench, was rendered irrelevant in this category. Eyeing up McSorley’s pass down the sideline, Johnson elevated, kept position on Ohio State’s Damon Arnette Jr., and snagged the ball out of the sky with just his right hand to complete the acrobatic reception.

WORST DROP Miles Sanders could not have picked a worse time to put the ball on the ground Saturday night. Leading the Buckeyes 13-0, with absolutely no mojo working for the visitors, the Nittany Lion running back fumbled a first-down carry at his own 25-yard line. The snafu gifted the Buckeyes their best field position of the entire night and upended Penn State’s opportunity to take a commanding lead. Instead of maintaining that momentum, Haskins dumped off an easy screen to J.K. Dobbins, who burst 26 yards upfield for an easy touchdown.

BEST SACK For as many times as Penn State put pressure on Haskins, the Nittany Lions simply could not bring him down in the backfield on a consistent basis. Instead, they had to settle for just one sack, shared between Micah Parsons and Robert Windsor.

BEST HIT This category has to go to Penn State defensive end Shareef Miller on a crucial fourth-and-a-foot for the Buckeyes in the fourth quarter. Meeting Dobbins in the backfield, the hit stopped the Buckeyes on a crucial offensive possession, and completely flipped momentum back to the Nittany Lions.

BEST EFFORT Ohio State punter Drue Chrisman won’t win any player of the game nods for his performance Saturday night, but it has to get a nod in this category. On nine attempts, Chrisman consistently nailed the Nittany Lions deep, averaging 47.9 yards per kick, knocking back a 58-yarder (one of three of more than 50 yards), and pinning three inside Penn State’s 20.

BEST KICK Despite the obvious disappointment of squandering a touchdown opportunity for their first red zone trip, Jake Pinegar’s 34-yard field goal put the Nittany Lions on the scoreboard first Saturday night. Following a 46-yard miss also in the first quarter, Pinegar returned to the field for a 39-yard try early in the second quarter and hit to give Penn State a 6-0 lead.

BEST RETURN Garrett Taylor didn’t just snatch an interception off the hands of Ohio State tight end Rashod Berry in the second quarter, he also burst 45 yards in the other direction to the Ohio State 28-yard line. The takeaway was the first of the night for either team and reversed a field position battle that was inching into the Buckeyes’ favor.

WORST DECISION Penn State’s fourth-and-5 for the game could not have been more anticlimactic. The Buckeyes, leading by a point, traded timeouts with the Nittany Lions, and then faced up for the play. The Nittany Lions, however, appeared confused, made multiple adjustments in the backfield, and finally saw quarterback McSorley hand off meekly to Miles Sanders, who got stuffed for a 2-yard loss to effectively end the game.

MOST TELLING MOMENT Just as it'd been a year ago, Penn State leading in the fourth quarter by two scores, the Nittany Lions could not put away the Buckeyes. Beyond a specific play call or play itself, the Nittany Lions' failing to put together a full quarters of football proved to be their undoing Saturday night. With the loss, it marks four in a row dating back to the 2016 Rose Bowl in which the Nittany Lions held a fourth quarter lead, only to lose by what is now a combined eight points.

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