Penn State’s skid reaches five games with road loss to No. 1 Ohio State

Interim head coach Terry Smith lauded Penn State’s opportunity to “shock the world” against No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday.

It, in fact, came as a shock that, for two quarters, an upset bid looked possible. But the Buckeyes’ dominance prevailed in the second half, resulting in a 38-14 loss for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State (3-5, 0-5 Big Ten) dropped its fifth straight game, its longest slide since 2020. It marked the first time a team ranked in the top two of the Associated Press preseason poll had lost five straight games.

Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer led Penn State’s offense to 14 points through two quarters, which surpassed the 12 first-half points Ohio State’s No. 1 scoring defense had allowed all season.

But the Nittany Lions’ defense had no answer for Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate, who combined for 11 catches for 247 yards and three touchdowns. The Buckeyes (8-0, 5-0) outscored Penn State 21-0 in the second half to earn a dominant victory, their ninth straight in this rivalry.

“In the first half, we fought valiantly. We just couldn’t respond,” Terry Smith said. “I’m super proud of our guys for fighting until the end. They didn’t quit, but we have to learn to finish.”

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Grunkemeyer opened his second start with obvious nervousness and antsy feet before he settled in on Penn State’s third drive. The native of Lewis Center, Ohio, found Nick Singleton on a 16-yard screen pass and lasered a third-down throw to Liam Clifford before Singleton scored on a 3-yard run.

After Penn State’s defense forced a turnover, the redshirt freshman quarterback shoveled a pass to Kaytron Allen to set up another score, this one to bring the Nittany Lions to within 17-14 at halftime.

But Grunkemeyer’s magic ended in the second half. He missed several timing throws, one to Kyron Hudson and another to Trebor Peña, and threw a red-zone interception in the fourth quarter.

“We continue to struggle in the vertical pass game,” Smith said. “It’s something that I have to go in and talk with the staff [about], and there are no exceptions. I have to get it fixed.”

Grunkemeyer completed 19 of his 28 pass attempts for 145 yards, an improvement over his 93-yard showing against Iowa. It marked the fourth time Penn State’s quarterback failed to reach 150 passing yards in the team’s five Big Ten games this season.

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“It was a good experience,” Grunkemeyer said of playing in Ohio Stadium. “But we lost, so just not good enough.”

Jim Knowles, the architect of Ohio State’s vaunted defense during last season’s national championship run, returned to The Horseshoe as Penn State’s defensive coordinator. And while his face remained a familiar sight for Buckeyes fans, his defense looked anything but.

Ohio State scored on its first three possessions, two stretching 11 plays and all three traveling more than 70 yards. The Buckeyes finished with 480 yards of total offense, and they did it with ease.

Penn State opened with single coverage on Jeremiah Smith, the nation’s top wide receiver, who caught three passes on Ohio State’s opening drive for 42 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore wideout finished with 123 receiving yards and two scores.

Julian Sayin completed 20 of his 23 pass attempts for 316 yards. He finished with more touchdown passes (four) than incompletions (three), and launched two 57-yard passes over the top of Penn State’s struggling secondary.

“We could not cover them,” Terry Smith said. “It was a lack of pass rush, a lack of defensive backs covering … [Jeremiah Smith and Tate] were outstanding today.”

Chaz Coleman was the defense’s lone bright spot. The freshman defensive end pressured Sayin inside the 10-yard line to force a throw away and an ensuing field goal. Late in the second quarter, Coleman scooped a fumble forced by Dani Dennis-Sutton and returned it 9 yards to Ohio State’s 14-yard line to set up Penn State’s second touchdown.

But that momentum was quickly flipped when the Nittany Lions allowed a five-play, 75-yard scoring drive to begin the second half. Ohio State punted just once and scored on six of its 10 drives, two of which ended with quarterback kneel-downs.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Nittany Lions, who host No. 2 Indiana (8-0, 5-0) next Saturday. The time and television details have yet to be announced.

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