Ohio State had one of its most exciting wins of the season so far with a 20-12 victory over Penn State who came in ranked seventh in the country.
The win gives the Buckeyes their seventh straight victory over the Penn State, and wins in 11 of the last 12 matchups between the two.
The Buckeye defense lived up to their billing as one of the best defenses in college football with a phenomenal performance. Penn State came into the matchup averaging just over 40 points per game and Ohio State shut the Nittany Lions down.
There are many stats that show just how dominant the performance from the Buckeye defense was including Penn State being held out of the end zone on its first 13 drives, being held to one third down conversion out of 16 attempts, and six yards in the second half prior to its final drive touchdown.
In this article we’ll break down the unit’s performance player-by-player using Pro Football Focus grades.
Interior Defensive Line
Starter: Tyleik Williams
PFF Grade | 67.7 (62 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 1 assisted tackle, 1 pressure and on 43 pass rush snaps
Starter: Ty Hamilton
PFF Grade | 76.8 (30 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 0 pressures on 22 pass rush snaps
Other: Michael Hall Jr.
PFF Grade | 62.4 (39 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 3 pressures on 28 pass rush snaps
Other: Jaden McKenzie
PFF Grade | 58.9 (2 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 pressures on 2 pass rush snaps
Other: Kayden McDonald
PFF Grade | 60.0 (1 snap)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 pressures on 1 pass rush snaps
What It Means
This was a good performance from the interior defensive line trio of Tyleik Williams, Michael Hall Jr., and Ty Hamilton. Hamilton produced his highest graded game of the season so far. He was pivotal to defending Penn State’s run game as he had four stops.
Edge Rushers
Starter: J.T. Tuimoloau
PFF Grade | 59.7 (65 snaps)
Stats | 1 assisted tackle, 6 pressures on 45 pass rush snaps
Starter: Jack Sawyer
PFF Grade | 70.6 (46 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 3 assisted tackles, 3 pressures on 30 pass rush snaps
Other: Caden Curry
PFF Grade | 62.8 (14 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackle, 4 pressures on 12 pass rush snaps
Other: Kenyatta Jackson
PFF Grade | 66.6 (19 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 1 pressure on 14 pass rush snaps
Other: Mitchell Melton
PFF Grade | 58.2 (2 snaps)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 pressures on 2 pass rush snaps
What It Means
The edge rotation generating pressure on Drew Allar was pivotal to the success of the defense. J.T, Tuimoloau came up huge as he beat Penn State’s star left tackle Olu Fashanu multiple times for six pressures, including two to stifle fourth downs late in the fourth quarter.
Linebackers
Starter: Tommy Eichenberg
PFF Grade | 56.1 (70 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 3 assisted tackles
Starter: Steele Chambers
PFF Grade | 58.7 (52 snaps)
Stats | 5 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 2 pressures
Other: Cody Simon
PFF Grade | 72.2 (19 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackles, 3 pressures
What It Means
The play of Tommy Eichenberg, Steele Chambers, and Cody Simon were a big part of limiting Penn State’s run game with Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton were both held under 50 rushing yards.
Cornerbacks
Starter: Jordan Hancock
PFF Grade | 69.8 (69 snaps)
Stats | 6 tackles, 3 receptions allowed on 7 targets for 18 yards and 1 PBU on 50 coverage snaps
Starter: Davison Igbinosun
PFF Grade | 64.8 (69 snaps)
Stats | 4 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 2 receptions allowed on 6 targets for 31 yards on 48 coverage snaps
Other: Jermaine Mathews Jr.
PFF Grade | 65.4 (47 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 pressure, 3 receptions allowed on 7 targets for 29 yards and 1 TD on 38 coverage snaps
What It Means
With Denzel Burke out the rest of the Buckeye cornerbacks stepped up. Jordan Hancock and Davison Igbinosun each played 69 of 70 snaps. True freshman Jermaine Mathews Jr. showed that the future of the secondary is in good hands allowing just 29 yards on his 38 coverage snaps.
Safeties
Starter: Lathan Ransom
PFF Grade | 75.7 (70 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 2 receptions allowed on 4 targets for 12 yards on 50 coverage snaps
Starter: Josh Proctor
PFF Grade | 63.9 (70 snaps)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 3 receptions allowed on 6 targets for 33 yards and 1 PBU on 50 coverage snaps
Starter: Sonny Styles
PFF Grade | 67.0 (24 snaps)
Stats | 1 tackle, 0 receptions allowed on 0 targets on 11 coverage snaps
What It Means
The safety trio for the Buckeyes of Lathan Ransom, Josh Proctor, and Sonny Styles played great in this game. Penn State was limited to just one pass play of over 20 yards all game.
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