J.T. Barrett may have been the hero on Saturday night, leading Ohio State to back-to-back late-quarter touchdowns with a literal perfect performance in the fourth quarter, but none of that would have been possible without the help of the Silver Bullets.
The Buckeye defense came through when they needed them most. With the game on the line, Ohio State held the Penn State offense, led by Heisman frontrunner Saquon Barkley, to negative yardage on three of its four fourth-quarter drives.
Penn State's drive charts for its final four drives were as follows:
- 3 plays, -1 yard, Punt
- 10 plays, 64 yards, Field Goal
- 3 plays , -4 yards, Punt
- 4 plays, -5 yards, Turnover on Downs
The Buckeyes allowed just three fourth-quarter points, holding Penn State to just a field goal when the Nittany Lions reached the Ohio State red zone – which turned out to be the difference in a one-point game.