Head Coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium on November 2, 2024, in State College, Pennsylvania.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
With starting left tackle Josh Simmons out for the season with a knee injury and his back-up Zen Michalski out indefinitely with a leg injury, Ohio State made two changes in its offensive line starting lineup against Penn State on Saturday.
The first was expected but the other was a bit of a surprise. As expected, starting left guard Donovan Jackson moved over to left tackle. His replacement at left guard was Carson Hinzman, who started all 12 regular-season games at center last season as a redshirt freshman, but has hardly played this season.
“We went with experience. That was the decision we made. In this environment we went with experience,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said about Hinzman getting the start.
“I don’t know what he’s going to grade out at but you didn’t notice him that much. And that’s a good sign for a guard when you don’t notice him much. I think his experience paid off and he was a big part of this win today,” Day said.
NITTANY NIGHTMARE: Ohio State has beaten Penn State eight times in a row and 12 of the last 13 times the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes have played against each other.
Sports Illustrated described what it called “a heated exchange” between Penn State coach James Franklin and a fan as the Nittany Lions left the field after the game. ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg described it as “a spicy exchange.”
LUCKY ON REPLAYS: Most of the replay situations in Saturday’s game went Ohio State’s way, including a 15-yard pass completion to Penn State receiver Harrison Wallace being ruled incomplete, what originally looked like an incomplete pass being ruled an interception by Davison Igbinosun after replay review, and what could have been ruled a fumble by Quinshon Judkins being ruled an incomplete pass.
BACK-TO BACK SACKS: Ohio State sacked Penn State quarterback Drew Allar twice and they came on consecutive plays late in the third quarter.
Linebacker Cody Simon got the first one on a blitz and J.T. Tuimoloau and Kenyatta Jackson combined on the second one.
BIGGEST CROWD: Saturday’s crowd of 111,030 was the largest in the history of Penn State’s Beaver Stadium.
