September 29, 2018 Week 5 · Regular Season Belt changed hands

Ohio State takes the belt, 27–26, on the road at Penn State.

Home · Defending Holder

Penn StateAP No. 9 26

Away · New Holder

Ohio StateAP No. 4 27

AP poll, week 5: Ohio State No. 4 at Penn State No. 9 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Ohio State took the belt here, ending Penn State’s run of 21 days and 2 defenses (reign #302) and starting reign #303. It lasted 21 days and 2 defenses, until Purdue took it on October 20, 2018.

For Ohio State this was its 16th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 7 times before — and it took it back here.

It was the 2nd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, Ohio State led the belt series 1–0; all-time Ohio State leads 3–0. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Penn State dominated the first half with explosive offensive plays, including a stunning 93-yard touchdown pass from Trace McSorley to KJ Hamler that gave the Nittany Lions a 20-7 halftime lead. Ohio State's defense made critical adjustments in the second half, with J.K. Dobbins scoring twice to bring the Buckeyes within striking distance. The game came down to a furious fourth-quarter shootout, with Penn State briefly extending their lead to 27-20 on a Pat Freiermuth touchdown reception, but Ohio State answered with a 47-yard touchdown pass to Binjimen Victor and then a 24-yard score to K.J. Hill to secure the one-point victory and claim the belt.

KJ Hamler's 93-yard touchdown reception in Q2 gave Penn State a commanding 20-7 lead heading into halftime
J.K. Dobbins' two touchdowns in the third quarter (26-yard pass, 4-yard run) shifted momentum as Ohio State rallied back
Binjimen Victor's 47-yard touchdown reception in Q4 put Ohio State ahead 26-27 with under 7 minutes remaining
The failed two-point conversion on Penn State's final drive left them one point short, sealing Ohio State's one-point victory and belt capture

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Penn StateOhio State

Total yards492389

Rushing yards206119

Passing yards286270

First downs2221

3rd down conv.3/174/17

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards7–6410–105

Time of possession31:3928:21

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:27	Penn State	+20 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Brandon Polk for 20 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Q1 6:46	Penn State	-13 yd	Tommy Stevens run for a loss of 13 yards to the OhSt 30 Tommy Stevens fumbled, recovered by PnSt Tommy Stevens
Q1 7:24	Penn State	+31 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Juwan Johnson for 31 yds to the OhSt 17 for a 1ST down
Q1 4:58	Penn State	+34 yd	Jake Pinegar 34 Yd Field Goal
Q1 1:14	Penn State	+46 yd	Jake Pinegar 46 yd FG MISSED
Q1 3:36	Penn State	+51 yd	Trace McSorley run for 51 yds to the OhSt 29 for a 1ST down
Q2 12:48	Ohio State	-45 yd	Dwayne Haskins pass intercepted Garrett Taylor return for 45 yds to the OhSt 28
Q2 11:18	Penn State	+39 yd	Jake Pinegar 39 Yd Field Goal
Q2 5:59	Penn State	+93 yd	KJ Hamler 93 Yd pass from Trace McSorley (Jake Pinegar Kick)
Q2 5:59	Penn State	+60 yd	Rafael Checa kickoff for 65 yds for a touchback PENN ST Penalty, Defensive Offside (-5 Yards)
Q2 2:32	Penn State	+0 yd	Miles Sanders run for no gain to the PnSt 25 Miles Sanders fumbled, forced by Tuf Borland, recovered by OhSt Dre'Mont Jones
Q2 1:50	Ohio State	+26 yd	J.K. Dobbins 26 Yd pass from Dwayne Haskins (Sean Nuernberger Kick)
Q3 10:22	Ohio State	+4 yd	J.K. Dobbins 4 Yd Run (Sean Nuernberger Kick)
Q3 6:12	Ohio State	+48 yd	Sean Nuernberger 48 yd FG MISSED
Q3 3:26	Penn State	+23 yd	Trace McSorley run for 23 yds to the OhSt 39 for a 1ST down
Q4 12:22	Penn State	+2 yd	Pat Freiermuth 2 Yd pass from Trace McSorley (Jake Pinegar Kick)
Q4 13:04	Penn State	+51 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to KJ Hamler for 36 yds to the OhSt 30 for a 1ST down OHIO ST Penalty, Targeting (Isaiah Pryor) to the OhSt 15 for a 1ST down. Isaiah Pryor ejected.
Q4 10:17	Penn State	+21 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Mac Hippenhammer for 21 yds to the OhSt 31 for a 1ST down
Q4 8:00	Penn State	+1 yd	Miles Sanders 1 Yd Run (Two-Point Run Conversion Failed)
Q4 6:42	Ohio State	+47 yd	Binjimen Victor 47 Yd pass from Dwayne Haskins (Sean Nuernberger Kick)
Q4 6:42	Ohio State	+60 yd	Blake Haubeil kickoff for 65 yds for a touchback OHIO ST Penalty, Defensive Offside (-5 Yards)
Q4 2:03	Ohio State	+24 yd	K.J. Hill 24 Yd pass from Dwayne Haskins (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)
Q4 4:34	Ohio State	+35 yd	Dwayne Haskins pass complete to J.K. Dobbins for 35 yds to the OhSt 39 for a 1ST down
Q4 2:02	Penn State	+27 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Pat Freiermuth for 27 yds to the OhSt 48 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Penn State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Trace McSorley	16/32	286	8.9	2	0

Ohio State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Dwayne Haskins	22/39	270	6.9	3	1

Rushing

Penn State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Trace McSorley	25	175	7.0	0	51
Miles Sanders	16	43	2.7	1	12
Tommy Stevens	3	-12	-4.0	0	2

Ohio State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
J.K. Dobbins	17	57	3.4	1	8
Mike Weber	9	51	5.7	0	13
Parris Campbell	2	19	9.5	0	18
Dwayne Haskins	4	8	2.0	0	5
K.J. Hill	1	-3	-3.0	0	0
Team	4	-13	-3.3	0	0

Receiving

Penn State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
KJ Hamler	4	138	34.5	1	93
Juwan Johnson	5	61	12.2	0	31
Pat Freiermuth	3	44	14.7	1	27
Mac Hippenhammer	1	21	21.0	0	21
Brandon Polk	1	20	20.0	0	20
Miles Sanders	2	2	1.0	0	5

Ohio State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
J.K. Dobbins	2	61	30.5	1	35
Parris Campbell	7	60	8.6	0	14
K.J. Hill	6	59	9.8	1	24
Binjimen Victor	2	55	27.5	1	47
Austin Mack	3	25	8.3	0	10
Mike Weber	1	5	5.0	0	5
C.J. Saunders	1	5	5.0	0	5

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Penn State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Koa Farmer	8	2	0	0.5	0	0
Cam Brown	6	3	0	0	1	1
Jan Johnson	5	4	0	0	0	0
Nick Scott	5	3	0	0	0	0
Shareef Miller	5	3	0	0.5	0	0
Robert Windsor	5	2	0.5	1	0	1
Amani Oruwariye	4	3	0	0	0	0
Yetur Gross-Matos	4	3	0	1	0	1
Kevin Givens	4	2	0	1.5	0	0
Tariq Castro-Fields	4	2	0	0	1	0
Garrett Taylor	4	1	0	0	0	0
John Reid	3	3	0	0	1	0
Shaka Toney	3	0	0	0	0	0
Daniel Joseph	2	1	0	0	0	0
Antonio Shelton	1	1	0	0	0	0
C.J. Thorpe	1	0	0	0	0	0
Micah Parsons	1	0	0.5	0.5	0	1

Ohio State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Malik Harrison	8	6	0.5	0.5	0	0
Jordan Fuller	8	5	0	0	0	0
Tuf Borland	8	3	1	1	0	0
Chase Young	6	3	2	3	2	2
Pete Werner	5	4	0	1	0	0
Damon Arnette	4	4	0	0	0	0
Jeffrey Okudah	4	3	0	0	0	0
Dre'Mont Jones	4	1	0.5	1	0	0
Johnnie Dixon	3	3	0	0	0	0
Jonathon Cooper	3	2	0	2	0	0
Jahsen Wint	3	2	0	0	0	0
Isaiah Pryor	3	2	0	0	1	0
Baron Browning	3	0	0	1	0	0
Kendall Sheffield	2	2	0	1	0	0
Justin Hilliard	2	1	0	0	0	0
Davon Hamilton	2	0	0	0.5	0	0
Jashon Cornell	1	1	0	0	0	0
Robert Landers	1	1	0	0	0	0
Keandre Jones	1	0	0	0	0	0
Shaun Wade	0	0	0	0	2	0

Fumbles

Penn State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Miles Sanders	1	1	0
Tommy Stevens	1	0	0

Ohio State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Dre'Mont Jones	0	0	1

Interceptions

Penn State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Garrett Taylor	1	45	0

Ohio State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
KJ Hamler	3	47	15.7	18	0

Ohio State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kicking

Penn State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jake Pinegar	2/3	67.0	39	2/2	8

Ohio State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Sean Nuernberger	0/1	0.0	0	3/3	3

Punt Returns

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
KJ Hamler	1	10	10.0	10	0
DeAndre Thompkins	4	-3	-0.8	2	0

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
K.J. Hill	1	-2	-2.0	0	0

Punting

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Blake Gillikin	8	312	39.0	0	3	53

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Drue Chrisman	9	431	47.9	0	3	58

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401013347) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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