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 State 26

Away · New Holder

Ohio State 27

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

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Trace McSorleyPenn State	16/32	286	8.9	2	0
Dwayne HaskinsOhio State	22/39	270	6.9	3	1

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Trace McSorleyPenn State	25	175	7.0	0	51
Miles SandersPenn State	16	43	2.7	1	12
Tommy StevensPenn State	3	-12	-4.0	0	2
J.K. DobbinsOhio State	17	57	3.4	1	8
Mike WeberOhio State	9	51	5.7	0	13
Parris CampbellOhio State	2	19	9.5	0	18
Dwayne HaskinsOhio State	4	8	2.0	0	5
K.J. HillOhio State	1	-3	-3.0	0	0
TeamOhio State	4	-13	-3.3	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
KJ HamlerPenn State	4	138	34.5	1	93
Juwan JohnsonPenn State	5	61	12.2	0	31
Pat FreiermuthPenn State	3	44	14.7	1	27
Mac HippenhammerPenn State	1	21	21.0	0	21
Brandon PolkPenn State	1	20	20.0	0	20
Miles SandersPenn State	2	2	1.0	0	5
J.K. DobbinsOhio State	2	61	30.5	1	35
Parris CampbellOhio State	7	60	8.6	0	14
K.J. HillOhio State	6	59	9.8	1	24
Binjimen VictorOhio State	2	55	27.5	1	47
Austin MackOhio State	3	25	8.3	0	10
Mike WeberOhio State	1	5	5.0	0	5
C.J. SaundersOhio State	1	5	5.0	0	5

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Koa FarmerPenn State	8	2	0	0.5	0	0
Cam BrownPenn State	6	3	0	0	1	1
Jan JohnsonPenn State	5	4	0	0	0	0
Nick ScottPenn State	5	3	0	0	0	0
Shareef MillerPenn State	5	3	0	0.5	0	0
Robert WindsorPenn State	5	2	0.5	1	0	1
Amani OruwariyePenn State	4	3	0	0	0	0
Yetur Gross-MatosPenn State	4	3	0	1	0	1
Kevin GivensPenn State	4	2	0	1.5	0	0
Tariq Castro-FieldsPenn State	4	2	0	0	1	0
Garrett TaylorPenn State	4	1	0	0	0	0
John ReidPenn State	3	3	0	0	1	0
Shaka ToneyPenn State	3	0	0	0	0	0
Daniel JosephPenn State	2	1	0	0	0	0
Antonio SheltonPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
C.J. ThorpePenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Micah ParsonsPenn State	1	0	0.5	0.5	0	1
Malik HarrisonOhio State	8	6	0.5	0.5	0	0
Jordan FullerOhio State	8	5	0	0	0	0
Tuf BorlandOhio State	8	3	1	1	0	0
Chase YoungOhio State	6	3	2	3	2	2
Pete WernerOhio State	5	4	0	1	0	0
Damon ArnetteOhio State	4	4	0	0	0	0
Jeffrey OkudahOhio State	4	3	0	0	0	0
Dre'Mont JonesOhio State	4	1	0.5	1	0	0
Johnnie DixonOhio State	3	3	0	0	0	0
Jonathon CooperOhio State	3	2	0	2	0	0
Jahsen WintOhio State	3	2	0	0	0	0
Isaiah PryorOhio State	3	2	0	0	1	0
Baron BrowningOhio State	3	0	0	1	0	0
Kendall SheffieldOhio State	2	2	0	1	0	0
Justin HilliardOhio State	2	1	0	0	0	0
Davon HamiltonOhio State	2	0	0	0.5	0	0
Jashon CornellOhio State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Robert LandersOhio State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Keandre JonesOhio State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Shaun WadeOhio State	0	0	0	0	2	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Miles SandersPenn State	1	1	0
Tommy StevensPenn State	1	0	0
Dre'Mont JonesOhio State	0	0	1

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Garrett TaylorPenn State	1	45	0

Kick Returns

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

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jake PinegarPenn State	2/3	67.0	39	2/2	8
Sean NuernbergerOhio State	0/1	0.0	0	3/3	3

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
KJ HamlerPenn State	1	10	10.0	10
DeAndre ThompkinsPenn State	4	-3	-0.8	2
K.J. HillOhio State	1	-2	-2.0	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Blake GillikinPenn State	8	312	39.0	0	3	53
Drue ChrismanOhio State	9	431	47.9	0	3	58

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

← Penn State at Illinois Indiana at Ohio State →