November 23, 2019 Week 13 · Regular Season Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 28–17, at home over Penn State.

Home · Defending Holder

Ohio State 28

Away · Challenger

Penn State 17

AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State's defense forced five turnovers and the Buckeyes' ground game dominated early as J.K. Dobbins punched in two first-half touchdowns to build a 14-0 lead. Penn State mounted a second-half comeback behind Will Levis and Journey Brown, scoring 17 unanswered points through the third quarter to cut it to 14-10, but Ohio State's passing attack sealed the belt with two Chris Olave and K.J. Hill touchdown receptions in the fourth quarter. Justin Fields struggled with ball security, fumbling four times, but his receivers ultimately proved the difference as the Buckeyes held off a furious late Nittany Lions rally to preserve their championship status.

J.K. Dobbins' two first-quarter and second-quarter touchdown runs gave Ohio State early control and a 14-0 halftime lead
Penn State's third-quarter surge led by Will Levis and Journey Brown cut the deficit to 14-10, threatening the belt
K.J. Hill and Chris Olave's fourth-quarter touchdown receptions gave Ohio State breathing room and clinched the belt retention

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

Ohio StatePenn State

Total yards417227

Rushing yards22999

Passing yards188128

First downs2715

3rd down conv.7/136/15

Turnovers31

Penalties–yards4–255–32

Time of possession34:0825:52

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 15:00	Ohio State	+26 yd	Blake Haubeil kickoff for 51 yds , KJ Hamler return for 26 yds to the PnSt 40
Q1 7:08	Ohio State	+4 yd	J.K. Dobbins 4 Yd Run (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q1 12:00	Ohio State	+22 yd	J.K. Dobbins run for 22 yds to the OhSt 31 for a 1ST down
Q1 2:15	Ohio State	+4 yd	Justin Fields run for 4 yds Justin Fields fumbled, forced by Lamont Wade, recovered by PnSt Cam Brown
Q2 3:45	Ohio State	+22 yd	Justin Fields run for 22 yds to the PnSt 4 for a 1ST down
Q2 2:00	Ohio State	+1 yd	J.K. Dobbins 1 Yd Run (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q2 1:00	Ohio State	+31 yd	J.K. Dobbins run for 16 yds to the OHIOST 49 for a 1ST down PENN ST Penalty, Personal Foul (15 Yards) to the PnSt 34 for a 1ST down
Q3 11:31	Ohio State	+24 yd	K.J. Hill 24 Yd pass from Justin Fields (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q3 8:19	Penn State	+18 yd	Journey Brown 18 Yd Run (Jake Pinegar Kick)
Q3 8:10	Ohio State	-3 yd	J.K. Dobbins run for a loss of 3 yards to the OhSt 12 J.K. Dobbins fumbled, forced by Micah Parsons, recovered by PnSt Lamont Wade
Q3 7:54	Penn State	+1 yd	Will Levis 1 Yd Run (Jake Pinegar Kick)
Q3 7:04	Ohio State	-2 yd	Justin Fields run for a loss of 2 yards to the OhSt 35 Justin Fields fumbled, forced by Lamont Wade, recovered by PnSt Micah Parsons
Q3 4:22	Penn State	+42 yd	Jake Pinegar 42 Yd Field Goal
Q3 1:41	Penn State	-6 yd	TEAM run for a loss of 6 yards to the PnSt 1 TEAM fumbled, forced by TEAM, recovered by PnSt Will Levis
Q4 13:18	Ohio State	+28 yd	Chris Olave 28 Yd pass from Justin Fields (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q4 13:03	Penn State	+22 yd	Will Levis pass complete to KJ Hamler for 22 yds to the PnSt 47 for a 1ST down
Q4 2:17	Ohio State	-13 yd	Justin Fields sacked by Lamont Wade for a loss of 13 yards to the PnSt 40 Justin Fields fumbled, forced by Lamont Wade, recovered by OhSt Justin Fields , return for 0 yards
Q4 2:00	Penn State	-8 yd	Will Levis sacked by Chase Young for a loss of 8 yards to the PnSt 32 Will Levis fumbled, forced by Chase Young, recovered by PnSt Journey Brown , return for 0 yards

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
Justin FieldsOhio State	16/22	188	8.5	2	0
Sean CliffordPenn State	10/17	71	4.2	0	0
Will LevisPenn State	6/11	57	5.2	0	1

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
J.K. DobbinsOhio State	36	157	4.4	2	22
Justin FieldsOhio State	21	68	3.2	0	22
Master TeagueOhio State	2	7	3.5	0	8
TeamOhio State	2	-3	-1.5	0	0
Journey BrownPenn State	11	64	5.8	1	18
Will LevisPenn State	17	44	2.6	1	10
Noah CainPenn State	1	1	1.0	0	1
Sean CliffordPenn State	6	0	-0.6	0	5
TeamPenn State	1	-10	-10.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
K.J. HillOhio State	4	46	11.5	1	24
Chris OlaveOhio State	2	44	22.0	1	28
Austin MackOhio State	2	27	13.5	0	14
Binjimen VictorOhio State	2	21	10.5	0	11
Garrett WilsonOhio State	2	21	10.5	0	16
Jeremy RuckertOhio State	2	13	6.5	0	7
J.K. DobbinsOhio State	1	11	11.0	0	11
Master TeagueOhio State	1	5	5.0	0	5
KJ HamlerPenn State	3	45	15.0	0	22
Pat FreiermuthPenn State	6	40	6.7	0	11
Justin ShorterPenn State	3	28	9.3	0	18
Nick BowersPenn State	1	12	12.0	0	12
Jahan DotsonPenn State	1	6	6.0	0	6
Journey BrownPenn State	2	-3	-1.5	0	0

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Pete WernerOhio State	10	8	0	0	2
Chase YoungOhio State	9	5	3	4	0
Malik HarrisonOhio State	9	4	0	2	0
Baron BrowningOhio State	7	4	1.5	2.5	0
Tuf BorlandOhio State	7	3	0	0	0
Zach HarrisonOhio State	4	3	0	0	0
Shaun WadeOhio State	4	1	0	0	1
Jordan FullerOhio State	3	2	0	0	1
Jashon CornellOhio State	3	1	0.5	0.5	0
Jeffrey OkudahOhio State	2	2	0	0	0
Cameron BrownOhio State	2	2	0	0	0
Justin HilliardOhio State	2	0	0	0	0
Blake HaubeilOhio State	1	1	0	0	0
Sevyn BanksOhio State	1	1	0	0	0
Tommy TogiaiOhio State	1	0	0	0	0
Damon ArnetteOhio State	0	0	0	0	1
Garrett TaylorPenn State	13	6	0	0.5	0
Lamont WadePenn State	10	8	1	2	0
Micah ParsonsPenn State	10	5	0	2	0
Yetur Gross-MatosPenn State	9	5	2	3.5	0
Jan JohnsonPenn State	7	4	0	0.5	0
Cam BrownPenn State	6	0	0	0	0
PJ MustipherPenn State	5	1	0	0	0
John ReidPenn State	4	4	0	0	1
Ellis BrooksPenn State	4	1	0	0.5	0
Shaka ToneyPenn State	4	0	0	0	0
Jayson OwehPenn State	3	2	0	0	0
Jaquan BriskerPenn State	3	2	0	0	0
Robert WindsorPenn State	3	1	0	0	0
Tariq Castro-FieldsPenn State	2	1	0	0	0
Marquis WilsonPenn State	1	1	0	0	0
Brandon SmithPenn State	1	1	0	1	0
Antonio SheltonPenn State	1	0	0	0	0
Fred HansardPenn State	1	0	0	0	0
Jesse LuketaPenn State	1	0	0	0	0
Trent GordonPenn State	0	0	0	0	1

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Justin FieldsOhio State	3	2	0
J.K. DobbinsOhio State	1	1	0
Lamont WadePenn State	0	0	1
Cam BrownPenn State	0	0	1
Micah ParsonsPenn State	0	0	1
Will LevisPenn State	2	0	0

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Justin HilliardOhio State	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
KJ HamlerPenn State	2	39	19.5	26	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Blake HaubeilOhio State	0/0	0.0	0	4/4	4
Jake PinegarPenn State	1/1	100.0	42	2/2	5

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Garrett WilsonOhio State	2	7	3.5	7	0
KJ HamlerPenn State	1	7	7.0	7	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Drue ChrismanOhio State	3	124	41.3	1	2	43
Blake GillikinPenn State	6	204	34.0	0	2	40

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.

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