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 StateAP No. 2 28

Away · Challenger

Penn StateAP No. 9 17

AP poll, week 13: Penn State No. 9 at Ohio State No. 2 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Ohio State came in 378 days into reign #306, which began with a win over Michigan State, with 14 defenses already behind it; this was its 15th defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 2 more times before Clemson took it on December 28, 2019, 413 days after the reign began.

For Penn State this was its 23rd shot at the belt; it had held the belt 5 times before.

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

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

Ohio State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Justin Fields	16/22	188	8.5	2	0

Penn State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Sean Clifford	10/17	71	4.2	0	0
Will Levis	6/11	57	5.2	0	1

Rushing

Ohio State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
J.K. Dobbins	36	157	4.4	2	22
Justin Fields	21	68	3.2	0	22
Master Teague	2	7	3.5	0	8
Team	2	-3	-1.5	0	0

Penn State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Journey Brown	11	64	5.8	1	18
Will Levis	17	44	2.6	1	10
Noah Cain	1	1	1.0	0	1
Sean Clifford	6	0	-0.6	0	5
Team	1	-10	-10.0	0	0

Receiving

Ohio State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
K.J. Hill	4	46	11.5	1	24
Chris Olave	2	44	22.0	1	28
Austin Mack	2	27	13.5	0	14
Binjimen Victor	2	21	10.5	0	11
Garrett Wilson	2	21	10.5	0	16
Jeremy Ruckert	2	13	6.5	0	7
J.K. Dobbins	1	11	11.0	0	11
Master Teague	1	5	5.0	0	5

Penn State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
KJ Hamler	3	45	15.0	22
Pat Freiermuth	6	40	6.7	11
Justin Shorter	3	28	9.3	18
Nick Bowers	1	12	12.0	12
Jahan Dotson	1	6	6.0	6
Journey Brown	2	-3	-1.5	0

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Ohio State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Pete Werner	10	8	0	0	2
Chase Young	9	5	3	4	0
Malik Harrison	9	4	0	2	0
Baron Browning	7	4	1.5	2.5	0
Tuf Borland	7	3	0	0	0
Zach Harrison	4	3	0	0	0
Shaun Wade	4	1	0	0	1
Jordan Fuller	3	2	0	0	1
Jashon Cornell	3	1	0.5	0.5	0
Jeffrey Okudah	2	2	0	0	0
Cameron Brown	2	2	0	0	0
Justin Hilliard	2	0	0	0	0
Blake Haubeil	1	1	0	0	0
Sevyn Banks	1	1	0	0	0
Tommy Togiai	1	0	0	0	0
Damon Arnette	0	0	0	0	1

Penn State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Garrett Taylor	13	6	0	0.5	0
Lamont Wade	10	8	1	2	0
Micah Parsons	10	5	0	2	0
Yetur Gross-Matos	9	5	2	3.5	0
Jan Johnson	7	4	0	0.5	0
Cam Brown	6	0	0	0	0
PJ Mustipher	5	1	0	0	0
John Reid	4	4	0	0	1
Ellis Brooks	4	1	0	0.5	0
Shaka Toney	4	0	0	0	0
Jayson Oweh	3	2	0	0	0
Jaquan Brisker	3	2	0	0	0
Robert Windsor	3	1	0	0	0
Tariq Castro-Fields	2	1	0	0	0
Marquis Wilson	1	1	0	0	0
Brandon Smith	1	1	0	1	0
Antonio Shelton	1	0	0	0	0
Fred Hansard	1	0	0	0	0
Jesse Luketa	1	0	0	0	0
Trent Gordon	0	0	0	0	1

Fumbles

Ohio State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Justin Fields	3	2	0
J.K. Dobbins	1	1	0

Penn State

Player	FUM	REC
Lamont Wade	0	1
Cam Brown	0	1
Micah Parsons	0	1
Will Levis	2	0

Interceptions

Ohio State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Justin Hilliard	1	0	0

Penn State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Ohio State

No recorded stats in this category.

Penn State

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

Kicking

Ohio State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Blake Haubeil	0/0	0.0	0	4/4	4

Penn State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jake Pinegar	1/1	100.0	42	2/2	5

Punt Returns

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Garrett Wilson	2	7	3.5	7	0

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
KJ Hamler	1	7	7.0	7	0

Punting

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Drue Chrisman	3	124	41.3	1	2	43

Penn State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Blake Gillikin	6	204	34.0	0	2	40

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 401112256) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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