Penn State football (3-5, 0-5 Big Ten) lost to No. 1 Ohio State (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) 38-14 at Ohio Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After a strong first half from the Nittany Lions, the game completely unraveled in the second half behind Julian Sayin’s deep passing game with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. The Buckeyes simply proved too much to handle for Terry Smith and Ethan Grunkemeyer down the stretch. Penn State is still without a Big Ten win in 2025.

How It Happened

Ethan Grunkemeyer tossed the ball to Kaytron Allen for a 26-yard rush on the first play from scrimmage. Grunkemeyer completed his first pass to Devonte Ross for a quick six yards on the next play. The Buckeyes bottled Allen up for a 2-yard loss on second down, and he couldn’t pick up the first down on 3rd-and-6. Penn State settled for a punt on its first drive.

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin hit Carnell Tate on a 20-yard play-action pass on the Buckeyes’ first offensive play. Penn State forced a 3rd-and-5 on the Buckeyes, but Sayin picked out Jeremiah Smith down the sideline for an 18-yard gain.

The Buckeyes worked their way into the red zone behind a 6-yard connection between Sayin and Max Klare. Sayin rifled a 14-yard pass to Smith for Ohio State’s first touchdown of the game. Ohio State’s opening 89-yard series clocked in at 6:10.

Ohio State forced a three-and-out on Penn State on its subsequent drive. Allen rushed twice for six yards. Grunkemeyer had to throw the ball away on third down.

Sayin found a wide-open Brandon Inniss up the seam for 29 yards after a Karson Kiesewetter roughing the passer penalty gifted the Buckeyes 15 yards and favorable field position. The Nittany Lions got pressure home on first down, but Sayin threw the ball out of bounds in time.

Isaiah West picked up 11 yards on the ground as Ohio State entered the red zone once more. Inniss juked his way towards some extra yardage to set the Buckeyes up at 3rd-and-2 from Penn State’s 11-yard line, where C.J. Donaldson bulldozed his way through for the first down. He lost one yard on 1st-and-goal to close out the opening frame.

Amare Campbell made a strong tackle on second down before Dom DeLuca broke up a pass near the sideline with Chaz Coleman and Dani Dennis-Sutton pressuring Sayin. Ohio State’s 22-yard field goal from Jayden Fielding sailed through the uprights. The Buckeyes led 10-0 a minute into the second quarter.

Grunkemeyer connected with Ross on 3rd-and-10 for a fresh set of downs. He missed a wide-open Kyron Hudson in stride on the next play for what would’ve been a solid chunk to get the Penn State offense rolling.

Nonetheless, Grunkemeyer managed to get the ball in Nick Singleton’s hands on a screen pass with pressure in his face. Singleton took it 16 yards and into Ohio State territory.

Singleton and Allen teamed up on two runs to set Penn State up at Ohio State’s 37-yard line. The Nittany Lions tried a trick play, but Liam Clifford’s pass fell well short of Hudson. Penn State faced another 3rd-and-10 situation. Grunkemeyer had time in the pocket and delivered a 13-yard dart to Clifford.

Singleton took a touch pass 13 yards down to Ohio State’s 9-yard line. The Buckeyes called their first timeout of the half.

Allen and Singleton pounded back-to-back rushes to bring Penn State down to the three. Grunkemeyer tossed it to Singleton on 3rd-and-goal, who rushed it in for the score. Ryan Barker converted his extra point to make it a 10-7 ballgame with 6:18 left in the first half.

Singleton for six pic.twitter.com/7j54HcY7us

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 1, 2025

Dennis-Sutton came close to bringing Sayin down on 3rd-and-5 on Ohio State’s subsequent drive, but he broke free for a first down. Smith picked up another fresh set of downs before Sayin tossed a 45-yard touchdown to Tate.

Grunkemeyer missed a wide-open Trebor Peña on an out route on 2nd-and-1, but Allen picked up the first down on the next play nonetheless. The progress ended there, though. Gabe Nwosu punted going into the two-minute warning.

Campbell forced a fumble on Donaldson to open Ohio State’s next drive. Coleman recovered it to set Penn State up at Ohio State’s 13-yard line.

Allen pounded the rock twice for five yards before the Buckeyes called their second timeout with 29 seconds remaining in the half.

Grunkemeyer shoved it up the middle to Allen as Penn State reached Ohio State’s 1-yard line. Allen punched it in for the score on the next play. Ohio State took the knee and led 17-14 at halftime.

The Buckeyes kicked off the second half with a 19-yard reception by Will Kacmarek. Sayin unleashed another deep shot for Tate, this time completing it for 57 yards all the way down to Penn State’s 4-yard line. Donaldson rushed in for the touchdown three plays later.

Khalil Dinkins caught a 9-yard pass to open the Nittany Lions’ first possession of the second half. Peña got involved with back-to-back receptions before Kenyatta Jackson Jr. sacked Grunkemeyer for an 8-yard loss. Penn State punted the ball back to the Buckeyes.

Sayin let another deep one loose, this time to Smith, who reeled it in for 57 yards. A.J. Harris committed a pass interference penalty on 3rd-and-12, handing the Buckeyes 1st-and-goal from Penn State’s 8-yard line. Sayin picked out tight end Bennett Christian in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. Ohio State led 31-14 with just over three minutes remaining in the third frame.

Ross made an acrobatic play on 3rd-and-6 to somehow wiggle free for the first down pickup. Grunkemeyer displayed some confusion on the next 3rd-and-10, though, and paid for it with another Ohio State sack. Nwosu punted it away once more.

James Peoples picked up 11 yards for the Buckeyes on the first play of the fourth quarter. Penn State forced a punt on the next set of downs. The Nittany Lions also drew a fair catch interference penalty for an extra 15-yard boost.

Penn State didn’t do anything with the ball, though. The Nittany Lions tried running some sort of flea flicker, but Grunkemeyer simply tripped. Nwosu stepped back onto the field.

Bo Jackson ripped a 51-yard run on the first play of Ohio State’s next drive. On 1st-and-10 from Penn State’s 11-yard line, Sayin targeted Smith. Antoine Belgrave-Shorter tipped the pass, but Smith still came down with it with Elliot Washington on him. The Buckeyes extended their lead to 38-14 with 9:43 left in the contest.

Grunkemeyer fumbled on the first play of Penn State’s next drive, but the Nittany Lions somehow recovered the ball. He hit Hudson for 18 yards on 3rd-and-15. Grunkemeyer then connected with Koby Howard down the middle. He targeted Dinkins up the seam on the next play, where he got blown up by Caleb Downs. Flags flew, but officials did not rule targeting. Penn State got help with an unnecessary roughness call, but Downs picked off Grunkemeyer on 4th-and-goal to kill the drive.

Ohio State ran out the clock to end the game.

Takeaways

• While the result clearly shows that the game got out of hand, Penn State held tough for the entire first half. The halftime score was only 17-14 in Ohio State’s favor, and the Nittany Lions made some big plays to give themselves a fighting chance. Terry Smith said he wouldn’t accept a lack of effort, and that clearly showed here.
• Nick Singleton had arguably his most complete game of the season against the Buckeyes. He ended his day with six rushes for 18 yards coupled with three receptions for 18 yards. Singleton scored Penn State’s first touchdown of the game and flashed his speed on some big screen passes.
• Julian Sayin had a field day against the Penn State defense. In what has been a yearlong struggle with run defense, the Nittany Lions allowed 316 yards and four touchdowns on 20-for-23 passing from Sayin. Ohio State had three plays over 50 yards.

What’s Next?

Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium on November 8 to take on Indiana in the Helmet Stripe and Military Appreciation game. A kickoff time and TV network are to be determined.