Nittany Lions Stun Ohio State, 24-21

Walker Inspires with Two Fourth Quarter Solo Special Teams Tackles

UNIVERSITY PARK — Any early season talk of buying out coach James Franklin’s contract is long gone. For the first time in Franklin’s two-plus seasons as Penn State head coach, his Nittany Lions have pulled off a huge upset.

Penn State put up 17 unanswered final period points to down No. 2 ranked Ohio State by 24-21 before a sellout “White Out” crowd of 107,280 at Beaver Stadium Saturday night. It was the first time the Nittany Lions had defeated a second ranked team since 1964 when they stunned Ohio State in Columbus. It was Penn State’s first win over the Buckeyes since 2011.

The game had many heroes, foremost among them special teams player Grant Haley who scooped up and ran back a blocked field goal attempt 60 yards for a touchdown to give PSU its first lead at 24-21 with 4:27 remaining.

The win pushed PSU to 5-2 on the season heading to Purdue for a 12 noon kickoff next Saturday. The 3-4 Boilermakers lost Saturday 27-14 to Nebraska. The Buckeye loss put Ohio State at 6-1, the defeat ending a 20-game road winning streak.

Sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley cut Ohio State’s lead to 21-14 with a 2-yard touchdown run early in period four and Tyler Davis connected on a 34-yard field goal with 9:33 to go to put the score at 21-17 and set up Haley’s game-winning return after Marcus Allen’s block of a 45-yard Ohio State field goal attempt.

Special teams standout Von Walker (Central Mountain High School) contributed two key solo tackles late in the game.