Ohio State Stock Report after Buckeyes Bury Penn State

The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to No. 3 Penn State for another win against the Nittany Lions. After a point loss to the Oregon Ducks, a bye week and a narrow win in a poor performance against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the momentum was not on Ohio State's side.

A large part of Ohio State's problems on the offensive side can be attributed to poor offensive line play. Losing left tackle Josh Simmons to the Ducks this season may have been more costly than losing this game. His replacement, Zen Michalski, was then injured against the Cornhuskers.

Against a Nittany Lions team that Ohio State has had pretty consistent success against in recent history, this team seemed much better on offense, with an interesting personnel shakeup. Donovan Jackson moved to left tackle and last year's starting center, Carson Hinzman, took over at starting left guard.

Ultimately, the move worked and the Buckeyes won 20-13. This edition of Stock up, Stock down feels like an obvious unit needs some recognition.

Despite facing one of the best edge rushers in college football and lacking offensive tackle length, Donovan Jackson held his own fairly well against Adbul Carter.

Jackson wasn't the only bright spot. Hinzman, Seth McLaughlin and Tegra Tshabola certainly created some space up the middle for Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, especially on the final drive of the game.

Judkins finished the game with 95 yards on 14 carries, while Henderson and Will Howard combined to add another 78 yards on the ground. This is all thanks to the greats at the top.

This dominant performance at the front may have helped create a starting group for the rest of the season.

Howard didn't play his best game. He made two major mistakes that could have been extremely costly.

The pick six on the first drive came from not paying attention to the curve to jump over Jeremiah Smith's route underneath. That immediately put the Buckeyes in a 10-0 hole.

When the Buckeyes marched back and had all the momentum, it looked like they would take a 21-10 lead. Instead, Howard dropped the ball at the one-yard line, knocked it off his left leg and went over the pylon for a touchback. Not protecting the football gave the Nittany Lions a much-needed stop that seemed unlikely at the time.

These two mistakes were the biggest, but he also missed several throws. Carnell Tate would have had a touchdown had Howard not thrown the ball behind him, resulting in a circus catch that was incomplete because it was thrown to the boundary. Unfortunately, missed opportunities like this have slowed this offensive.

To Howard's credit, he didn't let these mistakes ruin his game. He fought, competed and kept running when the Buckeyes needed him. His time management at the end of the game was also excellent.

The defense has been playing well lately, but they deserve a lot of credit for this win as a unit. Whenever they were backed up against their own end zone, they made plays in crucial moments.

Drew Allar threw a very catchable ball to Harrison Wallace III in the corner of the end zone at the end of the first half. A slight wobble from Wallace gave Davison Igbinosun the opportunity to get his hands in and grab the football. Not only did he get the ball, but he also kept it in play with his feet, allowing for an incredible defensive performance.

In the second half, Penn State had a first down and goal from Ohio State's three-yard line. After stuffing the run three times in a row, the Buckeyes managed a stop on fourth down thanks to excellent coverage. Lathan Ransom jumped Tyler Warren's route and Caleb Downs was all over Khalil Dinkins' route.

Cody Simon again led the way with 10 total tackles and also added a sack. His linebacker colleague Sonny Styles also started with a total of nine tackles.