STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Will Howard popped up, victory in hand and the homecoming the Ohio State quarterback longed for complete.
The Pennsylvania native who has long felt Penn State didn’t think he was good enough to play there signaled first down with his hand.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Howard might as well have kept going all the way to eight, the number of consecutive wins the fourth-ranked Buckeyes have over the third-ranked Nittany Lions after a 20-13 victory on Saturday that ended with a late goal-line defensive stand followed by Howard and Ohio State’s offense draining the clock with a drive that made up for in physicality what it lacked in precision.
“We willed ourselves to win that game,” said Howard, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs waiting for a scholarship offer from Penn State that never came.
Revenge was sweet, if a little sloppy. Howard threw a pick-6 on his first pass to put Ohio State in an early 10-point hole and later fumbled before crossing the goal line to cost the Buckeyes (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) another score.
The Kansas State transfer atoned by throwing for 182 yards and touchdowns to Emeka Egbuka and Brandon Inniss. Howard added another 24 on the ground, the last seven of consequence coming on an option that sealed the game and led a not insignificant portion of the largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history (111,030) to send Penn State coach James Franklin into the tunnel under a chorus of boos, though not before a tense exchange with one fan.
“I own it all,” Franklin said after falling to 1-10 against a program that has treated Penn State more as a little brother than a rival.
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