The gap between Matt Patricia’s Ohio State defense and Jim Knowles’ Penn State defense continued to widen as their teams went head-to-head at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.
Patricia’s defense continued to be the most dominant unit in college football, holding Penn State to just 200 yards – the fewest yards the Nittany Lions have had in a game against Ohio State since 2005, and the fewest they’ve had in any game since 2018. Ohio State allowed Penn State to score on just two of its nine possessions, and one of those two touchdowns came after the Nittany Lions got the ball back in the red zone on a CJ Donaldson fumble.
Knowles’ defense, on the other hand, got shredded for 480 yards – the most Penn State has allowed to Ohio State since 2020, and the most the Nittany Lions have given up in any game since their 2023 Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss. Excluding the drives at the end of each half that the Buckeyes finished by taking knees, Ohio State scored on six of its other eight drives in the game, including five touchdowns.
In a week where Ryan Day described Patricia as a “home-run” addition to his staff, Ohio State’s defense backed up Day’s praise. The Buckeyes stifled Penn State’s offense to just 3.33 yards per play, marking the fifth time in eight games this season that Ohio State has held its opponent to fewer than 3.4 yards per play, and the first time since 2014 that Penn State has gained fewer than 3.5 yards per play in a game.
Ohio State’s defense faced a bit of first-half adversity, allowing Penn State to put together a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that included a pair of third-and-long conversions. From there, however, the Buckeyes were dominant, holding Penn State to just 32 total yards on its next five possessions. The Nittany Lions threatened to be the first team to score more than 16 points against Ohio State this season when they drove to the 7-yard line on their final possession, but Caleb Downs picked off an Ethan Grunkemeyer pass in the end zone to seal the Buckeyes’ 38-14 victory.
CALEB DOWNS INTERCEPTION IN THE END ZONE @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/qeTy6ztlqH
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 1, 2025
“At the end of the day, we got to beat blocks and make plays, and if we do that, nobody can beat us,” Downs said of how the Buckeyes bounced back from the early Penn State touchdown drive. “Just getting off blocks, making plays in the backfield, and finishing plays.”
Day felt Patricia did a great job of making adjustments as the game progressed to stop what worked well for Penn State’s offense early in the game.
“The defense was excellent, really stepped up,” Day said. “I know there was a couple third downs early on that were frustrating, but I thought Matt changed it up a little bit. And then the guys played really physical, got to the quarterback, changed up the looks in the back end.”
On the other side, Knowles’ Penn State defense continued to be one of college football’s most disappointing units this season. Expected to be one of, if not the, nation’s best defense entering the season, Penn State has now allowed an average of 31.4 points per game and 386.8 yards per game in five Big Ten contests, all of which it’s lost.
While Knowles frequently said that limiting explosive plays was one of his biggest goals in his three years as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, his Penn State defense failed miserably in that regard against the Buckeyes, allowing six plays of 20-plus yards, including four plays of 45 yards or more.
An EXPLOSIVE 51-yard run by Bo Jackson @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/YKUMOKCJbX
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 1, 2025
Although Knowles’ return to Ohio State was the week’s biggest storyline entering the game, and it’s been apparent that Day wasn’t happy with how Knowles handled his departure from Ohio State after last season, Day said his team didn’t use that as motivation for Saturday’s game. As the Buckeyes chase their second straight national championship, they didn’t need any extra incentive to play hard against Penn State.
“Honestly, no. I didn't feel any of that,” Day said when asked if he thought his players used Knowles’ departure as motivation. “Maybe, I guess, when the season started and when I was looking ahead, I thought maybe that would come into play. But it just didn't. I don't think any of our coaches or players were distracted by that.”
As excellent as Patricia has been in his first eight games as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, there’s no need for the Buckeyes to harbor hard feelings toward Knowles anymore. Even though Ohio State had the best defense in the country and won a national championship with Knowles at the helm last season, the Buckeyes’ defense has been even better under Patricia so far this season, allowing just 6.9 points and 214.8 yards per game.
Ohio State seemingly went out of its way to make sure it didn’t give Penn State any bulletin-board material in the week leading up to the game, and no Buckeyes went out of their way to throw shade or talk trash about Knowles after the game either. But they didn’t need to. Ohio State’s play on both sides of the ball against Penn State said everything the Buckeyes needed to say, as Patricia’s defense dominated the same way it has all year while Brian Hartline’s offense picked Knowles’ defense apart.
When Knowles left Ohio State in January, there was good reason to wonder if the Buckeyes would miss their former defensive coordinator – and if he’d be the missing piece that would allow Penn State to win a national championship of its own. But Ohio State’s blowout win over the Nittany Lions made it clear the Buckeyes don’t miss Knowles at all as his first season at Penn State looks increasingly likely to be his last.
