What did Ohio State coach Ryan Day, Penn State players, say about the Buckeyes' win over the Lions?

COLUMBUS — Ohio State coach Ryan Day said in the days before Saturday’s matchup with Penn State State that the Lions have more talent than their record indicates. For the first 30 minutes, that proved to be true. But, over the final two quarters of an eventual 38-14 win at The Horseshoe, the Buckeyes showed why they are among the favorites to win the College Football Playoff while the Lions could not keep up on offense or defense.

“How do you perceive a team that’s lost a few games in a row and is going through some difficult times? These guys still have a lot of NFL players on the team, and we knew it was going to be a challenge,” Day said. “So again, it just went back to us and our preparation and how hard we play. For us, they were just the next team on the list that we have to execute against. That’s a tribute to the coaches and a tribute to the players for continuing to believe in that and keep pushing.”

Leading just 17-14 at halftime, Ohio State scored 21 unanswered points after the break to reach the final margin of victory. The fight Penn State showed in the first two quarters did not carry over to the final two.

“We came in at halftime, and we were up by three; you would have thought we were down by 21, but I thought we responded well,” Day said. “That’s the thing; when you come out in the second half, you have to learn from the first half, but you can’t dwell on it.”

What did Penn State players say about the loss?

Each week, Blue-White Illustrated provides a sampling of what Penn State players told reporters after the game. Here is this week’s offering:

“It was a good experience. I saw a lot of football games in this stadium. This was my first time playing in it. So that was obviously pretty cool. And then just based off the play, just got to go back and watch the film, but we lost. So like I said, just not good enough when we lose.”

–Penn State quarterback and Ohio native Ethan Grunkemeyer.

“Those guys are gifted athletes, amazing athletes. Definitely a problem for us today. We had a game plan of trying to keep the ball in front of us, and we gotta do better than that.”

–PSU linebacker Amare Campbell.

“They’re very talented receivers. They got speed, they got size, and they catch the ball. Anytime you got a combination like that, it’s a challenge coming that week.”

–PSU S Zakee Wheatley on the OSU wide receivers.