The largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history had seen enough before all hope was gone. Streams of white shirts streamed toward the exits as the vast majority of the 111,030 fans felt the familiar pain of scarlet and gray defeat. The Ohio State Buckeyes hit the ball downfield, ran out the clock and did what they always do to win against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Win.

Ohio State University's 20-13 win on Saturday was its eighth straight in the non-rivalry and its 12th victory in the last 13 meetings. The games play out differently from year to year, but the end result is a mind-numbing sameness. Penn State is good — maybe still good at the College Football Playoff level — but never good enough to beat the Buckeyes.

This twisty, turbulent competition ended for the final time on a 108-inch wide grass field. The three yards that separated the Nittany Lions offense from the end zone late in the fourth quarter could not be crossed. The Buckeyes' defense stood firm, their stand at the goal line aided by another highlight of this series – the suspicious plays of James Franklin's Nittany Lions.

With a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line and a seven-yard deficit, Penn State running back Kaytron Allen hurled three straight plays down the middle of the line, the last two with 348-pound guard Olaivavega Ioane, the started moving and tried to reverse it around the Ohio State line. Allen gained two yards on those three runs, setting up a fourth-and-goal on the 1st.

That's when Penn State finally tried Plan B. They got Ioane moving again after he was spread wide, but called for a play-action pass that had quarterback Drew Allar pass to superstar tight end Tyler Warren in the left flat seemed to be looking. The Buckeyes were covering that, so he had to redirect and shoot into traffic toward backup tight end Khalil Dinkins. The ball fell incomplete, Ohio State took over and the crowd slowly began to thin out.

“We have to be successful in these moments,” Buckeyes defensive end JT Tuimoloau said. “If you shy away from those moments, you’re not here to play Big Ten football. We were tough today.”

This was new Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki's welcome to the Big Ten moment, and he came up empty on key possessions. For all the praise for his creativity, nothing worked well enough to cover those 108 inches. Penn State did not score an offensive touchdown and only scored one late, cosmetic touchdown in its last two games against Ohio State.

At no point in the last four games did Warren touch the ball. He had been used as a wildcat quarterback several times early in the game, and the 6-foot-1, 220-pound behemoth was effective. He gained 47 yards on three carries, including a 33-yarder that set up the score. The more athletic quarterback Beau Pribula, who can put additional strain on the defense with his mobility, was also useless. It was just Allen on a triple, then a fourth-down pass into coverage.

While that result puts another sack of bricks on Franklin's back, it had a pervasive effect on Ryan Day. He has a Michigan problem that remains unresolved for at least a few more weeks, but no such problem with Penn State. He is now 6-0 against the Nittany Lions.

He is also 63-9 overall and 42-4 in the Big Ten. But the pressure on Day has increased at a time of overwhelming expectations. Ohio State lost by one point to No. 1 Oregon — hardly an unforgivable result, but still — and was defeated in a boring win over mediocre Nebraska last week. Since there were no significant wins on the record, a loss here could have resulted in elimination from the playoffs.

“I think it’s fair to say we were at a crossroads,” Day said. “That was a big game for us. We didn't really want to say that publicly, but we said it behind closed doors.

“There's probably a lot to unpack there that I won't go into. But there's a lot that goes into being the head coach at Ohio State, and you can say, 'Ignore everything that happens.' But your players read it, your coaches read it, your staff read it, your families read it. In these moments you have to stay strong. But to achieve what we did today, a top-five win, feels good at the moment.”

Ohio State secured this must-win game despite some quarterback plays that could have been disastrous. Will Howard delivered Penn State's only touchdown with a pick-six interception on the Buckeyes' first possession, putting them in a 10-0 hole and tipping the stadium. Later in the first half, Howard was on his way to the end zone for a running touchdown when the ball was taken away from him, which bounced off his knee and out of the end zone caused a touchback and a turnover.

Between those two cataclysms, Howard was pretty darn good. And he was good enough in the second half – he led two field goal drives, made a few key throws and runs and avoided mistakes.

“I played my worst game of the year,” Howard said. “But man, we wanted this game. We talked about it at the beginning of the week – we have to put in the effort to win this game. There's no way we can lose. And that’s how we played.”

Ohio State's $20 million investment in its roster paid off on Saturday.

Injuries had weakened the offensive line, which bottomed out at just 64 rushing yards against Nebraska. The coaches moved their best lineman — Donovan Jackson, who was one of several seniors who stayed in school with some help from the Ohio State NIL staff — from left guard to left tackle for this game.

Jackson hadn't played tackle since high school, but the move helped stabilize the situation. Penn State's fearsome rush end Abdul Carter got two sacks but didn't dominate the game, and Ohio State ran for 176 yards on the day.

“We had to run the damn ball,” Jackson said.

Fifty-eight of those rushing yards came on the final drive, as the Buckeyes took over at their own 1-yard line and pushed down the field until time expired.

“That was fun,” Jackson said. “As an offensive lineman, these are the drives you dream about.”

The running back tandem of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins came up big, combining for 149 rushing yards. They also caught three passes for 25 yards and delivered several devastating blocks.

Henderson decided to stay for his senior season. Judkins was a transfer transfer from Mississippi. When Judkins visited Ohio State last winter, Day had the two advocates sit in a room together and discuss how they thought job sharing would work. They came out of the room and told Day that they were both on board.

The Buckeyes have assembled many elite players around a quarterback who May be good enough to win a national title. Howard alone isn't the game-changing talent that Cam Ward was in Miami or Dillon Gabriel was in Oregon. But he can also make enough plays to win games – as long as he doesn't make mistakes that cause them to lose.

Ohio State has two overpowering opponents next (Purdue and Northwestern). Then came two big games to close out the regular season – undefeated Indiana and arch-enemy Michigan. Given the weakness of the early schedule, the win against Penn State is a necessary addition to the playoff resume.

“In life you’re going to have these opportunities where you have to go to win,” Day said. “You have to take something with you. You have to find a way to get this thing done.”

Ohio State always finds a way against Penn State. And Penn State always can't find a way. Just like it always was.