Penn State is in a battle against Ohio State in the weekend’s only top 5 matchup. The Nittany Lions haven’t had the best luck against the Buckeyes recently, having not won since 2016.

However, the Week 10 matchup couldn’t have started much better for the Nittany Lions. Penn State opened the scoring with a field goal, but it wouldn’t take long before the team added more points. With around 5 minutes remaining in the 1st, Zion Tracy picked off Will Howard and took it to the house for a 31-yard score.

The Buckeyes were faced with a 3rd down and the Penn State crowd was electric. Tracy stepped in front of the Howard pass and went untouched into the endzone.

The score put the Nittany Lions up 10-0 as the 1st quarter winded down. The INT was Tracy’s 1st of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Coming into this game, Tracy had 11 tackles and 1 pass deflection in 2024.

However, with around 2 minutes remaining, the Buckeyes finally found the end zone. Howard found star receiver Emeka Egbuka in the end zone for a 25-yard score to make it a 10-7 game.

A win in this game would move the Nittany Lions to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in B1G play. The No. 3 Nittany Lions can thank their defense for the fast start, as the team has the No. 4 total defense in the nation. The unit is also No. 8 in the nation in scoring defense.