In an Ohio State win, J.T. Tuimoloau had a tip that led to an pick-six, and he recovered a fumbled ball. 13:21
The best performance of J.T. Tuimoloau's college career had already been produced. The sophomore had one more chance to impress.
With 2 minutes, 47 seconds left in Ohio State's game against Penn State, Tuimoloau leaped to catch Sean Clifford's pass and then strolled into the end zone.
I blacked out when the play happened.
The pick-six was one of the best plays in Ohio State history and one of the best in the nation. In the past 15 seasons, Tuimoloau has recorded two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an intercept and a touchdown. On his big day, he picked up two picks.
In the previous week against Iowa, Tuimoloau recorded nine tackles, four for a loss, and one sack.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day doesn't know if he's ever seen that before. It's a big deal. A lot of hard work has gone into this. He's an amazing player, but he's also a better person and you can see his talent.
His coming-out party was today.
In practice leading up to the Penn State game, senior defensive endZach Harrison saw that Tuimoloau had had several picks. For game day, Tuimoloau was the best.
He had two picks and a pick-six. I haven't seen that before.
When he was a sophomore at Eastside Catholic School, he recorded an intercept. He scored in high school.
He attributes his ball skills to being a basketball player as well as a tight end. Major programs offered scholarships to play basketball.
He said that basketball gave him the ability to move quickly.
Day got his first sack of the season against Iowa. He had 2.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss.
Day said that he had been getting better. He wants it." He's probably going to tell you that he's been pressed at times. He wants to go to that place. He believes in Larry Johnson, he believes in the scheme, and he believes in his teammates.
Ohio State needed the lift from Tuimoloau in a game it trailed at halftime and then with 9:26 to play after an exhausting Penn State series, which was caused by an Ohio State pass interference penalty on third-and-16 and an illegal formation penalty. Ohio State drove 75 yards on three plays and scored on a 41-yard run by Henderson.
The quarterback found a tight end who broke three tackles for the touchdown. Stover's run was similar to Binjimen Victor's 47-yard touchdown against Penn State, according to Day.
This is a game that will be told for a while. They thought so. Sometimes, we don't need to play four quarters. We knew we would have to play four quarters.
After scoring only 16 points in the first three quarters, Ohio State exploded for 28 points and 189 yards in the fourth. Penn State has lost leads of five points or more against Ohio State three times in the last two years.
Day said that it was so satisfying because they responded today. Is it possible to clean things up. That's football. You see it weekly. There are games that go back and forth. The locker room was on fire after we were done playing in this environment.
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