Ryan Day, top-five win.
Ohio State, very much alive for a berth first in the Big Ten Championship and then in the College Football Playoff.
The reason? The fourth-ranked Buckeyes outscored the host, No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions 20-3 over the game's final 50 minutes.
So, at an obvious crossroads a mere 10 minutes into the contest and down 10-0, Day admitted he and Ohio State were at a big-picture crossroads with this game as well.
"I think it's fair to say, we were at a crossroads," Day told reporters. "It was a big game for us. We didn't really want to publicly say that but we said that behind closed doors.
"This is a big game for us for a lot of reasons. To get a top-five win on the road in an environment like this. ...
"But at the end of the day, we had to find a way to get a stop and get that extra first down or score. That's what it's going to come down to. This is going to build us moving forward. For our guys to get this win is going to go a long way. Guys came back on this team for a reason: to win rivalry games and go win a Big Ten championship."
The Buckeyes defense thwarted Penn State at the end zone two separate times in this game, one just before halftime and one to deny a game-tying touchdown with just five minutes left to play.
They also held Penn State, playing at home with a roaring crowd at its back, to just two field goals on offense; the Nittany Lions got a pick-six on Ohio State's first possession for their only touchdown.
Now?
"All of our goals are in front of us," Day said. "And we've been through a lot. We have to continue to build."
An exuberant Day at game's end admitted in postgame that this game had carried an extra emotional element. He didn't say he felt the external pressure after three-straight losses in the Michigan rivalry, last year's Cotton Bowl and this year's Oregon game, but he stopped just short.
"There's a lot that goes with being the head coach at Ohio State, and you can say ignore everything that goes on but your players read it, coaches read it, your staff members read it, families read it," Day said. "And you've got to stay strong in those moments. But our entire team, they all believed.
"It feels good right now. We've still got a lot of football ahead of us but right now, it feels good and proud of our team and our coaching staff."
Day emphasized that the method his Ohio State team won this game would yield dividends the remainder of the season -- especially from a toughness standpoint.
"At the end of the day, the way that we've been talking about it is go win the game," said Day, who's never lost to Penn State in his six full seasons atop the program. "And we had to get a stop on defense. We went all the way to the 1-yard line, got that stop.
"To finish that drive the way that we did I think is just going to springboard our toughness, our physicality into the back half of the season. But, these guys won it."