COLUMBUS — Urban Meyer probably said it best as he opened his post-game press conference Saturday evening.

“Wow! What the heck just happened?”

There are certainly a lot of people — both Ohio State and Penn State fans alike — still trying to figure that out.

Quite simply, Ohio State did the unthinkable. Somehow, the Buckeyes picked themselves up off the deck — despite trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter — and found a way to knock the Nittany Lions from the ranks of the unbeatens and seize control of the Big Ten East with a 39-38 victory in front of 109,302 inside the Horseshoe.

Actually, when you take a step back and put the deficit out of your mind, it’s not all that difficult to come up with exactly what happened … and how.

J.T. Barrett and the highly regarded Ohio State defensive line took the game over.

Think about this. In the fourth quarter alone, Barrett completed all 13 of his passes and threw three touchdowns, including two to Johnnie Dixon, who now has a team-leading six on the season.

All told, Barrett was 33-of-39 for 328 yards. He actually completed his final 16 throws in the game, which is a school record. He also set the Big Ten record for career touchdown passes. When factoring in his 95 rushing yards, Barrett accounted for 423 yards of offense, which is another school record.

“I’ve never had a kid play perfect, but damn he was close,” Meyer said. “I can count four drops off the top of my head and two penalties that kept him from big completions.”

Add up the performance, the stats, the records and it equates to — quite possibly — a new leader in the Heisman Trophy race.

“I think the H word is appropriate after today’s game,” Meyer said.

Barrett — though flattered by his head coach’s opinion — knows a lot of season is left to be played, including this weekend’s game at Iowa.

“I don’t really focus on it,” Barrett said. “We’ve got to go beat Iowa and that’s what I’ll focus on.”

Let’s not forget that there was a loud outcry — mostly on social media and talk radio from fans — that Barrett should be sat down in favor of either Dwayne Haskins or even Joe Burrow after a frustrating loss to Oklahoma in early September.

Not once did Meyer, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, quarterbacks coach Ryan Day, Barrett or any of the Buckeye players believe — or even pay attention — to any of that noise.

“Everybody has a right to their own opinion,” Barrett said. “I’m in a great spot right now. It’s my senior year being the quarterback at Ohio State. I love the guys in the locker room, love the brotherhood that we have. I don’t really focus on the critiques that people have to say about me.”

Barrett doesn’t just put up statistics. As one would expect from a fifth-year senior, the only three-time captain in program history and a guy who is 33-5 as a starting quarterback, he’s the unquestioned leader of the Buckeyes, too.

“That’s a man’s man if ever there was one,” center Billy Price said. “His legacy (at Ohio State) is just amazing. To be able to be a part of that, help him continue to grow that legacy and develop around him is just an incredible opportunity.”

Sam Hubbard, who produced one of the biggest defensive plays of the game when he tackled both PSU quarterback Trace McSorley and running back Saquon Barkley at the same time as they attempted a handoff, wasn’t at all surprised by what the Ohio State offensive unit was able to do with its back to the wall.

“I saw what we see every day (in practice) and that’s consistency,” Hubbard said. “I was really happy that he was able to show it in a big game like this. He played outstanding. We’re not surprised, but man did he play awesome.”

Yes, he did.

And because of that, Ohio State’s hopes of reaching the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis and possibly the College Football Playoff are still alive and well.

SETH’S SCOOPS

∫ THOUGH HE was more than pleased with the victory, Meyer fully acknowledged that not everything was rosy about the victory.

“When you talk about the first three quarters, I can count a handful of plays that we looked like fools, and we have to get that fixed,” Meyer said.

The majority of those plays occurred — once again — on special teams and that takes into consideration Denzel Ward’s blocked punt, which led to a touchdown pass that really ignited the momentum shift.

Despite that play, Meyer’s patience with that unit has officially worn out when you consider they allowed Barkley to return the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.

“I’m not even going to take questions (on special teams),” Meyer said. “We’re just going to have to make serious changes on personnel and everything else. That was a comedy — comical.”

∫ PRO FOOTBALL Hall of Famer and Ohio State legend Orlando Pace was recognized during the course of the game Saturday.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com or at twitter.com/TLSportsSeth