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It's been since before Penn State's national championship season in 1982 that one of its players returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown. And if it's even happened before that, it's unlikely that it came during a game of this magnitude and at a time of such importance.

Trailing No. 2 Ohio State, 21-17, with fewer than 5 minutes left to play, junior cornerback Grant Haley snatched up a blocked field-goal attempt from Marcus Allen. Then Haley sprinted 60 yards for the go-ahead score, outracing holder Cameron Johnston before hurtling himself across the goal line.

"I was working everything," Haley said. "Everything I had in the tank. If my legs were going to give in that moment, I just had to get into the end zone. It was just amazing and a sigh of relief when I crossed that goal line."

Not only was it part of one of the most critical special teams plays in school history, given that Penn State hasn't beaten a No. 2 team in 26 years, but it was also the moment that Haley along most of the 107,000-plus in attendance Saturday night realized that the Nittany Lions were actually about to upset the Buckeyes.

"As soon as I got to the sideline everybody was kind of rushing me," Haley recalled soon after the game. "I was like, this is is really going to happen. We just need one stop and it could happen. I think that was the moment, and I was just in complete awe."

Haley, Allen and the PSU defense returned to the field one more time and forced two incompletions along with two quarterback sacks to complete the comeback and send Beaver Stadium into hysterics.

It was the first time since 1982 that Penn State beat the No. 2 team in Beaver Stadium and the first time since '99 that it defeated a team that ranked among the nation's top five. It also halted an Ohio State streak of 20 consecutive true road victories under Urban Meyer.

And it was Haley's game-changing scoop-and-score, one that'll surely be featured in highlight reels for years to come, that helped clinch it.

"Time you could stay stood still," Haley said, recalling the recory. "My eyes got big. The ball looked small. I just picked it up. First, I just wanted to pick it up. Second, I just didn't want to get tackled. The rest was history."

Quite literally, actually, as it's been at least 34 years since a play like that's happened before.

For Haley, however, it's largely a blur. Not only was he being pulled every direction by his teammates and swarming fans in the celebratory moments after the game, he was also beckoned for TV interviews.

But there was one moment in particular that Haley was able to savor.

"Seeing Coach Franklin and just the tears coming out of his eyes, because you can see how much it means to him and how much he cares about us," Haley said, adding his favorite post-game memory was "just giving him a big hug after the game. I think that was the moment. Everything that happened the last three years, this man, he's our head coach. We're going to win for him and fight for him until the end."