What We Learned About Penn State After Another Loss to Ohio Stat

STATE COLLEGE | It’s a brand new season however a well-recognized end result for Penn State, which misplaced its eighth straight recreation to Ohio State 20-13 on Saturday. Right here’s what we realized from the Nittany Lions’ newest loss to the Buckeyes. 

The Nittany Lions’ offense falls brief once more

Penn State actually was inventive once more on offense, incorporating a plethora of enjoyable formations, motions and trickery all day. However all these bells and whistles didn’t translate to a single offensive landing. The Nittany Lions have scored one offensive landing towards Ohio State for the previous two seasons. Ohio State beat Penn State 20-12 final season, holding the Nittany Lions to only a late landing within the fourth quarter.

The Nittany Lions (7-1) didn’t run the ball properly, as Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen mixed for simply 58 yards on 22 rushes. Tight finish Tyler Warren was the staff’s main rusher with 47 yards. Drew Allar ran for 31 yards, the majority of which got here on scrambles. Allar ran it early and infrequently, primarily as a result of his receivers struggled to get open constantly. 

“I’m simply upset, for actual,” Singleton mentioned. “If we find yourself scoring [on those two drives], we’d be someplace completely different. We might have received. It was an in depth recreation. I don’t need to beat a lifeless horse, however we gotta end.”

It’s a well-recognized drawback for Penn State: The receiving corps wasn’t productive sufficient on Saturday, and the pre-snap eye sweet didn’t appear to assist in getting them open. The passing recreation in the end funneled by means of Singleton’s six catches. Warren acquired going within the second half with 4 catches and a 33-yard scamper out of the Wildcat formation. However the extensive receivers accounted for under three catches. 

“Are they good on protection? Sure. We gotta discover methods to fabricate factors and yards, little question about it, so we didn’t get it completed,” Penn State coach Franklin mentioned. 

Penn State had a 1st-and-goal from the Ohio State 3-yard line within the remaining six minutes with a possibility to attain a game-tying landing. From there, they handed it to Allen up the center on three straight performs to succeed in the 1-yard line. On 4th-and-goal, Penn State went play motion, and Allar had nowhere to throw it. Warren didn’t get the ball in any respect throughout that sequence. 

“We had a man-zone possibility,” Warren mentioned of the fourth-down play. “They zoned it off, so we went to the zone facet. I’m going to do my job it doesn’t matter what play is named. There are a whole lot of guys who could make performs in these conditions. It’s not simply me who ought to be me getting the ball.”

It was a golden probability for the Nittany Lions to tie the sport, however they couldn’t pull it off. Ohio State would milk away the remainder of the clock, making certain Penn State would by no means see the soccer once more. 

“It’s heartbreaking. No one needs to go on the market and never rating on the plus-five,” guard Sal Wormley mentioned. 

Penn State’s protection does sufficient to win

Penn State’s protection was examined by Ohio State’s playmakers. That resulted in some massive performs for the Buckeyes’ wideouts, together with landing catches for Emeka Egbuka and Brandon Inniss. 

Operating backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson ran exhausting all day, totaling 149 yards dashing, 45 on the final drive of the sport. Ohio State ran the ball on 11 straight performs to shut it out. 

“I had confidence that our protection would go in there and make a cease,” defensive deal with Dvon J-Thomas mentioned, “and that’s not what occurred.”

On the identical time, the Nittany Lions managed to restrict Ohio State to solely 20 factors. Within the second quarter, security Zakee Wheatley punched the ball away from Ohio State quarterback Will Howard close to the objective line, with the ball rolling out for a touchback. Penn State didn’t instantly capitalize offensively, however the turnover prevented Ohio State from taking a 21-10 lead. 

To not point out, cornerback Zion Tracy’s first-quarter decide 6 proved to be an enormous play in a recreation with no ton of scoring. It was Penn State’s solely landing of the day and was the explanation that it remained a one-score recreation all through. 

The protection held Ohio State to 6 factors within the second half. The Nittany Lions actually benefited from a number of missed throws by Howard, however in the end Penn State’s protection performed properly sufficient to win the sport. 

Tyler Warren, Abdul Carter make massive performs

Arguably Penn State’s greatest stars on both sides of the ball, Warren on offense and Abdul Carter on protection, did their finest to place the staff on their backs. Within the first half, Warren had simply two dashing makes an attempt and a single passing goal. Within the second half, Warren hauled in all 4 of his targets, together with a 31-yard circus catch over a defender’s head. His 33-yard run within the fourth quarter set Penn State up on the objective line earlier than in the end developing brief. 

Carter notched two third-down sacks to finish Ohio State drives and completed with 4 whole tackles. There have been some errors, similar to leaping offside on Third-and-2 within the second quarter to provide Ohio State a free first down. On a fourth down throughout the subsequent sequence, Carter had an opportunity to sack Howard, however he got here up empty and allowed Howard to discover a receiver for the primary down. 

Nonetheless, with out these particular person efforts, Penn State won’t have had as a lot of an opportunity on this recreation. 

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Sam Woloson has lined Penn State Athletics for the previous three years and is at the moment the managing editor of The Every day Collegian. His work has additionally appeared in Pittsburgh Submit-Gazette, Huntingdon Every day Information and Rivals. Observe him on X @sam_woloson