If you were to tell me that Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, who came into the game with a chip on his shoulder because Penn State Football shunned him during recruiting coming out of Downingtown West High school, would throw a pick-six on his first pass of the game in front of 111,000 screaming fans wanting nothing more than see him screw up, then later in the first half fumble the ball at the one yard line through the end zone for a touchback costing his team another seven points, that his Buckeyes would eventually win and cover against Penn State in Happy Valley, I’d say you need to be drug tested.
That’s essentially how Saturday played out, with head coach James Franklin and Penn State once again came up short against Ohio State, 20-13 at Beaver Stadium.
Here are five of the countless takeaways from a demoralizing loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday….
1) Chip Kelly was Brilliant
This isn’t an opinion. It is a fact.
Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was Brilliant in the first half.
Trailing Penn State 10-0, Kelly designed back to back drives that resulted in two Ohio State touchdowns to give them the lead, a lead they would not relinquish.
Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen was completely outcoached in the first half, something that has happened more than just a few times so far this season. Kelly’s play calling had a purpose and each play would set up another a few plays later keeping Penn State completely flummoxed and off balance most of the first half.
2) Ohio State was mentally and physically tougher than Penn State
Every time Ohio State needed to make a play they did and every time Penn State needed to make a play they did not.
This game was won in the trenches and ultimately Ohio State was the mentally tougher team. Not only did they stop Penn State on three straight runs inside the three-yard line with a few minutes left in the fourth quarter but then when they took over on their own one-yard line, against a very stingy run defense, they imposed their will and bullied the Penn State defensive line, picking up five first downs and running out the last 5:13 minutes, gaining 58 yards on the ground in 11 plays.
They just would not give the ball back to Penn State. That’s how you win games, that’s how you win championships.
It was as simple and impressive as that. Their defensive line held Penn State’s dynamic running back duo of Nick Singleton and Kayton Allen to 2.3 yards per carry and yielded just two yards to Allen on three carries inside the three-yard line on Penn State’s last possession …
3 Questionable play calling
Penn State Football offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has breathed new life into this offense, and he deserves a lot of credit for the progress the offense has made this season.
But, all that being said, Penn State had some questionable play-calling when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter and that proved to be the difference in the game.
They had a first-and-goal situation at the three and he calls three straight runs for Allen right up the middle? All Allen did was run into a pile of people from Ohio. Then on fourth down – a straight drop back pass through traffic to Khalil Dinkins?
Ohio State took over and ran the clock out from there. That’s on Kotelnicki, not just James Franklin. It was as unimaginative as one could only imagine …
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4) The Wide receivers struggled
The Nittany Lion offense has been mostly based around its tight ends and running backs this season, but on Saturday it needed some help from its wide receivers, and it never came.
They struggled as they do from time to time to create separation consistently against that Ohio State secondary. And on one of the biggest plays of the game, right before halftime, Tre Wallace had the ball taken from him by defensive back Davison Igbanewson for an interception in the end zone. It was a ball that Wallace has to come down with. He didn’t short arm it. He short-fingered it on what could have and should have been a touchdown.
Those are the kinds of plays that Penn State didn’t make and Ohio State did make on Saturday and that ladies and gentlemen was the difference in the ball game.
5) James Franklin still appears not quite ready for prime-time
As he is responsible for all things Penn State football, Franklin now goes to one and 13 against top-five opponents, 11 straight, and eight straight to the Buckeyes.
That and his offense only scored six points in the biggest game of his career. His offense actually scored more points last year in Columbus and that game was virtually unwatchable.
In fact he replaced the. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and brought in Andy Kotelnicki because of games like that and games like these and still got the same result. On top of that coach Franklin also got into a “conversation” with a young fan on his way into the tunnel following the loss. Oh and he has seven more years on his contract. If Penn State Nation wants him out, they just have to come up with a cool 56.6 million because that is the magic number to buy him out of that contract as of this coming December 1st.
So where does the loss leave Penn State?
Well, if they run the table they still should receive at least one of the at-large bids to get into the college football playoff or they could possibly find their way into the Big Ten conference title game.
But, don’t count on them getting a win ergo a bye into the tournament. Did you happen to watch Oregon dismantle Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor? Yes, the Wolverines don’t have Jim Harbaugh or JJ McCarthy Blake Corum, or even Connor Stallions. But, if you watched the Penn State game and are completely honest with yourself you’d come to the same conclusion that I did, and that is this.
They’re not quite in the top echelon of college football just yet.
The Lions routinely struggle with the nation’s top teams, much as they did Saturday, leaving plenty of reason to believe that this program may have reached its ceiling under James Franklin.
Are they nationally relevant? Yes.
But there’s a discernible difference between relevant and elite and I don’t see a clear path to cross that threshold until some changes are made in Happy Valley.
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It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008.It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run.In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic along with 4 Philly Sports and now covers Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
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