5-stars: The best and worst of Ohio State’s win over Penn State

For four quarters, Ohio State football dominated on the defensive side, while its offense did just enough to defeat Penn State, 20-12, in front of a home crowd in Columbus.

It wasn’t all easy for the Buckeyes, especially when you score just two touchdowns. The Nittany Lion defense should get plenty of credit for part of the output, as it was statistically one of the best in the country entering the contest.

As with every game, we take a look at who was the best, five stars, and the worst, one star, and everything in between in Ohio State’s slugfest win over visiting Penn State.

5 ⭐️ - Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles

Why

As I stated in my pregame questions look at this game, the defensive game plan should have been revolving around trying to confuse first-year starting quarterback Drew Allar. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles accomplished that and then some. Penn State went 1-of-16 on third-down conversions, its lone pickup coming late in the fourth quarter. The OSU defense held the Nittany Lion offense to 12 points, 240 yards and made it work for every inch. Such a stark contrast from last year, Knowles is earning his paycheck this season.

4 ⭐️ - Buckeye secondary

Why

It wasn’t because Allar threw a bunch of interceptions. He’s still sporting a clean bill on the year, but this group allowed just about 10-yards-per-completion. It wasn’t just one player doing all the work it was multiple of them. Jermaine Matthews Jr. was fantastic filling in for the injured Denzel Burke, while Jordan Hancock and Lathan Ransom had big moments as well. The group saw its young opposing quarterback throwing 42 times, completing just 18 of those attempts. You could tell by the end of the game, his confidence was gone. BIA does that.

3 ⭐️ - Offensive play calling

Why

Although the result will keep us happy, some of the play calls were extremely odd in my opinion. Early on, it was great, I loved that the staff set up Marvin Harrison Jr. (who is amazing and was the other candidate for the four-star, probably should have gotten it too) with the motion run plays for a 35-yard strike. Head coach Ryan Day mailing it in at the end of the first half with almost a minute left and three timeouts, was very telling. This unit did enough to win, but still left plenty on the table. That’s why the spot here — some good, some bad.

2 ⭐️ - Short yardage offense

Why

The Devin Brown red zone package went up in smoke when he injured his ankle becauseKyle McCord sure can’t run those plays. The offensive line couldn’t get a solid push once again in short yardage situations, resulting in not picking them up. It didn’t come back to bite the Buckeyes in this game, but it very well could in another game down the road. You know which one I’m talking about.

⭐️ - Running back usage

Why

It’s understandable why the coaching staff opted to go with the two bruising backs, Miyan Williams and Chip Trayanum. What didn’t happen was an effort with an option that looked better than those two last week in Dallan Hayden. I don’t get why he can’t see consistent playing time with TreVeyon Henderson out.

Williams logged the most carries of the season on Saturday, the first time he’s taken more than seven all season. He tripled that number. It just didn’t make sense to me, to continue to feed him the ball when there were so many negative plays. I’d love to know the rationale behind this weekend’s snap share.

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Story originally appeared on Buckeye Wire