Report Card: Grading Penn State’s performance vs. Ohio State
Anyone who watched Penn State’s 20-12 loss to Ohio State will likely tell you this game was not really as close as the final score indicated. It took until the 59th minute for Penn State to punch the football across the goal line on a day when the offense was completely outclassed by Ohio State’s defense.
But Penn State’s defense was as good as advertised as well. It did allow Marvin Harrison Jr. to get his yards, and eventually a touchdown to firmly put the game out of reach, but few will think about giving any fault to the Penn State defense for its shortcomings in Columbus.
There are some weeks when the grading on a game has to be harsh. This is one of them.
Here is this week’s postgame report card.
Quarterback
Grade: D-
One of the biggest concerns I had about Penn State on the road was how sluggish the offense would be. After seeing Penn State have its worst offensive performances in their two road games this season (against Illinois and Northwestern), I anticipated some struggles against Ohio State. But this was clearly the worst outing in the young career of Drew Allar.
Allar completed 18-of-42 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown, and he was without an interception. But his best drive throwing the football wasn’t until Penn State’s final offensive possession with the game essentially decided. Allar was out of sync all game long with his receivers.
He’ll bounce back, I’m sure. The hope is this was a big learning experience for Allar.
Running Backs
Grade: D
Penn State came into the game with the Big Ten’s top rushing offense, but Ohio State didn’t care. Nick Singleton was limited to just 48 yards on 9 carries and 1 reception for 6 yards. He also dropped another pass that likely would have picked up a key first down deep in the Penn State end of the field.
Kaytron Allen had just 26 yards on 9 carries and 1 reception for 4 yards. Neither of Penn State’s terrific young running backs had much of an opportunity to establish a consistent running game, but give credit to the Ohio State defense for being ready to counter it knowing the Penn State passing game was a near non-factor.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
Grade: D
Penn State’s receivers didn’t get their names called much until the final possession of the game, it seemed. KeAndre Lambert-Smith led the team with 52 receiving yards on 6 receptions but Dante Ceophas only had 2 receptions late in the game, as did Kaden Saunders. Harrison Wallace III caught 2 passes for 19 yards.
The tight end combo of Theo Johnson (2 rec. for 39 yards, with a long of 34 yards) and Tyler Warren (1 rec. for 11 yards) were not the factor needed for Penn State. Johnson was targeted 8 times by Drew Allar but he was only able to haul in 2 of those throws.
Penn State wide receivers accounted for 13 receptions for 131 combined receiving yards. Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. caught 11 passes for 162 yards.
Defense
Grade: B+
The bright spot in this otherwise tough setback was clearly the performance of the defense. Penn State held Ohio State to just 20 points, which is right around where you would expect to be in a position to give the offense a chance to win against an opponent of Ohio State’s caliber. The Buckeyes didn’t really get into a rhythm until the fourth quarter, as Penn State’s defense may have been tiring to a slight degree.
Penn State’s pass defense had its hands full of Marvin Harrison Jr., and he did cause some serious problems that hurt Penn State on more than enough occasions. But Penn State held Ohio State’s running game to just 79 rushing yards. The defense also held Ohio State to 6-of-16 on third down and 0-for-1 on fourth down with a terrific goal-line stand.
Costly penalties came back to hurt though. A potential go-ahead touchdown on a scoop-n-score was wiped out by a defensive holding penalty on Kalen King, who didn’t have a particularly strong game against Harrison Jr.
Abdul Carter and Curtis Jacobs each led the Nittany Lions with 9 total tackles and 5 solo tackles each. Adisa Isaac, Kobe King, and Johnny Dixon all got credit for at least half a sack in the game, although the final box score only counted 1 sack for the Nittany Lions on Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord.
Special Teams
Grade: C
Penn State’s special teams had some mixed results. Kicker Alex Felkins was good on both field goal attempts he had in the first half to do his part to keep Penn State in the game going to halftime.
Nick Singleton had a 30-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter to give Penn State a decent starting field position after digging a 20-6 hole. And punter Riley Thompson punted 9 times with an average of 43.7 yards per punt and four punts falling inside the 20-yard line. He also had a pair of 50+ yard punts.
Daequan Hardy, who was the Big Ten special teams player of the week last week, made a critical mistake by deciding not to field a punt from Ohio State’s end zone. He let the ball bounce and dribble past him for what turned out to be a 72-yard punt after Penn State’s defense pushed Ohio State back against their own end zone.
Coaching
Grade: D+ (Manny Diaz gets a solid A-)
Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz did all he could to bring up the coaching average but the offensive playcalling led by Mike Yurcich and the in-game coaching decisions by James Franklin were deserving of some tough criticism.
Penn State’s offense looked like it had no feel for any moment in the game. Starting the game with a three-and-out may have been a bad omen. Penn State was just 1-for-16 on third down plays and it seemed any time Penn State did try to open things up with the playbook, Ohio State easily sniffed it out.
The stats about James Franklin and his record against Ohio State and top 10 teams on the road always get spread around in games like this, and adding another loss to those records just continues to frustrate fans on a growing basis.
Overall
Grade: D
This one hurts, and it was probably expected by a number of Penn State fans. How many times have we seen this script play out before in this series? Penn State came in with reasons to feel optimistic about its chances to compete and the offense is just overwhelmed in every way by Ohio State’s defense. Even on a day when the Buckeyes were missing some key players, there was no counterpunch by Penn State to gain any inside edges.
This was also another sluggish offensive showing on the road, the third of the season. But Penn State wasn’t able to get things going on offense this week because, simply put, Ohio State is on a much higher level than Illinois or Northwestern.
And if this game was another reminder, Ohio State is on a higher level than Penn State in far too many areas yet again.
Penn State will return home next week for a matchup against the Indiana Hoosiers. Kickoff is set for noon Eastern on CBS.
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