Greg McElroy: 'I don't think Penn State's very good'

Greg McElroy isn’t a believer in Penn State after the performance he saw this past week in a 20-12 loss to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions looked dismal offensively as the Buckeyes bottled up their rushing attack, holding them to a season-low 46 yards on just 1.9 yards per carry.

That exposed Penn State in the passing game as Drew Allar completed just 42.9% of his passes and the team went 1-for-16 on its third down attempts. It was a tough blow for the Nittany Lions, who have taken a backseat to Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten East over the past few years.

Now that it looks like that will again be the case this season, McElroy made a rather harsh declaration on Penn State during Tuesday’s College Football Playoff Top 25 show.

“I don’t think Penn State’s very good,” the ESPN analyst said bluntly. “I know that’s blasphemous. I think they’re very, very inept on the offensive side and have little explosiveness. If they can’t run the football, there’s just not much there in the passing game.”

The Nittany Lions’ only two losses last season came against the Buckeyes and Wolverines as they went on to win the Rose Bowl. That’s an impressive season nonetheless, but it didn’t quite feel like it when both Ohio State and Michigan made the College Football Playoff.

Those where the hopes that Penn State had for itself this year, but McElroy went on to explain how things fell apart this weekend. The Nittany Lions had a chance to take advantage after a muffed punt from Ohio State in the third quarter that set them up near midfield trailing 10-6.

Instead, they went three-and-out and had to punt as the Buckeyes scored a field goal on the very next drive. Ohio State then came up with a touchdown on the next drive to pull ahead for good.

“There was a moment in the game last week against Penn State where it felt like the tide was starting to turn away from the Buckeyes,” McElroy said. “They had that punt that bounced off Lorenzo Styles and then Penn State seized the momentum with great field position. They actually went backwards. JT Tuimoloau had the sack and then got off the field on third-and-15.”

That said, all is not lost for Penn State yet. The Nittany Lions still have a matchup coming up against Michigan in a couple of weeks, and could theoretically get in the Playoff with one loss.

For that to happen though, the offense will need to make big strides as McElroy mentioned.