Highs & Lows: Penn State's offense struggles in loss to Buckeyes

By Nate Bauer

Penn State suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling 20-13 to Ohio State in front of a record crowd of 111,030 at Beaver Stadium. The Buckeyes’ defense subdued the Nittany Lions, holding them without an offensive touchdown.

Here are the highs and lows from the game:

Highs & Lows: Penn State offense tamed in physical slog with Ohio State

PLAYER OF THE GAME Crediting any one individual on Ohio State’s defense would shortchange the reality of the Buckeyes’ afternoon. Swarming and suffocating, the unit tamed Penn State throughout. While the Nittany Lions finished with 270 yards of offense, the critical plays and moments all went to the visitors, who twice shut down the Nittany Lions inside their 5-yard line. Cody Simon finished with a game-high 10 tackles and made the only solo sack on the day for the Buckeyes.

PLAY OF THE GAME Really, there were four of them for Ohio State. Trailing throughout the game, the Nittany Lions put themselves in position to tie, trailing by a touchdown, thanks to Tyler Warren’s 33-yard rumble to the 3-yard line.

From there, the Nittany Lions disappeared.

Unable to push in three straight attempts near the goal line, Penn State turned to a dump-off pass to Khalil Dinkins in triple coverage. Ohio State took possession and didn’t look back in finishing off the win.

Offensive superlatives

BEST PASS As touch passes go, it doesn’t get much better than Drew Allar’s beauty to Harrison Wallace III in the final seconds of the first half. The throw was perfectly placed for a 21-yard gain. 

BEST RUN Neither team’s running backs truly got loose, though Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson combined for a productive 149 yards on 24 carries. 

BEST CATCH Setting up for a critical fourth-and-1, Will Howard rolled out to his left on a naked bootleg, found Jelani Thurman running in a crowded group of Nittany Lion defenders, and made the completion anyway. Thurman bobbled the ball twice, taking two shots from Penn State players in the process, but the connection was good for a 19-yard pickup and a possession-extending first down.

Davison Igbinosun’s interception in the end zone to end the first half counts, as does Tyler Warren’s 31-yard tug-of-war reception in the fourth quarter. 

Defensive superlatives

BEST SACK Penn State desperately needed a play. One, to get off the field defensively late in the first half. Two, and maybe more important, it needed a burst of momentum in an otherwise lackluster performance.

Abdul Carter delivered it. 

Racing around Ohio State’s right tackle, the Nittany Lion defensive end unloaded on Howard for an 8-yard loss at the Buckeyes’ 15-yard line. The sack forced a punt. 

In the second half, Carter did it again when he brought down Howard for a 4-yard loss on third-and-long. 

BEST HIT A second-and-long predicament late in the third quarter was made worse for Allar, when he was caught without an outlet against a collapsing Ohio State pass rush. The Nittany Lion signal-caller was dropped by Cody Simon for a 9-yard sack. 

BEST EFFORT Penn State was taking shot after shot, on the ropes on both sides of the ball, as Ohio State pounded its way down the field for what was shaping up to be a touchdown midway through the second quarter. As Howard made his way toward the end zone, though, safety Zakee Wheatley punched at the ball and elicited the most fortuitous of sequences. The ball careened off Howard’s left thigh, in bounds, and through the end zone for a touchback. Giving the Nittany Lions possession, instead of an Ohio State touchdown, the play prompted Penn State’s most productive offensive drive since its first of the game.

Special teams superlatives

BEST KICK At the end of a lengthy first possession for the Nittany Lions, Ryan Barker delivered the consolation in the form of a 29-yard field goal from the left hash. The make gave Penn State a 3-0 edge more than eight minutes into the opening frame. In the third quarter, Barker did it again at the 5:03 mark when he sent home a 44-yard attempt to make it a 17-13 game.

WORST KICK Riley Thompson endured a tough sequence in the first half, first hitting a 33-yarder before following it with a short-field punt that sailed into the end zone. 

BEST RETURN Coming out of Carter’s momentum-boosting sack late in the third quarter, Zion Tracy added to the movement. Hauling in a big punt from Joe McGuire, Tracy zig-zagged 14 yards back upfield to give the Nittany Lion offense possession at their 38-yard line.

Penn State odds and ends

BEST DECISION Penn State’s defensive formula went into effect out of the gates. Stuffing Ohio State’s run on first and second down, the Nittany Lions set up a third-and-5 passing down for the Buckeyes. 

The hosts took advantage. 

Stepping in front of a lightly thrown slant from Will Howard, Tracy secured an interception with nothing but 20 yards of green grass separating him from the end zone. The young cornerback did the rest of the work, crossing the goal line to give the Nittany Lions an early 10-0 advantage.

WORST DECISION Elliot Washington secured the third-down stop the Nittany Lions desperately needed early in the second quarter on a short completion to Carnell Tate. Washington’s choice to step over Tate earned a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, though. The flag gave Ohio State its second gifted first down of the possession. The Buckeyes needed just five more plays to cash in with a 21-yard touchdown completion from Howard to Brandon Inniss. The play gave the visitors a 14-10 advantage.

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