Penn State ground-game explosiveness remains stuck in neutral

The contrast between Penn State and Ohio State was marked on Saturday night. During a game in which the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions battled throughout, No. 5 Ohio State pulling away late to secure a 33-24 win, the offensive numbers weren’t a gulf. At 466 total yards for the Buckeyes to 394 for the Nittany Lions, the visitors’ 361 yards through the air besting the hosts’ 305, 27 PSU first downs to the Buckeyes’ 22, and a near dead-even split in time of possession, the offenses might have appeared to have statistically similar evenings. Were it not for the impact of explosive plays, particularly on the ground, that might have been true.