The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s 20-12 loss to Ohio State

Usually, I would lead this column with a brief overview on what happened in the game, but there’s no need this week. Let’s get right into what could be one of the biggest games of the James Franklin era — Penn State’s 20-12 loss to Ohio State in Columbus.

Good

Pass rush: Let’s start with some major positives for Penn State. The pass rush remains one of the absolute best in the country. Dani Dennis-Sutton and Adisa Isaac were excellent and so was Chop Robinson until he, unfortunately, left the game with an injury. His health will be important for the program moving forward, but even so, this group really is incredible. Dennis-Sutton and Isaac are both capable of winning with power or speed and can give any offensive lineman in the country a lot of trouble.

Both of them were disruptive on Saturday, making things difficult for Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord. In one of the major “what if” plays of the game, Dennis-Sutton nearly stripped McCord just before Curtis Jacobs did and ran it back for a touchdown. That play was called back by a defensive holding that almost assuredly would have happened after Dennis-Sutton knocked the ball out, potentially flipping one of the game’s biggest sequences in Penn State’s favor.

Run defense: Sensing a theme? Going to be a lot of talk about the defense and how good it is in this section. Penn State’s defensive line is known for what’s above — rushing the quarterback and creating havoc in the backfield that way. But Saturday afternoon the group was even more disruptive in the running game — essentially making it a non-factor for the Buckeyes. Without adding in sacks, which count as negative rushing yards in college football (which is also dumb), Ohio State had 89 rushing yards and averaged 2.3 yards per carry.

That’s incredible when you consider how much you’d expect Penn State to dedicate its resources and game planning to stopping Marvin Harrison Jr. and the Ohio State passing attack. Across the board the team found success against the run, and the entire front four was able to occupy their blocks to free up linebackers or shed them and make the play themselves.

Safety play: More defense. Penn State’s safeties do not get the attention that Kalen King and Johnny Dixon (rightfully) get at cornerback, but they’ve been very good this season and were at an even higher level on Saturday. One play in particular stands out that could have changed the complexion of the game — if the Nittany Lion offense could have done anything to get going.

Late in the third quarter Ohio State had a chance to score at the goal line.The Buckeyes hurried to the line of scrimmage out of the huddle, catching King out of position as he ran to the side of the field where they had three receivers. McCord quickly snapped the ball, and threw it to Carnell Tate who caught it. But before he could get upfield and finish off the touchdown, Zakee Wheatley and Jaylen Reed blew him up to end the play. Both safeties read the play and made the perfect decision to win in a situation where they were disadvantaged.

Marvin Harrison Jr.: There is not a better college football player on the planet right now than Marvin Harrison Jr. He finished the game with 11 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown on 16 targets and I promise you it could have been much, much more. There were countless times where McCord threw to another receiver when I saw Harrison running free. He reasonably could have finished with well over 20 targets and a legitimate record breaking performance.

He’s one of the smoothest route runners in college football at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, and pairs that with elite speed and hands. He hauls in everything, including a ball McCord threw behind him on a drag route on his lone touchdown catch. That pass is usually a short completion because the receiver has to slow down and ensure they bring it in. Harrison is so good that he contorted back toward the ball without really breaking stride before sprinting to the corner of the end zone.

Bad

Wide receivers: And here comes the offensive portion of the story. We’ll start with the wide receivers. This isn’t really a knock on any individual player, but more a commentary on the lack of production from the position as a whole. KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Harrison Wallace III were fine as the team’s top two options, even if they didn’t finish with as many yards as you’d hope. The biggest issue was the players behind them and their inability to consistently get open.

It often felt like sophomore starting quarterback Drew Allar was stuck waiting for extended stretches as routes developed. It looked like he was trying to stay patient, but far too often the play would never develop and he would throw the ball away or try to squeeze a throw into a tight window. That would’ve been alleviated if the receivers created more separation.

Drew Allar: Even with those struggles at receiver, Allar was not blameless Saturday. He got off to a rocky start in the game and never fully recovered. There were issues with inaccuracy that have become a consistent flaw — with him struggling to layer in throw with less velocity in more touch on out breaking routes where he has to get the ball over a defender but to his receiver before they reach the sideline.

There were other times where he had the opportunity to take off and run for a significant gain but instead tried to squeeze a pass into a tight window. Allar was not great, but like the receivers, it did not feel like he was put into a position to succeed. Which means most of the blame must then fall to…

Ugly

Offensive play-calling: Mike Yurcich. I was a proponent of the hire when Franklin pulled him from Texas and I’ve defended him throughout the last two seasons, but Saturday was a bad day at the office for the Penn State offensive coordinator. It never felt like he truly had the pulse of the offense and was far too often off the mark with his decision making.

There’s the attempted wide receiver pass after the turnover. The flea flicker that felt like a trick play with one too many layers. The second attempted wide receiver pass on the two-point conversion attempt. The runs on third and medium that resulted in negative yardage and failed to set up a fourth down opportunity to go for it. The lack of running game after finding so much success in it early in the game. The list goes on and on. At some point the offensive struggles have to fall to the person designing the game plan and calling the plays on game day. This is that point.