Penn State saw its dreams of an unbeaten season snatched away in an avalanche of Ohio State fourth quarter momentum Saturday night, ultimately falling 39-38 to the No. 6-ranked Buckeyes.
Let’s dive into the news and notes to emerge from the game and in James Franklin’s post-game press conference, as well as from some of the players themselves in the game’s aftermath:
1) One of the first things that will stand out about this game and the way it ultimately played out was the impact of the two teams’ play in the trenches.
Simply, Ohio State was able to control Penn State up front on both sides of the ball, its D-line blowing up the Lions’ offensive backfield while keeping quarterback J.T. Barrett cool, calm and collected offensively.
The end result was a Nittany Lion team that, though it owned a 15-point fourth quarter lead, could not make the plays on either side of the ball to stem the tide. Noting that the offense’s four-minute offense was something that hurt Penn State last season, and appeared again Saturday night, Franklin said the offensive identity that had been so effective earlier in the game changed.
“I thought we changed our identity,” said Franklin. “We tried to run the ball. It's easy for me to say this right now but as the play caller, we're not protecting well and we're not running the ball. So it's easy for us to sit here and say after the fact that we need to be better in that situation.”
The point was true defensively as well, Franklin continued, explaining the options that opened up for Barrett as the typically disruptive Penn State defensive line was virtually silenced.
“I think as the game went on their offensive line was able to protect their quarterback and he stood in the pocket very comfortable,” said Franklin. “When you have a quarterback who has played that much football and he stands in the pocket with the athleticism and speed that they have at wide receiver it's going to cause for a long day. It's the same thing for their defensive line. Their defensive line, as the game went on, we had a hard time with those guys.”
Later, he expanded on the topic.
“We just had a hard time slowing them down,” said Franklin. “I think the biggest issue was that, I think the momentum was getting to the point where we had a hardy time slowing down. When their offensive line is able to protect like that, I thought we did a pretty good job against them in the running game, but when your quarterback is able to stand back in the pocket that comfortably, he just got momentum. They have a bunch of players who can make plays in space. You can't cover those types of athletes that long. We've got to get to the quarterback.”
2) The continuation of that point, then, is the impact that injuries seemed to play on Penn State’s ability to perform on both units, as well as the impact of Ohio State’s up-tempo offense late in the game.
Carted off the field on the first play of the game, Ryan Buchholz could be seen walking off with his left ankle/foot in a cam boot while also on crutches. Shareef Miller would also get hurt on the defensive line in the second half, but was able to return to the game.
Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the ball, the Lions’ suffered a severe loss as redshirt sophomore left tackle Ryan Bates went down with what appeared to be a left ankle injury at the 8:15 mark in the third quarter. Though Saquon Barkley picked up a first down on the play, the tail end in which Bates hurt his ankle proved to be a devastatingly bad break. Bates would return to the game, his left ankle and foot wrapped heavily, but he wouldn’t be able to finish as redshirt freshman Will Fries needed moved to left tackle and a still-hurting Chasz Wright needed to fill in at left tackle.
“We lost a number of guys tonight who are good players for us. They either came out or were limited and tried to go back in and weren't able to get it done,” said Franklin. “There's no doubt about it. We have better depth than we've had but obviously when you're playing that type of opponent you don't have your starters on your field and your down a few more guys, it's magnified.”
Franklin offered no indication as to the injury status of any of the players lost in the trenches, nor the status of starting cornerback Christian Campbell.
3) Franklin pointed to one particular sequence as being the turning point in his mind for how the game eventually played out.
Leading the Buckeyes 35-20 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions managed to force a third-and-1 on the hosts as they marched toward Penn State territory. Fortunately for Penn State’s defense, though, a flubbed handoff between Barrett and J.K. Dobbins hit the Ohio Stadium turf and was recovered by Miller at the Ohio State 42-yard line.
Handed an opportunity to retake control of the game, either by moving the ball and creating a field position swing or by scoring points to make it a three-possession contest, the Lions faltered. First down went for a 7-yard Barkley loss. Second down saw a Trace McSorley to DaeSean Hamilton incompletion. And third down cemented a necessary punt as Barkley picked up just six yards to force a fourth-and-11 punting situation. Sending the house, Ohio State swarmed Penn State punter Blake Gillikin and blocked his attempt, retaking control of the ball at the Nittany Lion 41-yard line.
Completing a short pass to Mike Weber for three yards, Barrett found a streaking Johnnie Dixon in the middle of the field to create a 38-yard touchdown pass and catch. The score closed Penn State’s advantage to 35-27 with plenty of time remaining in the fourth quarter.
“Tough place to come and get a win. Margin of error is very small,” said Franklin. “When you play these types of games, I thought the blocked punt was a huge play in the game.”
Similarly acknowledging his team’s own success on special teams including Barkley’s touchdown return on the opening play of the game and Koa Farmer’s 59-yard kickoff return to set up a short field touchdown, Franklin said the lapse proved to be dramatic.
“Special teams was the story of the game for us, because if you look at the yards, the yards didn't make any sense. We had a kickoff return for a touchdown and we had another kickoff return for a huge play, so the stats kinda didn't really tell the story. Even when you look at time of possession for most of the game it was pretty balanced,” said Franklin. “So yes, special teams played a huge part but once again blocked punts. If you look statistically if you get a punt block against you you're going to have hard time being successful. It's kind of like turnovers.”
4) The result of this game, and the way it transpired, creates a dramatic crossroads for this program and its 2017 season.
But if there was one emerging theme from the words of Franklin and his players afterward, it was that many of the program’s representatives wanted to shoulder the responsibility for the loss.
Be it Barkley himself, clearly frustrated at being able to run the ball in the fourth quarter to cement the game, or Koa Farmer lamenting many of the coverage issues that presented themselves against Ohio State’s explosive playmakers, or Franklin himself questioning his coaching decisions, the Lions were unified in their determination to bounce back.
“We didn't play good enough at a lot of positions. I didn't manage the game good enough. I didn't call the game good enough. There's enough blame to be spread all around,” said Franklin. “The reality is we didn't win the game against a really good opponent on the road and we've got learn from this and get better.”
******
Penn State moves to 7-1 on the season with Michigan State on tap next weekend in East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans will be licking their own wounds following a 39-31 triple-overtime loss at Northwestern Saturday afternoon.
TV coverage information and a kickoff time has not yet been announced.
As always, if you have questions and comments, please feel free to post them here and I'll do my best to answer anything that's on your minds.
Let’s dive into the news and notes to emerge from the game and in James Franklin’s post-game press conference, as well as from some of the players themselves in the game’s aftermath:
1) One of the first things that will stand out about this game and the way it ultimately played out was the impact of the two teams’ play in the trenches.
Simply, Ohio State was able to control Penn State up front on both sides of the ball, its D-line blowing up the Lions’ offensive backfield while keeping quarterback J.T. Barrett cool, calm and collected offensively.
The end result was a Nittany Lion team that, though it owned a 15-point fourth quarter lead, could not make the plays on either side of the ball to stem the tide. Noting that the offense’s four-minute offense was something that hurt Penn State last season, and appeared again Saturday night, Franklin said the offensive identity that had been so effective earlier in the game changed.
“I thought we changed our identity,” said Franklin. “We tried to run the ball. It's easy for me to say this right now but as the play caller, we're not protecting well and we're not running the ball. So it's easy for us to sit here and say after the fact that we need to be better in that situation.”
The point was true defensively as well, Franklin continued, explaining the options that opened up for Barrett as the typically disruptive Penn State defensive line was virtually silenced.
“I think as the game went on their offensive line was able to protect their quarterback and he stood in the pocket very comfortable,” said Franklin. “When you have a quarterback who has played that much football and he stands in the pocket with the athleticism and speed that they have at wide receiver it's going to cause for a long day. It's the same thing for their defensive line. Their defensive line, as the game went on, we had a hard time with those guys.”
Later, he expanded on the topic.
“We just had a hard time slowing them down,” said Franklin. “I think the biggest issue was that, I think the momentum was getting to the point where we had a hardy time slowing down. When their offensive line is able to protect like that, I thought we did a pretty good job against them in the running game, but when your quarterback is able to stand back in the pocket that comfortably, he just got momentum. They have a bunch of players who can make plays in space. You can't cover those types of athletes that long. We've got to get to the quarterback.”
2) The continuation of that point, then, is the impact that injuries seemed to play on Penn State’s ability to perform on both units, as well as the impact of Ohio State’s up-tempo offense late in the game.
Carted off the field on the first play of the game, Ryan Buchholz could be seen walking off with his left ankle/foot in a cam boot while also on crutches. Shareef Miller would also get hurt on the defensive line in the second half, but was able to return to the game.
Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the ball, the Lions’ suffered a severe loss as redshirt sophomore left tackle Ryan Bates went down with what appeared to be a left ankle injury at the 8:15 mark in the third quarter. Though Saquon Barkley picked up a first down on the play, the tail end in which Bates hurt his ankle proved to be a devastatingly bad break. Bates would return to the game, his left ankle and foot wrapped heavily, but he wouldn’t be able to finish as redshirt freshman Will Fries needed moved to left tackle and a still-hurting Chasz Wright needed to fill in at left tackle.
“We lost a number of guys tonight who are good players for us. They either came out or were limited and tried to go back in and weren't able to get it done,” said Franklin. “There's no doubt about it. We have better depth than we've had but obviously when you're playing that type of opponent you don't have your starters on your field and your down a few more guys, it's magnified.”
Franklin offered no indication as to the injury status of any of the players lost in the trenches, nor the status of starting cornerback Christian Campbell.
3) Franklin pointed to one particular sequence as being the turning point in his mind for how the game eventually played out.
Leading the Buckeyes 35-20 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions managed to force a third-and-1 on the hosts as they marched toward Penn State territory. Fortunately for Penn State’s defense, though, a flubbed handoff between Barrett and J.K. Dobbins hit the Ohio Stadium turf and was recovered by Miller at the Ohio State 42-yard line.
Handed an opportunity to retake control of the game, either by moving the ball and creating a field position swing or by scoring points to make it a three-possession contest, the Lions faltered. First down went for a 7-yard Barkley loss. Second down saw a Trace McSorley to DaeSean Hamilton incompletion. And third down cemented a necessary punt as Barkley picked up just six yards to force a fourth-and-11 punting situation. Sending the house, Ohio State swarmed Penn State punter Blake Gillikin and blocked his attempt, retaking control of the ball at the Nittany Lion 41-yard line.
Completing a short pass to Mike Weber for three yards, Barrett found a streaking Johnnie Dixon in the middle of the field to create a 38-yard touchdown pass and catch. The score closed Penn State’s advantage to 35-27 with plenty of time remaining in the fourth quarter.
“Tough place to come and get a win. Margin of error is very small,” said Franklin. “When you play these types of games, I thought the blocked punt was a huge play in the game.”
Similarly acknowledging his team’s own success on special teams including Barkley’s touchdown return on the opening play of the game and Koa Farmer’s 59-yard kickoff return to set up a short field touchdown, Franklin said the lapse proved to be dramatic.
“Special teams was the story of the game for us, because if you look at the yards, the yards didn't make any sense. We had a kickoff return for a touchdown and we had another kickoff return for a huge play, so the stats kinda didn't really tell the story. Even when you look at time of possession for most of the game it was pretty balanced,” said Franklin. “So yes, special teams played a huge part but once again blocked punts. If you look statistically if you get a punt block against you you're going to have hard time being successful. It's kind of like turnovers.”
4) The result of this game, and the way it transpired, creates a dramatic crossroads for this program and its 2017 season.
But if there was one emerging theme from the words of Franklin and his players afterward, it was that many of the program’s representatives wanted to shoulder the responsibility for the loss.
Be it Barkley himself, clearly frustrated at being able to run the ball in the fourth quarter to cement the game, or Koa Farmer lamenting many of the coverage issues that presented themselves against Ohio State’s explosive playmakers, or Franklin himself questioning his coaching decisions, the Lions were unified in their determination to bounce back.
“We didn't play good enough at a lot of positions. I didn't manage the game good enough. I didn't call the game good enough. There's enough blame to be spread all around,” said Franklin. “The reality is we didn't win the game against a really good opponent on the road and we've got learn from this and get better.”
******
Penn State moves to 7-1 on the season with Michigan State on tap next weekend in East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans will be licking their own wounds following a 39-31 triple-overtime loss at Northwestern Saturday afternoon.
TV coverage information and a kickoff time has not yet been announced.
As always, if you have questions and comments, please feel free to post them here and I'll do my best to answer anything that's on your minds.
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