Offense: C
On some level it’s hard to hold every issue a team faces when taking on the No. 1 team in the country against them. If it was easy to beat a Top 5 team people would be doing it all the time. That aside Penn State was far from perfect on Saturday. Christian Hackenberg went 7-for-13 for 120 yards and a score but his play on fourth down overshadowed his effective but unremarkable evening. While not even failed fourth down conversion falls entirely on his shoulders it’s hard to give a good grade for taking sacks in that situation.
The other part of the blame would go on an offensive line that gave up five sacks, on occasion more due to missed assignments than simply Ohio State’s defensive front dominating.
Positives, Chris Godwin hauled in three catches for 103 yards and DaeSean Hamilton’s extra effort helped find the endzone on the third play of the second half. And of course, there’s Saquon Barkley whose 26 carries for 194 yards was one of the brightest performances for both teams on Saturday night.
Penn State went 1-for-11 on third downs and failed to capitalize on long drives.
This grade isn’t lower because Ohio State had a lot to do with the struggles. It’s not higher because Penn State shot itself in the foot on more than one occasion. If nothing else, a 100-yard receiver and nearly 200-yard rusher has to count for something.
Defense: B
When the game was still a game Penn State’s defense was outsanding. A dominating first and third quarter that saw the Buckeyes put together six drives of fewer than 31 yards and zero points. Carl Nassib had 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for a loss to continue his dominating season. Jordan Lucas and Marcus Allen combined for 17 total tackles while Troy Reeder had a solid outing with five tackles and a few hits to shot for it. Penn State at the end of the day gave up a lot of yards and a lot of points, but the Nittany Lions made their fair share of big plays to keep Penn State in the game. Could it have been better? Sure. But the defense isn’t the reason Penn State lost, despite the final score.
Special Teams: D
No spark in the return game and a few shoe lace tackles to prevent big Ohio State returns. Add in horrible punting at a 35 yard average and it’s grim night for this unit. Joey Julius and Chris Gulla both registered tackles, which as you might imagine. isn’t ideal. Brandon Polk’s 30-yard kickoff return was about as good as it gets for this bunch on Saturday.
Not much more needs to be said here. i just don’t give out Fs.
Overall: C
Penn State dominated two quarters but came away with 10 points, bad punts and decent defense to show for it. Sure, the final score is a blowout, but the game essentially ended when Ohio State went up 24-10. The rest of the scoring was just icing on the Buckeye cake. A 100-yard receiver and nearly 200-yard rusher helps the cause even if those are the only bright spots. Considering Penn State has looked like a team that was going to get pummeled by Ohio State, a few garbage touchdowns to make that true seems like a moral victory of sorts.
The Nittany Lions puts themselves in a good enough position that their mistakes made people say “what if”. That’s more than most have been able to say against the Buckeyes as of late.
