UNIVERSITY PARK — If this Penn State team finds itself in a game where it’s not converting third downs or keeping drives going, bad things can happen.
Unfortunately, many of those bad things happened on Oct. 21 at Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions controlled the ball for only 25 minutes, converted on just one of 16 third downs and one of three fourth downs, and ran the ball for a net of 49 yards.
The result was a defense-oriented, 20-12 loss to the Buckeyes in what was a battle between two of the country’s top 10 teams.
Ohio State took a 10-6 halftime lead, extended that to 13-6 with a fourth quarter field goal, and then essentially clinched the win with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Kyle McCord to Marvin Harrison Jr. with just over four minutes left to play.
Penn State responded with a touchdown of its own on a 6-yard pass from Drew Allar to Kaden Saunders, but there was less than a minute to play and the time ran out after a failed onside kick.
The Penn State defense was not able to come up with a turnover, and, despite being on the field for the majority of the game, held the Buckeyes to 365 yards and a season-low 20 points.
“To me, really, the story of the game came down to third down,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said. “We weren’t able to stay on the field on offense, which was the biggest difference in the game.
“So give Ohio State a ton of credit. We knew going in that we needed to have an awareness and limit the impact of 18 (Harrison) and we were not able to do that. The guy is a heck of a player.”
The loss was the first of the season for Penn State, and although it was a serious blow to the Lions’ plans, the team will nevertheless have to regroup for its next Big Ten contest coming up this week.
That game will be against visiting 2-5 Indiana at Beaver Stadium on Saturday at noon.
The Hoosiers’ two wins came over Indiana State, 41-7, and Akron, 29-27 (four OT), but so far they have not yet won a conference game.
They did play Ohio State tough in Week 1 and lost, 23-3, after OSU scored 13 unanswered points in the second half.
Since then, however, Indiana has fallen to Maryland, 44-17, Michigan, 52-7, Rutgers, 31-14, and non-conference Louisville, 21-14.
In the Rutgers game on homecoming Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana hung close through halftime, but the Knights held the Hoosiers scoreless in the second half and pulled away with two touchdowns for a 31-14 victory.
Still, Indiana gained 153 yards on the ground and 279 total yards and were led by quarterback Brendan Sorsby.
Sorsby completed 15 of 31 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran 11 times for 50 yards and the team’s other touchdown.
The touchdown pass was a 35-yard strike to Omar Cooper Jr. in the first quarter.
For the season, Indiana is averaging 18 points per game, but the Hoosiers are also giving up 29, and they are being outgained 366 to 311.
Sorsby has thrown for 420 yards and three touchdowns while running for 167 yards and a score. Tayven Jackson, who did not play in the Rutgers game, has 914 passing yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions.
Jaylin Lucas is the leading runner with 247 yards, while Donaven McCulley is the top receiver with 224 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Hoosiers were 2-2 at one time this season, but they have now lost three games in a row and are coming into Beaver Stadium as underdogs and eager for a good performance.
Penn State is also coming off a difficult loss and will be looking to rebuild its confidence after the loss at Ohio State.
And the Lions will also be aware of their struggles in Columbus and working to improve their running game, third-down and fourth-down plays and ability to stretch the field.
Win or lose, the week after a momentous game like at OSU is always harder to get up for, but none of the Lions’ lofty goals are out of reach.
As the coach always says, let’s win one game this week.
Kickoff is at noon in Beaver Stadium.
