The Penn State Football Show

What a dud of a performance in all facets of the game. Penn State came out and just laid an egg in this one, on national television. If I was a general college football fan and I watched the Penn State games against Iowa and Ohio State, I would think the Lions had one of the worst offenses in the country. The offense was atrocious, and so were the special teams. In my opinion, the defense really did not play well either. They gave up 24 points, they got no pressure on Pryor all game, and they let the Ohio State running backs loose for too many long gains. Ohio State clearly game-planned to limit the potential for Pryor to turn the ball over. He never threw over the middle, every throw he made, even the deep ones, were safe passes. I also thought they should have had Bowman spy Pryor all game to prevent him from scrambling for first downs on third and long, which he did a number of times. I don’t think Pryor is the type of quarterback that can carry a team to a victory, but he did what was asked of him, and with the team he has, that’s all he really needs to do against most teams.

Worst of all, Penn State just came out flat and completely unmotivated. It was the Iowa game all over again. How can the team not get up for the two biggest games of the year, at home?! I was not particularly impressed with the crowd either, not that we really had much to cheer about. When both teams came out for the start of the second half, Ohio State was pumped up and jumping up and down on the sidelines, anxious to get going. Penn State was just standing around looking like they just wanted the game to end. I knew right then and there that the game was over.

Many of the things I planned to put in my post were covered by Jason. He really hit the nail on the head on wit his analysis of the game. We knew coming into the game that the key match up would be the PSU o-line vs. the OSU d-line. Ohio State absolutely dominated this battle, and that was the main reason for the outcome of the game. But like Jason said, even though the Lions were over-matched in this area, that doesn’t mean they can’t make some adjustments to compensate! Throw some screens, maybe a trick play or two, maybe a fake punt or something. They clearly weren’t going to sustain long drives, so something else needed to be done, but they made no attempt at this. Instead, they just conceded the fact that they could not drop back and pass because Clark would not have enough time to throw. And I realize Penn State had poor field position all game, but all it takes is one first down and you are out of the jam. Having bad field position is no excuse, you can still move the ball down the field and score.

And there is no reason for Penn State’s offensive line to get dominated that bad by Ohio State. Both schools bring in top talent at these positions. Why is it that Penn State can only field a good offensive line once every three or four years? I realize the line is an area that gets better with time as the players get experience playing together as a unit, but it seems like Penn State struggles more than most when linemen graduate and new guys fill-in.

Clark once again failed to perform in the big game. Obviously he went against a tough defense, but he even missed some easy throws, which is unacceptable. You can’t completely blame him for struggling, though. Ohio State was getting pressure on him with only four rushers. So not only did he have guys in his face right away all game long, but they also had seven guys back in coverage. That is tough to beat. But with that being said, great players find a way to makes plays, and Clark has not proven he can do so. That’s the difference between him and Michael Robinson. No matter how unconventional he looked, MRob found a way to get things done. If you were a coach, and you compared the skill set of the two, it would be easy to say that you’d rather have Clark as your quarterback because he can make more throws and allows you to do more things. But Robinson was the ultimate leader, and I don’t think there are many Penn State fans that would really prefer to take Clark over Robinson, because Robinson always got the job done.

Other observations:

Graham Zug has been impressive. He has shown me that he has a lot more speed than I had initially thought.

Brandon Beachum may be Penn State’s best all around running back.

Astorino is really struggling. I read that he is playing with a dislocated shoulder. His tackling is poor.

The staff really loves Stephon Morris. It’s been said before, but rarely does Joe put a true freshman in such big games in crucial situations.

I actually liked the quarterback draw calls. I heard a lot of complaints about these play calls. I think the team just didn’t execute on these plays, but I don’t mind the calls.

I’ve done some research, and from what I’ve read, the call that was made on the punt that was kicked into the end zone and recovered by Ohio State for a touchback was the correct call by rule. I have a pretty good grasp on the rules of the game, but this was a rare instance where I was unfamiliar with the rule. I initially assumed that would be called a safety. But, in my opinion, that’s the way the rule should be. I think it should be treated like a regular fumble and live ball, which would have resulted in a safety and not a touchback. It just doesn’t make sense the way it currently is.

I am saving my biggest gripe for a separate post.