The Penn State Football Show

Sitting in the stands at Beaver Stadium as the clock wound down on another chapter in the Penn State-Ohio State saga, the only thing that came to my mind was utter disappointment. Like everyone else has stated, I was extremely pumped up for this game and it turned out to be a huge emotional letdown. Coming into this game, I really thought Penn State was the better team and figured Terrelle Pryor and the young Ohio State offense would have trouble playing composed football on the road in a big game. I figured the game to be similar to last year's with solid defense and limited scoring. I expected Penn State would come out with a victory behind the leadership and the poise of the defense and a few big plays by the offense. Boy was I wrong.

The toughest part about this game is the fact that Penn State flat out got beat. Overall, I still don't know whether Ohio State is a better team than Penn State but you have to tip your hats to them...they were the better team on the field Saturday afternoon. They had to come in and play a nearly flawless game...and they did. No turnovers, few penalties, control the field position, and make a big special teams play. Terrelle Pryor also had to play a very sound, fundamental game...and he did. He didn't make many great plays, but he made enough to sustain a few drives, and, more importantly, he didn't make any of the mistakes he is known for making. As much as it pains me to say this, he probably played the best game of his career thus far.

On the other side, Penn State also had to come out and play their A-game and play mistake-free football...and they did not. The offensive line was overmatched which was compensated by a few holding penalties which nullified some big plays. If TP2 played his best game as a Buckeye, Daryll Clark might have played his worst game as a Lion. He was off-the-mark on several of his passes and couldn't find a way to elude the rush of their DL. It is clear that Ohio State DE's Cameron Heyward and Thaddeus Gibson are among the Big Ten's best defensive linemen and the young PSU offensive line could not contain them. That being said, I think we did move the ball well on a few drives. I would have liked to see some more short pass plays. It looked like their LB's were often up on the line and I think these would have been effective. The swing to Zug in the first half went for 25 yards and we never went back to it. The short slant to Royster would have also went for 8-10 yards and maybe more if Clark hits him in stride.

Defensively, I thought Penn State played well and the game plan was valid. They contained Pryor for the most part and did a decent job stuffing the run. I think the numbers are a little misleading. Even though the rushing stats will suggest otherwise, I didn't get the feeling that Ohio State was moving the ball with ease. Yards were at a premium and they had quite a few 3-and-outs. A couple broken Ohio State plays lead to Pryor scampering for some yards, but that will happen with an athletic mobile QB like Pryor. Furthermore, Pryor only completed 8 passes and half of his 125 yards came on one play. I still don't know how Posey got behind the corner and safety on that TD pass. That's unusual for the Penn State secondary to get beat deep. I'm beginning to retract my early-season statements about Nick Sukay. If you took notice though, after that TD, Stephon Morris was matched up with Posey for the rest of the game. The coaches must be really high on this kid. Nevertheless, I am very excited to watch this secondary grow and get better over the next few years. I think they have some promise.

Unfortunately, if you're like me, you came away from this game with the feeling of disappointment focused in a few different areas...

1. Disappointment in the way our offense could not find a way to move the ball against the Ohio State defense. This was my biggest question mark and concern coming into the game and I left with several answers that I wasn't pleased with. True, the offensive line was getting overmatched but the coaches didn't make any adjustments, i.e. swing passes to the receivers, outside stretch runs (have we run a speed/power option all year???), screen passes to Royster/Green, short slants/outs, etc. Ohio State's defense is good but I don't think it should have been such a struggle to generate offense. I think our offense is as equally good. We never put any pressure on their secondary, a unit which might be their weak point. Again, Beachum is underused.

2. Disappointment in Daryll Clark. I like Daryll Clark and I have always supported him. I think he is one of the better QB's to play at PSU and, when he is on, one of the better QB's in college football. But, I really thought he would be better prepared for this game and put up a better showing. A football team lives and dies with the performance of the QB and Daryll was not on top of his game Saturday. You cant put this loss entirely on Clark's shoulders, but as a Senior leader/captain of this team, he has to play better and find ways to be successful. He was never really on point with his throws all day and some of those errant throws were not a result of the pressure. Chaz Powell had an inside step on their corner on the only long pass of the day and Daryll simply didn't get it to him. Royster was open on a quick slant and Clark missed him. Ryan's post last week said it best...this was DC17's break-out opportunity to make an everlasting impression on the Penn State football record books and show the country he is for real. Not only did he fail, he looked bad doing so.

3. Disappointment in the fact that we could not get the ball into the hands of our best receiver. 0 catches for Derek Moye is not a recipe for success against any team but the part that is the most discouraging is he was only thrown to ONCE (drew PI call in the endzone on PSU's lone TD drive). Thankfully, Graham Zug stepped up and carried the WR workload but there should have been adjustments made to get the ball to DM6. Moye had a few inches on OSU CB's Devon Torrence and Chimdi Chekwa...this should have been taken advantage of. Furthermore, if OSU was shutting down the outside and shadowing Moye with a Safety or OLB, this should have opened up things for Quarless and Shuler. I have said from the beginning of the year these guys need touches to make this offense tick. Aside from GZ5, the airial attack looked miserable.

4. Disappointment in our showing on a national level. For the second time, in a big game on National TV, Penn State looked like they didn't belong on the upper-tierd pedestol of college football. This was a chance to show people that they did belong in the National picture and they failed to do so. I think this team is good enough to be on that level but now, after a loss to an Ohio State team who is perceived as average for Ohio State standards, Penn State loses all credibility.

5. Disappointment in the Nittany Nation faithful. The toughest part of this season is the fact that we had the two biggest games of the season at home in front of the "Greatest Show in College Football" and we got smacked in the face in both contests. I am a very firm believer in the concept of "home field advantage," especially in college football, and I think Beaver Stadium can be a very intimidating place to play. For a little while there, I thought we had an edge when it came to this but I am beginning to sense some fair-weatherdness with the students, the fellow fans, and the masterminds behind the whole thing. Watching that place clear out with 9-and-something minutes left down 24-7 was very discouraging. I didn't necessarily think we were going to come back and win the game, but a quick score makes it a game again. All in all, it gives me the sense that the novelty behind the whole experience is wearing off.

This loss was a tough one to swallow but, despite what you might read in the papers and hear on TV/Radio, this season is not a wash. Moving forward, I think 10-2 would be a very respectable season. I would anxiously welcome a shot at a #3 SEC team (LSU???) in a bowl game to see where this team, and the Big Ten for that matter, stands on the national stage. The game at Michigan State will be a big game and a road win to seal a decent bowl game would be a good way to end the season.