When Will Penn State Truly 'Close the Gap' Against Ohio State?
COLUMBUS, Ohio | Penn State's James Franklin rightfully wears the heat suit today. He opened himself to it once again. By saying that Penn State had "closed the gap" on the nation's top 5 teams — three days before visiting No. 3 Ohio State — Franklin left very little margin for error. And then he strayed way outside that margin.
Laying a 12-point egg in consecutive loss No. 7 to the Buckeyes made the situation clear: Penn State is a top-10 program but not a top-5 team. In Year 10 at Penn State, Franklin no longer is contracting a rebuild. This is his coaching staff, his administrative operation, his team of analysts (12) and recruiting coordinators and graduate assistants and directors of player personnel, high school relations and recruiting content. He has built this enormous team for one goal: to eliminate that gap completely.
Then Saturday happens, and Penn State must bitterly accept its place once more. Penn State's 20-12 loss to Ohio State resurrected themes of offensive scheming, missed recruiting opportunities (Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. went to high school in Philadelphia) and big-game decision-making. Franklin's explanation of his choice to go for a 4th-and-4 with more than 7 minutes remaining underscored the desperation Penn State consistently feels in this series.
"You may night get the ball back," Franklin said, as though 4 minutes remained and Ohio State had rushed for 240 yards. That's not aggressiveness. It's panic, and it emerges time after time against the Buckeyes.
Big pictures are difficult to draw after single games, and this particular day at Ohio Stadium wasn't a referendum of Franklin on its own. However, it's fair to draw from history. This is Franklin's best starting 22 since 2017, his deepest collection of talent ever and his best pound-for-pound team against Ohio State yet. The Buckeyes played without three key starters. They scored 10 points through three quarters. They largely played even defensively with Penn State. They leaned on Harrison, their one overwhelming advantage, and the 14-point swing that occurred when defensive holding (against Harrison, downfield, for little reason) negated Curtis Jacobs' touchdown.
Penn State simultaneously was in this game and yet so far from winning. The Buckeyes knew it. It has closed the gap but is far from eliminating it. As a result, Franklin wears the heat suit. Again.
Final Thoughts on Penn State-Ohio State
• Quarterback Drew Allar absorbed this loss personally and admirably sat through an agonizing post-game media session During it, Allar demonstrated some moments of great clarity, including this one in discussing the offense's issues.
"Obviously we didn't do well as an offense today and struggled, but I truly believe that if we can fix the little things that we probably would have had a better performance today," he said. "Again, it was a great defense that we went against, but I felt like we stopped ourselves a lot more than we needed to. And it was just silly things."
He'll be better for having gone through all of it.
• Asked whether Penn State's passing game was good enough to win, Franklin spoke for every fan with his one-word answer: "No."
This is a long-form question for later, but the Lions' lack of playmaking receivers was clear at Ohio State. Two receivers caught passes through three quarters. KeAndre Lambert-Smith was targeted 12 times. He finished with 6 catches for 52 yards, 19 of them after the catch. By contrast, Harrison was targeted 16 times. He made a career-high 11 catches for 162 yards, 80 after the catch. Again, Harrison went to high school in Philadelphia.
(To be fair, Harrison was the No. 7 overall recruit in Pennsylvania’s 2021 recruiting class, according to 247 Sports. Penn State signed the No. 4 overall recruit, receiver Lonnie White Jr., who chose to play professional baseball.)
• What more could the defense have done? Anything, Jacobs said. He didn't see the flag that negated his touchdown, nor did he want to dwell on it. "We needed to create more plays," he said. "If the other team has more points than us, then that's on us as a defense."
• On his first series of the game, Nicholas Singleton rushed three times for 42 yards. After that? Six carries for six yards.
• Last word from tight end Theo Johnson: "There's been championship teams [five, in fact] that have had one loss before, so this is not the end of our story," he said. "This is not the end of the road, but we do need to improve."
More on Penn State
An emotional Drew Allar challenges himself after Penn State's loss to Ohio State
Where does Penn State's offense go from here?
The Penn State-Ohio State report card
Ohio State 20, Penn State 20: Breakdown of an offensive breakdown
AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.
