The Penn State-Ohio Report Card
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford's voice climbed a few decibel levels as he discussed watching most of the second half from the sideline Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
Clifford didn't play much in the second half of the Lions' 46-10 win over Ohio, ceding series to freshman Drew Allar and redshirt freshman Christian Veilleux. And he could not have sounded much happier.
"If it means giving up some time to get guys prepared, I want to win more than anything," Clifford said. "I have no ego in that. So the only thing that matters to me is winning football games, and I know how important it is to give those guys reps. If anything happens to me, I want to win games. That’s all that matters, and I think it was awesome today to get Drew in there for series after series and CV a couple series as well. It was a lot of fun to watch."
A lot of Saturday's home opener was fun to watch. There were, however, some quibbles. Even head coach James Franklin had some. So let's get to the report card.
OFFENSE: B+
Saturday's most significant development occurred when freshman running back Nicholas Singleton took his third carry of the game (and 13th of his career) for a 70-yard touchdown. It was Penn State's longest run in nearly three years. Singleton (10 carries, 179 yards) had three carries of 40+ yards. Penn State had two during the entire 2021 season. Like Saquon Barkley did in 2015 and beyond, Singleton changes everything about Penn State's offense.
Meanwhile, Clifford (19-for-27) broke the 70-percent completion rate for the seventh time in his career and improved to 10-0 in August/September games as a starter. The Lions played a ton of guys (a school-record 17 caught passes), got Drew Allar some major run and rolled up 572 yards of offense. Franklin wasn't a fan of the second quarter, or the five sacks allowed, and the Lions weren't great on third down (3 of 12). Overall, however, a worthy day against a MAC team.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar completed 6 of 8 passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns in the Lions' 46-10 victory over Ohio.
Matthew O'Haren/USA Today Sports
DEFENSE: B
Chop Robinson is phasing nicely into his role at defensive end after playing linebacker for Maryland last season. He wasn't credited with a quarterback hurry but generated consistent pressure and broke up a pass. Penn State's aggressive blitzes didn't quite hit home against a quarterback with a slower release than the defense saw at Purdue last week. And Ohio rolled out two trick plays on its touchdown drive. Still, the Lions emptied the sideline (24 players made tackles) and gave up only three second-half points with their heavy rotation. Alas, the team's turnover streak ended at 20 games.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B-
So here's a stress point. Kicker Jake Pinegar missed a 42-yard field goal and an extra point. Didn't matter Saturday, but it will matter in the future. Pinegar is 10-for-19 on field-goal attempts of 40-49 yards in his career. The Lions might go to Sander Sahaydak if that continues. Meanwhile, punter Barney Amor continues to be one of the team's top stories. Amor averaged an eye-popping 49 yards on three attempts, getting a friendly bounce to land a ball at the Ohio 1-yard line. That led to a safety.
COACHING: B
Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich is off to a better start than defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, whose heavy blitz packages have produced three sacks in two games. The Purdue game was understandable, but the Lions should have had more vs. Ohio. Meanwhile, Yurcich's group has scored 81 points in two games, his best stretch at Penn State and reminiscent of some of his offenses at Oklahoma State and Texas.
OVERALL: B
It's easy to draw too many positive conclusions from this game. Better to judge Penn State more completely after next week's game at Auburn. Still, the Lions ran the ball better then they have since 2019 and rolled out a bunch of talented freshmen. They didn't labor, stayed healthy and head to Auburn with a confident group.
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