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The Day After: What We Learned from Penn State's 0-2 Start

What's ailing Penn State? A few thoughts after the Lions' 38-25 loss to Ohio State.
Mark Wogenrich|
The Day After: What We Learned from Penn State's 0-2 Start
The Day After: What We Learned from Penn State's 0-2 Start

Some day-after thoughts following Ohio State's 38-25 victory over Penn State at a lonely Beaver Stadium.

1. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca introduced the slogan "strike first and strike fast" to Penn State this season. But through two games, the Lions have scored a total of 13 first-half points and trailed by double-digits at halftime in both.

Penn State did strike first and fast against Indiana, scoring on its first possession of the season, but turned over the ball on three of its next five possessions. Ohio State, meanwhile, allowed one drive longer than 20 yards in the first half. And Penn State scored 6 points only because of a quirky finish regarding a kneeldown by quarterback Justin Fields.

"Starting fast is obviously the No. 1 [thing] since we only put up three points as an offense in the first half," Clifford said. "That's unacceptable."

2. That said, once the Lions abandoned their quarterback-run game in the second half and threw more shallow and middle routes, the offense could breathe. Clifford at one stretch completed six consecutive passes, going 5-for-5 on a third-quarter touchdown drive. He began finding freshmen receivers Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and Jahan Dotson turned into an acrobat before our eyes.

So there were signs of a breakthrough. They just arrived too late.

3. Two statistics that underscored Ohio State's line-of-scrimmage dominance. Tommy Togiai, a 300-pound defensive tackle, had three of his team's five sacks and more than Penn State's entire defense delivered (two).

Meanwhile, according to Pro Football Focus, offensive tackles Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere did not allow a pressure in 37 passing snaps.

4. Penn State coach James Franklin described his team's gameplan as "aggressive," which is why he went for a 4th-and-2 inside Penn State territory in the first half. The unsuccessful attempt (the Lions called a screen that didn't open) led to Ohio State taking a 14-0 lead.

"We went into this game knowing that we were going to have to score points and score touchdowns," Franklin said. "So we wanted to go for it as much as we possibly could in fourth-down situations."

Preceding that, quarterback Sean Clifford threw a deep shot to Jahan Dotson on third down that was quite aggressive (and would signal a huge game for the receiver) and not a bad call. It just didn't connect. If either of those two plays had worked, the Lions build might have built something quickly.

5. Coaching mistakes haunted Penn State once again. In the second quarter, the Lions came out of a timeout with a red-zone defensive call but one player scrambling onto the field late. Fields took advantage of the confusion, hitting tight end Jeremy Ruckert for an easy touchdown.

"Those are the things that are happening that should never happen," Franklin said. "And we haven't really had those issues in six years. So those are the things that we got to spend a lot of time talking about on Sunday."

6. Defensive tackle Antonio Shelton has been a disruptive force through two games, getting his first sack Saturday. And linebacker Jesse Luketa returned from his first-half suspension to make eight tackles in the second.

"I thought not having Jesse Luketa in the first half made an impact," Franklin said.

7. Penn State doesn't trust its running game without Journey Brown and Noah Cain. Of the team's 27 carries, Clifford had 18, running back Devyn Ford had eight and backup quarterback Will Levis took one (after Clifford had his helmed dislodged).

Ohio State certainly swarmed the run game, crashing handoffs to force losses or Clifford to tuck and scramble. Ford had a 23-yard carry that looked promising and one reception, but otherwise, Penn State made its backs a non-factor. The Lions finished with 44 yards rushing, the fifth-lowest total under Franklin.

8. Penn State's AP Top 25 streak will end. The Lions had been ranked for 63 consecutive weeks (for polls it was eligible) dating to 2016. It was the third-longest streak in school history.

9. A few observations about the atmosphere. Penn State listed the attendance at 1,500, though that includes every last person at Beaver Stadium. There were maybe 500 family members in the stands.

The quiet was disquieting, particularly for a game that has such a reputation for its size and noise. Penn State went for a Whiteout feel by delivering the same pregame introductions, hype video and songs (including the Lion King soundtrack).

Celebration sounds were muted but noticable, and there were some sing-alongs (but no Sweet Caroline or Livin' on a Prayer). Since it was Halloween, Thriller made the playlist.

The game certainly dictated the soundtrack, but the quiet was jarring and something Beaver Stadium hopefully doesn't get used to.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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