The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s 20-13 loss to Ohio State

No need to mince words. Let’s get right into the good, the bad and the ugly from Penn State’s 20-13 loss to Ohio State in Beaver Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Good

Penn State under James Franklin: This is part of the problem, at this point. Penn State has been really good (I’d argue great) in the 10+ years that Franklin has led the program, but at no point has the program been elite. It’s been fighting that uphill battle for a while now and Saturday was the most recent (and best) chance to prove the Nittany Lions can beat a team that is undoubtedly among the elite in the sport. But once again, they didn’t. And instead we’re all left to have the discussion about where Penn State stands in college football.

It’s a top-10 program that has been in that range for most of the last eight-plus years. Now that gets a team into the College Football Playoff, but I tend to think fans’ hunger for success won’t be satiated by getting there — especially if December rolls around and the Nittany Lions fail to defeat whichever elite team they play in the postseason.

Tyler Warren: It’s been clear for a while that Warren is the best player on the field for the Nittany Lions when they are on offense, and that was the case again Saturday. He was the team’s leading rusher and second-leading receiver, accounting for seven touches and 94 yards through the air and on the ground. Warren was the reason the team was at the goal line late in the game with a chance to tie it up — and him not getting an eighth touch is probably the reason the Nittany Lions didn’t succeed on that drive.

His versatility has carried the offense this season and will likely have to continue to do that as Penn State closes out the final third of the regular season. And if things are going to change in December and this team is going to topple an elite team in the playoff, it will likely be because Warren is one of the best offensive players in the country and is used like it.

Drew Allar’s health: One of the most — if not the most — positive things to come out of this game is that Drew Allar seems to be healthy. The Penn State quarterback has been vital to the success that the Nittany Lions have had and the injury he suffered against Wisconsin could have severely hampered the outlook for the team the rest of the way. Based on Saturday, that won’t be the case. Allar threw the ball well, but most importantly ran it well too, showing very little sign of being affected by the injury he suffered.

That should allow the team to finish the season strong and give itself a chance to go 11-1 this year. And right now that’s the only surefire way the Nittany Lions can give themselves a chance to do what they couldn’t Saturday and take down an elite team — this time in the College Football Playoff in December.

Bad

Penn State’s final goal line possession: I have watched the last Nittany Lion set of downs several times now, and I still can’t figure how Penn State didn’t score. I mean, I can, but a touchdown was there for the taking. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki — who I would argue is the most creative offensive coordinator in college football — was unable to get the offense into the end zone on three runs and a pass attempt on four plays from within the three yard line. My first inclination was to think those play calls were bad, but upon watching again, there were opportunities on at least three of the plays for the Nittany Lions to get in the end zone.

On the first, running back Kaytron Allen shows patience, before plowing straight ahead, missing a chance to cut to his left — the area vacated by the Nittany Lions’ blocking down to the middle of the field — to a one-on-one with OSU CB Davison Igbinosun. The second is just an excellent play by the second level of the Ohio State defense, specifically linebacker Cody Simon, although if the design gives Allar a chance to keep the ball on a read option, then he should have. On third down, center Nick Dawkins gets beat on the snap and pushed into the backfield, disrupting Allen and blowing up the play. If he doesn’t get pushed back, Allen is likely scoring. And on fourth down, Allar makes the correct decision to thread the needle to tight end Khalil Dinkins, but Dinkins can’t get his hands to the ball to make the catch.

All of that is to say, a lot had to go wrong for Penn State not to score on any of those four plays. And it did.

Running game: Some of those rep losses on the goal-to-go set of downs late were common throughout the game when the Nittany Lions tried to run the ball. This was one of their worst rushing performances of the season and it’s a big part of the reason they kept stalling out on drives during the game. This offense excels when it’s playing ahead of the sticks and getting successful runs on early downs. That’s what opens up the passing game for Drew Allar and the team’s receivers, but that didn’t happen against Ohio State. The Buckeyes consistently won on early downs and were able to get push up front, or make important tackles in space that limited what the Penn State offense could do.

And that was vital in this game, because once the running game was taken away, it put the onus on the passing game to make things work. And that’s just not going to happen most of the time. It’s clear that Warren is elite and capable of shouldering the load for a passing game. But outside of him? Well...

Ugly

Penn State’s wide receivers: The problem for the offense can once again be boiled down to the struggles on the outside for Penn State. On plenty of elite teams if the running game fails, the passing game is more than capable of picking it up. But not on this one, unless Warren is going above and beyond to make things happen. The team’s wideouts are still the weak point of the unit and couldn’t get any separation against Ohio State Saturday. Play after play, matchup after matchup, the Buckeyes were winning on the outside. Kotelnicki’s attempts to scheme receivers open proved futile more often than not, leaving the Nittany Lions with no recourse but to lean on Warren again and hope for the best. And that worked on the final drive, until the aforementioned goal line stand for Ohio State.

This is going to be a problem again for Penn State when the Nittany Lions take on an elite defense — which Ohio State very much is. And not having any answers on the outside will be just as much a part of the downfall in the next loss as it was this one.