STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Some of the issues we saw before. Others emerged for the first time.
However you want to dissect it, though, Ohio State simply didn’t get the job done Saturday night. The Buckeyes fell 24-21 to Penn State in front of 107,280 raucous fans at Beaver Stadium, all dressed in white, and the reasons for it were rather obvious.
Ohio State struggled all evening in pass protection. The Buckeyes’ wide receivers struggled to get open for the large parts of the evening. J.T. Barrett, though under constant pressure, was a bit inconsistent throwing the ball — particularly down the field. Ohio State’s special teams were, well, rather abysmal. Penn State blocked both a punt and field goal try, the latter of which was returned 60 yards by Grant Haley for a touchdown that proved to be the game-winner.
“We’re not a great team right now,” Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said afterward.
Ohio State certainly showed it has a long way to go.
The struggles in the passing game are not new. The Buckeyes threw for only 93 yards two weeks ago against Indiana as Barrett was 9-for-23 passing. The inconsistencies carried over the following week against Wisconsin — at least for the first half — as Ohio State trailed by 10 points. On Saturday night against Penn State, Barrett was 28-for-43 through the air for 245 yards and a touchdown, but receivers struggled to get separation downfield and Barrett misfired on a few passes in the early going.
A large cause of those struggles — and perhaps the biggest reason for them — was Ohio State’s inability to protect Barrett. Penn State’s defensive line dominated in passing downs. The Nittany Lions recorded six sacks and it probably could have been 10 if not for Barrett’s Houdini ability throughout the evening.
“Offensively, we didn’t control the line of scrimmage,” Meyer said. “[Barrett] was under pressure all night when we threw it and then we didn’t move them off the ball in the run game.”
“Any good team, you control the line of scrimmage, you win the game. I didn’t feel that way today.”
The offensive line struggles were rather new. Sure, Ohio State’s group up front had some hiccups this season, but that was probably to be expected with three new starters. But this was the seventh game of the season, and the Buckeyes simply didn’t get the job done against a more-than-game Penn State front.
“It’s not a good feeling, without a doubt,” redshirt junior guard Billy Price said. “You’ve got to respect who your opponent is and you can’t overlook them and you have to execute. Tonight, we didn’t do so much. I’m kind of numb at the moment, but we’ll get back to the drawing board tomorrow, get after what we did wrong and we’ll fix it.”
Added senior center Pat Elflein: “We just didn’t get our job done. We didn’t get it done tonight.”
New, too, were the special teams blunders.
With Ohio State leading 21-14, Penn State’s Cam Brown blocked a punt attempt by Cameron Johnston and the Nittany Lions recovered at the Buckeyes’ 28-yard line. Ohio State held Penn State to a field goal and it seem like disaster had been averted.
But then Tyler Durbin trotted — rushed, rather — out for a 45-yard field goal attempt with 4 minutes, 27 seconds remaining and the Buckeyes ahead by four. Marcus Allen blocked it, though, and Haley scooped and scored from 60 yards out to send Beaver Stadium into a frenzy.
Meyer, whose teams are known for their stellar special teams play, had a difficult time describing his feelings.
“Special teams,” he said, somewhat to himself when asked post game for his biggest concerns.
“We had two blocked kicks,” he continued. “Two blocked kicks.”
These are the things that cause a team to lose a game in which the winning side only records 276 yards of offense. Ohio State continued to give Penn State life Saturday night and the Nittany Lions pounced in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a pit in our stomach,” defensive end Sam Hubbard said.
Some issues were old and others were new for the Buckeyes and things finally caught up to them in the House of Horrors that is Beaver Stadium. Ohio State can still win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff, but not if these issues — and yes, they’re real — don’t get fixed in a hurry.
The clock is ticking.
“Every goal is still alive,” Meyer said. “Time to get to work.”
