STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Pat Elflein didn't hesitate. He didn't need to for multiple reasons when asked if he thought Ohio State can still get done what it wants to get done in the 2016 football season.
“Yes,” Ohio State's senior center and captain said defiantly.
The Buckeyes slipped up in stunning fashion on Saturday night against Penn State, blowing a 21-7 fourth quarter lead to fall 24-21 to James Franklin and the Nittany Lions. But even with the loss, should Ohio State win its next five games it would earn a Big Ten East Division Championship and berth in the conference title game. A victory over Michigan and holding a tiebreaker in the form of better overall record compared to the Nittany Lions offers some perspective.
“It's what we train for all year is adversity,” Elflein said. “When stuff is not going your way, how are you going to respond to it? We have great leaders, our coaches are really good leaders. We have some good leaders on this team. We'll get back to work tomorrow.”
A blocked punt and blocked field goal that Grant Haley scooped up and ran back 60 yards for a touchdown led to Ohio State's collapse, one that happened at the feet of a despondent Urban Meyer who witnessed his offense slosh its way to an unimpressive performance.
“Offensively, we didn't control the line of scrimmage,” Meyer said. “[J.T. Barrett] was under pressure all night when we threw it and then we didn't move them off the ball in the run game. Gave up some big pass plays.”
Barrett got sacked six times, including twice on the final two plays the Buckeyes offense had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. The Nittany Lions recorded 11 tackles for loss. Those two totals could have very easily been higher had Barrett not brilliantly escaped pressure as the pocket collapsed and either hit his safety valve in tight end Marcus Baugh or running back Mike Weber or ran it himself.
Ohio State's downfield passing attack struggled once again as receivers failed to create separation and Penn State played stiff against the deep ball. Arguably the team's best offensive playmaker, Curtis Samuel, only touched the ball 10 times. One of those came on a 74-yard streak to the end zone that put Ohio State out front 19-7 in the third quarter.
“Probably gotta get him more than that,” Meyer said of Samuel's touches.
“I'm sure we should get him the ball more. I'm not sure why or what they were doing didn't allow him to get the ball,” Elflein added. “But we should definitely use our playmakers as many times as we can. If the defense allows that.”
Barrett echoed that statement, saying it is not the best idea to just force someone the football within the offense. Instead, take what the defense is giving you, at least when it comes to the passing game.
“I think we just play our offense,” Barrett said. “It’s not like, ‘Curtis has to touch the ball. Dontre [Wilson] has to touch the ball, Mike Weber has to touch the ball.’ We just run our offense. We’re not doing that. I can tell you that from here on our, there’s not going to be any ‘let’s get Curtis the ball, let’s run that play.’ Let’s run our plays, and if Curtis happens to get the ball, then Curtis gets the ball. That’s how our offense runs very well when that happens.”
Remove Samuel's 74-yard scoring run, however, and the Buckeyes finish the night with 39 carries for a measly 94 yards. For a team that entered the night averaging 300.5 yards per game on the ground, that's telling. Penn State's defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage for the majority of the second half, which allowed the Nittany Lions to hang around.
Trace McSorley also led two dynamite scoring drives when Penn State desperately needed them. Trailing 12-0 after two Tyler Durbin field goals and an impressive Marcus Baugh 26-yard catch and drive to the end zone through four defenders (Durbin missed the extra point) McSorley orchestrated a 74-yard drive in 1 minute and hit Chris Godwin for a 20-yard touchdown just before halftime.
“On top of what we are doing as a unit and as a group, doing stuff on our own, like extra film work and asking questions, and I think that's the biggest thing for us to be as prepared as we were,” McSorley said. “That just let us play loose and have confidence.”
McSorley also led another quick scoring drive in the fourth quarter, this time 90 yards in 1:20 before he punched it in on his own from 2 yards out. Penn State entered Saturday with two weeks of preparation under its belt having not played a week earlier while Ohio State escaped Madison with an overtime victory over Wisconsin. A late arrival back to Columbus last Sunday morning shifted Ohio State's practice schedule for the week around some.
That didn't mean the Buckeyes didn't feel ready for what waited in a wild Beaver Stadium White Out.
“I thought our guys, under circumstances, getting back at 5 a.m., we changed up our routine a little bit,” Meyer said. “I felt good in practice, I felt good when the game started ... Usually—and that's not just us, any good team—you control the line of scrimmage, you win the game. I didn't feel that way today.”
“We know how that can add up on you. We manage that during the week to make sure we were ready for this game physically,” Elflein added. “We knew it was tough coming in here. Just didn't get it done up front.”
Ohio State has clear issues on the offensive line and in the passing game with its receivers unable to make plays consistently. True outside receivers Noah Brown, Terry McLaurin and Parris Campbell combined to make just five catches for 70 yards. Barrett finished 28-of-43 for 245 yards through the air.
“Just small, mental mistakes. Not looking for a hot [read], different things like that,” Barrett said. “Not clearing out on some routes so somebody else could get open. I think overall the passing game, I think we put our O-line in bad spots early in drives. So we were in second and long and we had to pass. I think the harmed us but as far as overall passing game.”
Those issues left the possibility of a couple freak plays giving Penn State a massive home win and that is exactly what happened. Cameron Johnston had a punt blocked deep in Ohio State territory that eventually led to a field goal. Then the game's final points came on Haley's scoop and score off Durbin's final field goal attempt, one that safety Marcus Allen blocked.
“They did it before and I jumped over. It was a call for me to block the kick. I jumped over, clean, nobody touched me or anything but I missed it,” Allen said. “I went with the adjustment Coach [Charles] Huff gave me and I blocked it.”
“Really we just practiced it all week,” Haley added. “It was something from our film study that we thought would be successful for us.”
It certainly was, as Allen made the play and Haley made the winning play but out-running Durbin and Johnston to the end zone. It helped give Franklin a signature victory and knock Ohio State back into the stratosphere of the mortals for the time being. It also marked Penn State's first win over a top-5 opponent since 1999.
Still, Ohio State has everything in front of it. Starting next Saturday against Northwestern at 3:30 p.m. no matter how much this one hurts.
“Being that we’ve been here before, I’ve been here before last year, I’ve been here before with Virginia Tech, we’ve got to come together,” Billy Price said. “That’s what it comes down to. We’ve got to execute better and take care of things better in practice. It’s a tough loss because a lot of hard work goes into it and I know the entire team feels that way.”
“We'll get back to work tomorrow,” Elflein said. “We got a big one ahead of us. Learn from it and the way we do it fully loaded for the next one. Get ready to go.”
“It’s a pit in our stomach,” Sam Hubbard said.
“We gotta go to work. Simple as that,” Barrett said. “Put our hard hats on.”
“Every goal is still alive,” Meyer added. “We're not a great team right now. We gotta regroup and get guys healthy. Come back and keep swinging.”
