Five Things: Suffocating Defense, Clutch Passing Game Sparked by Marvin Harrison Jr. Push Ohio State Past Penn State

By Chris Lauderback on October 22, 2023 at 10:10 am
James Franklin
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The Ryan Day Podcast
Presented by The 1870 Society

Ohio State made it seven wins in a row against Penn State and improved to 7-0 on the season by way of a 20-12 score Saturday afternoon in Ohio Stadium. 

Jim Knowles' defense took another step forward, keeping Penn State from reaching the end zone for the game's first 59 minutes. The Silver Bullets simply suffocated an overmatched Penn State offensive line and first-year starting quarterback Drew Allar, holding them to 240 total yards with 73 of those coming on a last-gasp touchdown drive with Ohio State content to run some clock to salt away the W. 

With the defense recording eight tackles for loss, four sacks, six pass breakups and four quarterback hurries, fits and starts from the Ohio State offense wasn't a huge issue. 

The Buckeyes once again couldn't run the ball with any consistency and while Kyle McCord, Ohio State's own first-year starting quarterback, struggled at times with accuracy, locating the open man and pocket presence, he made some big-time throws finishing with 286 passing yards and a touchdown. 

Ohio State's second win this season against a top-10 opponent coupled with Michigan's blowout of Michigan State leaves the Buckeyes and Wolverines as the lone unbeatens in the Big Ten East. 

The Buckeyes' tough schedule doesn't take a break next week as they head to Camp Randall to face the 5-2 Badgers in a primetime banger. But before we shift focus to Luke Fickell's squad, here are Five Things from Ohio State's big win over the Nittany Lions. 

GOT TO GIVE IT UP 

In a contest where both teams featured elite defenses, struggled to run the ball and were depending on first-year starting quarterbacks, Ohio State benefitted greatly from having the lone unicorn on the field in the form of Marvin Harrison Jr. 

A year after recording career-highs with 10 receptions, all going for first downs, for 185 yards iin a win over the Nittany Lions, Harrison was even better yesterday as he recorded 11 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown with nine of those 11 grabs moving the chains or finding the end zone. 

With Ohio State nursing a 13-6 lead and facing 3rd-and-11 with just over four minutes to play, Harrison delivered the knockout punch as he hauled in a yoss on a shallow cross, raced toward the sideline and cut upfield for an 18-yard touchdown with 4:07 left in regulation. 

Among his other clutch catches, he fought off defensive pass interference to snag a 12-yard strike from McCord on 3rd-and-10 from the Penn State 16 to set up 1st-and-Goal. Miyan Williams found the end zone two plays later to put Ohio State in front, 10-3, midway through the second quarter. 

Marvin's 162 yards marked the 12th 100-yard receiving game of his Buckeye career putting him just two behind David Boston's school-record. Across two games against Penn State, Harrison tallied 21 catches for 347 yards and a score with 19 of his 21 grabs going for first downs or a touchdown. 

There's a strong argument to be made that yesterday's performance was the most impactful of his Buckeye career to date. 

NO BURKE, NO PROBLEM

Even with Penn State's passing game failing to generate many explosive plays against inferior opponents coming into the matchup with Ohio State, plenty of fans were still nervous about the fact No. 1 corner Denzel Burke was out due to injury. 

Burke's absence forced Knowles to lean heavily on Jordan Hancock and Jermaine Mathews Jr. and the duo stood tall versus Allar and company. 

Hancock recorded five tackles and broke up an Allar pass on the second play of the game. Penn State punted two snaps later. 

Late in the fourth quarter, Hancock gave up a completion but tackled KeAndre Lambert-Smith for no gain on a 3rd-and-1 snap from the OSU 36.

Mathews continued his fearless play logging three stops and a pass breakup of his own. The PBU came on a 3rd-and-8 play with Ohio State nursing a 10-6 third quarter lead. In the fourth quarter, Mathews played a 3rd-and-15 snap perfectly, giving up a check down to Theo Johnson and immediately bringing him to the ground for a useless 5-yard gain to force a punt again as OSU clung to the 10-6 advantage. 

Starting cornerback Davison Igbinosun also added five stops and a tackle for loss as the Buckeyes held Allar to a dismal 18-of-42 performance (43%) for 191 yards and the late touchdown. 

Ohio State obviously needs Burke back to make a run at a conference title and CFP bid but Hancock came up big against Penn State and Mathews has the tools to be a future star. 

STARCADE

At programs like Ohio State where the standard is perfection, it's sometimes easy to focus too heavily on what a player isn't versus what he is. Tight end Cade Stover is a bit of a lightning rod in this regard considering his blocking is inconsistent but as a pass catcher, this dude is doing major work. 

In recent weeks it seems the braintrust has minimized exposure to his blocking opportunities while continuing to utilize his top-tier talent as a receiver. 

With starting wide receiver Emeka Egbuka out with an injury, Stover stepped up as Harrison's top sidekick recording four catches on four targets for 70 yards against the Nittany Lions. 

He caught a modest 2-yard pass on Ohio State's first scoring drive to make it 3-0 and his 9-yard catch on 2nd-and-10 helped keep the Buckeyes on schedule during a touchdown drive putting OSU in front, 10-3, with 7:31 left in the second quarter. 

His longest catch of the day came on a 2nd-and-1 snap as he mossed Penn State's Kobe King for a 30-yard gain to the PSU 9-yard line with OSU leading 10-6 late in the third quarter. Just excellent concentration and hand-eye coordination in traffic to haul in the big gainer. 

The Buckeyes would fail to generate points on the drive after a McCord pass fell incomplete in the direction of Carnell Tate on 4th-and-Goal from the 2-yard line but Stover's catch helped ensure Penn State would have poor field position following the turnover on downs. 

Still leading 10-6 on the ensuing OSU possession, Stover went back to work, corralling a McCord throw and running upfield for a 29-yard gain. The catch and run gave the Buckeyes 1st-and-10 at the PSU 36 and they would cash in with a field goal six plays later to make it 13-6 with 8:59 left in the game. 

Stover's key performance pushed his season totals to 27 catches for 429 yards and three touchdowns, all of which rank second on the squad behind Harrison.

The converted linebacker from Lexington, Ohio (not Mansfield) could threaten Ohio State's single-season receptions and yards records for tight ends as he sits just 243 yards from breaking Billy Anders' record of 671 set back in 1966. Stover needs another 29 catches to eclipse Anders' mark of 55, also set back in '66. 

THIRD DOWN DOMINANCE

Along with Harrison's greatness, another major factor helping Ohio State to the winner's circle came as the Buckeyes dominated on third down. 

Day's offense converted a modest 6-of-16 third down conversion attempts (38%) including 4-of-7 on 3rd-and-short and 2-of-5 on 3rd-and-long but that was still well above the 27% rate Penn State allowed coming into the contest and most of OSU's conversions were impactful. 

An 8-yard pass from McCord to Harrison on 3rd-and-3 helped keep a drive alive as Ohio State went on to take an early 3-0 lead. On the touchdown possession putting OSU in front 10-3, Miyan Williams moved the chains with a 3-yard run on 3rd-and-1, a Penn State defensive hold wiped out a strip-sack touchdown on 3rd-and-11 and a 3rd-and-10 snap saw McCord hit Harrison for the previously noted 12-yard gain the PSU 4. Williams scored two plays later. 

On the touchdown drive to make it 20-6 that essentially ended the game, Williams gained two yards on a 3rd-and-2 before Marv's 18-yard catch and run touchdown on 3rd-and-11. 

Conversely, Penn State's offense converted only 1-of-16 third down tries (6%) marking the worst third down conversion rate by an AP top-10 team over the last 10 seasons (min. 15 attempts). The Nittany Lions went 0-for-6 on 3rd-and-short. 

Overall, Franklin's offense averaged 1.1 yards per third down play, Allar completed just 3-of-12 passes for 12 yards and the run game logged five yards on three rushes. 

Penn State's lone third down conversion came with 46 seconds left in regulation on a 3rd-and-6 pass that gained seven yards. Congrats on avoiding the donut.

DAY AND NIGHT

The win over Penn State improved Ryan Day to 18-6 against ranked opponents and pushed him to 10-5 versus the AP top-10. He's also now 5-1 at home versus the AP top-10. 

I'm still not sure Ohio State will ever be able to run the ball effectively against a legit defense this season after averaging a sack-adjusted 2.3 yards per pop against Penn State with two of its 41 carries going for at least 10 yards (10, 12). I'm also scared to death of Parker Fleming's special teams units and these ongoing injuries are out of control. That said, props to Day for leading Ohio State to a significant win. 

Unfortunately, there's little time to get Henderson, Egbuka and Burke healthy for another possible stiff test as Ohio State heads to Madison for a primetime contest against the 5-2 Badgers next weekend. 

Regardless of who is available, job one for Day will be to ensure his team doesn't suffer a hangover from the big win over the Nittany Lions. 

You can bet Luke Fickell will have his guys amped up to face his alma mater and while the Buckeyes are riding a nine-game winning streak over Wisconsin, Camp Randall should be a tough atmosphere for Ohio State and Day can ill afford for his team to come out flat. 

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