Penn State Lacks What It Takes to Be Truly Elite

Ohio State wasn’t at its best Saturday, but the Buckeyes still handled a Nittany Lions team that’s perpetually behind.

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Two questions into his postgame press conference, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar pressed his thumbs into the corners of his eyes and tried to stop himself from crying. He was unsuccessful. The tears slipped out, the sting of defeat evident in his 19-year-old face.

“It sucks to lose,” the Ohio native said after a 20-12 defeat at Ohio State. “It’s not fun to lose at all.”

Not fun. But familiar when these two teams get together. The pain is perpetual for Penn State.

Allar didn’t play well at all, completing just 18 of 42 passes for 191 yards—73 of those on a garbage-time drive for Penn State’s only touchdown of the day. His offensive teammates didn’t play well, either. James Franklin and his staff didn’t coach well (the play calling was, at times, completely counter-intuitive). This was a near-total flop by the nation’s No. 7 team, extending Penn State’s losing streak against the Buckeyes to seven seasons and perpetuating the suspicion that the ceiling on this program is well short of greatness.

Nevertheless, Franklin attempted some brazen postgame spin. “I’m not sure if we didn’t just watch two of the best teams in college football,” he said. “Certainly on the defensive side of the ball.”

I’ll throw a challenge flag on the first sentence. Ohio State is 7-0 with victories over Notre Dame and the Nittany Lions, so let’s grant the Buckeyes their status. But Penn State? No, sir. Its 6-0 record was built on empty calories, beating no one of note. This was the prove-it game, and Franklin’s program has proved itself chronically lacking in what it takes to join the elite level of the sport.

He’s now 1-9 against Ohio State, and this underwhelming performance prompted a pointed question about whether it’s a referendum on his tenure at Penn State. Franklin didn’t recoil at the question, but neither did he directly answer it.

“I totally get it,” he said. “That’s a good football team. We lost to a really good football team in the road. I think it’s a fair question. I get the question.”

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar completed just 18 passes against the Buckeyes :: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK

What is Penn State missing? Start with the receiver wearing No. 18 in scarlet Saturday. Marvin Harrison Jr., a product of Philadelphia, chose Ohio State over his in-state school. He visited Penn State, but wisely chose Wide Receiver U, where they pump out NFL players at his position annually.

Harrison, on his way to being a high first-round draft pick in the spring, had 11 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown Saturday. He came in leading the Big Ten in yards per game and yards per catch, and his third consecutive 100-yard game should elevate him in the Heisman Trophy discussion. The Nittany Lions had no answer for him defensively and nothing comparable offensively, where their wideouts failed to win one-on-one battles with the Ohio State secondary.

“We’ve got to look at that hard,” Franklin said of his receiving corps’ inability to separate and get open. “Drew needs some guys to make some plays for him on a more consistent basis.”

Penn State’s offense hasn’t been anything special all season, and it was downright overmatched when facing the Buckeyes’ high-level defense. The Nittany Lions were a third-down train wreck, converting just 1 of 16 into a first down. They didn’t reach the Red Zone until their final possession and produced just one play longer than 20 yards all game. For the season, they still have just one play of 40-plus yards.

On paper, this was the year Penn State was supposed to be able to go toe-to-toe with Ohio State. That absolutely didn’t happen, and that probably says more about the losing team than the winners.

This was a big game that underwhelmed. Some of that was expected with two high-level defenses, but there still wasn’t much in the way of dazzling play. Put it this way: Michigan isn’t feeling any fear about playing either of these teams come November.

The Buckeyes are a good team—better defensively than they have been in years, certainly. Offensively, they presumably will be better in the weeks ahead when running back TreVeyon Henderson and receiver Emeka Egbuka return from injury. Quarterback Kyle McCord? The best thing that can be said about him is that he hasn’t thrown an interception since the season opener.

He hasn’t gotten the Buckeyes beaten, but he’s a step down from what they’ve had at the position in recent years. (A Penn State holding penalty bailed McCord out of a sack-fumble that was returned for a touchdown.) Ohio State has won Big Ten championships with pedestrian quarterbacks before—Todd Boeckman in 2007 springs to mind—but the Wolverines will not be easily beaten without excellent QB play.

Even the Ohio State fans were fairly muted postgame. There was no euphoria in the air. Walking down several flights of stairs from near the top of the stadium, one man tried to get people going with the traditional “O-H” cheer, but the “I-O” responses lacked ardor. He finally got a more enthusiastic response near ground level.

Fans here know what great teams look like. They didn’t see one Saturday.

Penn State fans haven’t seen one since 1994. They’ve seen good ones coached by Franklin, sometimes very good. But not great. He’s paid like an elite coach and his program is funded like an elite program and he recruits at an elite level, but the disconnect remains. Saturday was a stark reminder of that.

“This program, we don’t take losses lightly in any sense,” said offensive tackle Olu Fashanu, himself a likely high first-round pick who struggled at times to block Ohio State defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau.

They don’t take losses lightly—that was evident looking at the players’ faces afterward. But they’re accustomed to losing this game. In a defining annual matchup, Ohio State is the superior team and Penn State is perpetually unable to close the gap.