What We Learned About Penn State After Another Loss to Ohio State

The Nittany Lions struggled to find the end zone and get a late defensive stop against the Buckeyes.

Penn State running back Kaytron Allen (13) is tackled by Ohio State's Cody Simon (0) and Sonny Styles (6) in the first half at Beaver Stadium. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

STATE COLLEGE | It’s a new season but a familiar result for Penn State, which lost its eighth straight game to Ohio State 20-13 on Saturday. Here’s what we learned from the Nittany Lions’ latest loss to the Buckeyes. 

The Nittany Lions' offense falls short again

Penn State certainly was creative again on offense, incorporating a plethora of fun formations, motions and trickery all day. But all those bells and whistles didn’t translate to a single offensive touchdown. The Nittany Lions have scored one offensive touchdown against Ohio State for the past two seasons. Ohio State beat Penn State 20-12 last season, holding the Nittany Lions to just a late touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Nittany Lions (7-1) didn’t run the ball well, as Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined for just 58 yards on 22 rushes. Tight end Tyler Warren was the team’s leading rusher with 47 yards. Drew Allar ran for 31 yards, the bulk of which came on scrambles. Allar ran it early and often, primarily because his receivers struggled to get open consistently. 

"I’m just upset, for real," Singleton said. "If we end up scoring [on those two drives], we’d be somewhere different. We would have won. It was a close game. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but we gotta finish."

It’s a familiar problem for Penn State: The receiving corps wasn’t productive enough on Saturday, and the pre-snap eye candy didn’t seem to help in getting them open. The passing game ultimately funneled through Singleton’s six catches. Warren got going in the second half with four catches and a 33-yard scamper out of the Wildcat formation. But the wide receivers accounted for only three catches. 

“Are they good on defense? Yes. We gotta find ways to manufacture points and yards, no doubt about it, so we didn’t get it done,” Penn State coach Franklin said. 

Penn State had a 1st-and-goal from the Ohio State 3-yard line in the final six minutes with an opportunity to score a game-tying touchdown. From there, they handed it to Allen up the middle on three straight plays to reach the 1-yard line. On 4th-and-goal, Penn State went play action, and Allar had nowhere to throw it. Warren didn’t get the ball at all during that sequence. 

“We had a man-zone option,” Warren said of the fourth-down play. “They zoned it off, so we went to the zone side. I’m going to do my job no matter what play is called. There are a lot of guys who can make plays in those situations. It’s not just me who should be me getting the ball.”

It was a golden chance for the Nittany Lions to tie the game, but they couldn’t pull it off. Ohio State would milk away the rest of the clock, ensuring Penn State would never see the football again. 

“It’s heartbreaking. Nobody wants to go out there and not score at the plus-five,” guard Sal Wormley said. 

Penn State's defense does enough to win

Penn State’s defense was tested by Ohio State’s playmakers. That resulted in some big plays for the Buckeyes’ wideouts, including touchdown catches for Emeka Egbuka and Brandon Inniss. 

Running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson ran hard all day, totaling 149 yards rushing, 45 on the last drive of the game. Ohio State ran the ball on 11 straight plays to close it out. 

“I had confidence that our defense would go in there and make a stop,” defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said, “and that’s not what happened.”

At the same time, the Nittany Lions managed to limit Ohio State to only 20 points. In the second quarter, safety Zakee Wheatley punched the ball away from Ohio State quarterback Will Howard near the goal line, with the ball rolling out for a touchback. Penn State didn’t immediately capitalize offensively, but the turnover prevented Ohio State from taking a 21-10 lead. 

Not to mention, cornerback Zion Tracy’s first-quarter pick 6 proved to be a huge play in a game without a ton of scoring. It was Penn State’s only touchdown of the day and was the reason that it remained a one-score game throughout. 

The defense held Ohio State to six points in the second half. The Nittany Lions certainly benefited from a few missed throws by Howard, but ultimately Penn State’s defense played well enough to win the game. 

Tyler Warren, Abdul Carter make big plays

Arguably Penn State’s biggest stars on each side of the ball, Warren on offense and Abdul Carter on defense, did their best to put the team on their backs. In the first half, Warren had just two rushing attempts and a single passing target. In the second half, Warren hauled in all four of his targets, including a 31-yard circus catch over a defender’s head. His 33-yard run in the fourth quarter set Penn State up on the goal line before ultimately coming up short. 

Carter notched two third-down sacks to end Ohio State drives and finished with four total tackles. There were some errors, such as jumping offside on 3rd-and-2 in the second quarter to give Ohio State a free first down. On a fourth down during the next series, Carter had a chance to sack Howard, but he came up empty and allowed Howard to find a receiver for the first down. 

Still, without those individual efforts, Penn State might not have had as much of a chance in this game. 

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Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson