Penn State vs. Ohio State Position Grades
By Shane Lunnen
Oct 17, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions running back Saquon Barkley (26) reacts after a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
Penn State didn’t play well enough Saturday night, falling well short against the Buckeyes 38-10. We knew going into the game the Nittany Lions would have to play a perfect game, and while the start was decent, it unfortunately didn’t last. Everything seemed to change after a Saquon Barkley 44 yard TD run was called back on a hold. After that, it was mostly all Buckeyes.
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The only bright spot on the offense was Barkley. He was amazing and gashed the Ohio State defense. He didn’t look like he had any lingering effects of his injury and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the talented freshman. As for the other guys on offense, I’m really not sure what that performance was. Ohio State is the number 1 team in the country for a reason, but Penn State wasted the few opportunities they had on offense.
The defense did reasonably well given the position they were put in by the lack of offense and horrible special teams. Yes they gave up 38 points, but they were just completely exhausted by the end of the game.
This team is just not ready for prime-time and to beat the big boys in the conference. I think they are still a year or two away from really competing in a tough Big Ten East. Still it doesn’t make losses like this any less disappointing or frustrating.
Let’s get to the position grades for this week.
Next: Quarterbacks