Penn State Football: Grades vs. Ohio State

Penn State suffered its second loss of the season on Saturday, as the Nittany Lions fell to Ohio State 28-17 at Ohio Stadium.

In what was the biggest regular-season game that Penn State football has played in years, the Nittany Lions’ comeback attempt came up short.

Penn State was down 21-0 after Ohio State’s first drive of the second half, but the Nittany Lions followed it up with a 17-0 scoring run to cut the lead to just four going into the fourth quarter.

However, this wasn’t a normal run for Penn State. It was led by backup quarterback Will Levis after Sean Clifford injured his knee with just over 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

Additionally, it was kick started by the Penn State defense, who forced the Buckeyes to fumble in their own territory on two consecutive offensive drives following Penn State’s first score. The comeback attempt was put to rest after Justin Fields threw a 28-yard touchdown to Chris Olave with 13:25 left in the fourth quarter and Will Levis threw an interception on the drive after.

Overall, you can’t fault this team for the valiant fight they put up against the Buckeyes as 18.5-point underdogs. Down 21-0 against the potentially best team in the country, the Nittany Lions fought all the way back, eventually having a chance to take a lead late in the fourth quarter.

This is a young team, and if they return everyone they expect to return next year, Penn State has a real chance to beat Ohio State next year at Beaver Stadium.

Let’s get to this week’s positional grades.