Penn State interim HC Terry Smith states the painful truth about playing Ohio State

Penn State is 3-5 and 0-5 in Big Ten play after a 38-14 loss to No. 1 Ohio State in Week 10. Rather than James Franklin taking another loss to the Buckeyes and a top-five opponent, interim head coach Terry Smith fell to 0-2 since taking over the job. 

Despite being seemingly overmatched and entering with a redshirt freshman quarterback making his second-career start, Penn State trailed by just three at halftime. Then, Ohio State unleashed its deep passing game, scoring 21 unanswered in the second half with Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith accounting for 247 yards and three touchdowns in the game. 

“We could not cover them,” Smith admitted in his postgame press conference. 

Penn State had no answers for Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith

Ohio State’s redshirt freshman QB, Julian Sayin, managed an absurdly efficient afternoon in Columbus, completing 20 of his 23 throws for 216 yards and four touchdowns against the Buckeyes’ former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. 

“It’s a combination of all things,” Smith started in response to a question about stopping the lethal Ohio State passing attack. “Lack of pass rush, lack of DBs covering. There’s times we’re in man, there’s times we’re in Cover 3. It was a point of emphasis, it was keys to victory. You can not let them get on you.” 

Tate and Smith are the most dominant wide receiver duo in the country and arguably the most lethal in college football since Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson shared the field at LSU in 2019. 

The Buckeyes have had their own fair share of elite wide receivers in recent seasons, all developed under wide receivers coach and now offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, and an under-the-radar candidate for the Penn State head coaching vacancy. Yet, Smith thinks Tate and Smith are in a class of their own. 

“They’re the two best guys in the country,” Smith said of Tate and Smith. “Just watching these guys live, and I don’t mean this disrespectfully to the past Ohio State wide receivers, but these two are better than all of them.” 

The dichotomy between Ohio State’s elite homegrown pass-catching talent and Penn State’s trio of transfer portal additions in their final season of eligibility this season was stark on Saturday. Sayin may win the Heisman Trophy, but the gulf in playmaking talent at least played some role in the difference between Sayin and Grunkemeyer’s performances. 

Penn State has struggled to develop the wide receiver position in recent years, while its biggest rival has an embarrassment of riches. Until Penn State can start to close the gap, the Nittany Lions won’t have a chance of ending their nine-game losing streak to Ohio State.