- PASSINGC. Hackenberg120 Yds
- RECEIVINGC. Godwin103 Yds
- RUSHINGS. Barkley 194 Yds
TEAM LEADERS
- PASSINGC. Jones84 Yds
- RECEIVINGM. Thomas34 Yds
- RUSHINGE. Elliott153 Yds
GPSU 10PSU 20PSU 30PSU 4050OhioSt 40OhioSt 30OhioSt 20OhioSt 10G
Urban Meyer praises J.T. Barrett, says 'let me evaluate' starting QB role
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A change might be coming at quarterback for Ohio State, but a final decision will have to wait for now.
Again.
After two productive weeks coming off the bench in the red zone and then seeing his role expand to essentially taking over the offense on a full-time basis, J.T. Barrett appears to be on the verge of reclaiming his starting job from Cardale Jones after seven weeks as the backup.
But even after Barrett accounted for four touchdowns and played extensively as No. 1 Ohio State pulled away for a 38-10 blowout of Penn State on Saturday night at the Horseshoe, the Buckeyes weren't ready to officially pass the torch back to him quite yet.
"I thought J.T. came in and played great," coach Urban Meyer said. "He ran for [102] yards, and he obviously gives you that dual threat, and when you're bogged down a little bit, he did a great job.
"Just let me evaluate it. I'll let you guys know on Monday, and we'll go from there."
This certainly isn't the first time the Buckeyes have gone back to assess their options after a heated battle during training camp between the two decorated passers, and Meyer has consistently emphasized that both are proven, productive players who deserve to play.
Throughout the first half of the season, Jones maintained an edge thanks to his arm strength, results on the practice field and better performance in games. He remains unbeaten as a starter, dating back to his perfect run through the postseason on the way to the College Football Playoff championship.
For perhaps the first time since returning from a broken ankle in the regular-season finale against Michigan last year, however, Barrett looked like the fifth-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy race that he was as a redshirt freshman, when his duties were expanded outside the red zone.
And by rushing for 102 yards and two scores and completing all four of his passes for 30 yards and two more touchdowns, Barrett made his strongest case yet that he could supplant Jones atop the depth chart.
"Ultimately, it's Coach Meyer's call, but, at the end of the day, I'm just trying to help the team win," Barrett said. "Whether that means going in for the red zone or if I'm the starting quarterback, at the end of the day, I don't think it really matters. When I'm in there, I'm just trying to do the best I can to help the team win.
"I don't know what the credentials for stats on the field in order to start at Ohio State are. ... I'm just trying to keep on getting better in practice, and the results come out on Saturday."
The Buckeyes will review those results Sunday.
After that, Meyer said he'll address them Monday.
But Saturday night, at least, was too soon for a definitive verdict.
"We'll let this game settle overnight, sleep on it and then we'll make some assessments," offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said. "I don't anticipate any changes, but we'll see how it goes.
"It's too early to make any decisions right now, and that's the head coach's decision, first of all," Warinner continued. "Second of all, we'll have a consult about it, but there's a reason we had Cardale starting. We'll just have to assess where we're at right now."
J.T. Barrett makes his case as Ohio State QB in blowout over Penn State
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There was another victory to be found out there in the darkness, but Ohio State seemed to be fumbling around looking for it.
As usual, though, there was no way to hide a victory from the Buckeyes for long.
Again on Saturday, the top-ranked Buckeyes showed glimpses of how dangerous they can be on offense, but the quarterback carousel continued to spin and might now be favoring J.T. Barrett. The defense had stretches of complete dominance sprinkled with busts that allowed big plays. And while that was good enough to extend the Buckeyes' win streak to 20 games and keep their record perfect this season, the defending national champions again turned in a performance that didn't feel even close to the sky-high standards they have set.
Even so, the Buckeyes (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) aren’t likely to complain too loudly about the result, considering the quality of the Penn State defense and the caliber of running back they were facing in Saquon Barkley (26 carries, 194 yards) on Saturday at the Horseshoe, as well as the fact that they posted a blowout anyway. But after unveiling new black uniforms and helmets, getting a pumped up crowd fully on board with the “dark night” theme and showing brief flashes of dominance, Ohio State also isn’t likely to be all that satisfied after a38-10 victory over the Nittany Lions.
What the win means for Ohio State: The hand-wringing and head-scratching from early in the season might not be completely over, but Ohio State remains on track to defend its title and at times looked on the brink of living up to its sky-high expectations. The Buckeyes seem to be grinding out victories rather than imposing their will on opponents for four full quarters, but the outcomes remain unchanged for Urban Meyer. Of course, that’s the only thing that really matters to him.
What the loss means for Penn State: There’s no shame in going on the road and being competitive against the defending national champions, but Penn State isn’t usually in the business of looking for silver linings against conference opponents. Maybe this game will generate some goodwill for head coach James Franklin, but after five consecutive wins against overmatched competition, the opening loss to Temple has company in the loss column heading into a home game against Maryland on Saturday.
Player of the game: The red zone might soon stretch the entire length of the field for Ohio State. After unveiling Barrett as the answer to finish off drives against Maryland a week ago, the Buckeyes increasingly turned to him to lead the offense on a full-time basis against Penn State’s aggressive defensive front, and that approach had to be considered a success as well. Barrett didn’t do all that much in the throwing game before delivering a jump-pass touchdown toBraxton Miller, but the sophomore quarterback rushed for more than 100 yards with a pair of scores and clearly provided a boost to an offense that at times stagnated with Cardale Jones at the helm.
How the game was won: The Ohio State passing game remains a work in progress, but that hardly matters with so much talent in the backfield and an offensive line that appears much better suited to run-blocking than protecting the quarterback. The Buckeyes unleashed Ezekiel Elliott (27 carries, 153 yards), Barrett and Miller to do the heavy lifting, and their explosiveness was too much for the Nittany Lions. With the big guys up front opening some holes and the perimeter blocking improving, Ohio State rushed for 315 yards.
Ten Things We Learned from Ohio State's 38-10 Win Over Penn State
COLUMBUS — There is always something of interest going on during an Ohio Football game, and Saturday's 38-10 win over Penn State was no different. While the quarterback situation is at the top of the list, the Buckeyes have a number of other items of note that continue to rise to awareness.
Every week tells us more about this team, even if it's just through confirmations. So what did we learn about the Buckeyes this time around? Let's examine.
1. The Buckeyes need Joshua Perry on the field.
Joshua Perry left the game in the first half following a sprained ankle, of which the prognosis is not yet known, but more light will be shed on Monday. In his place came sophomore Dante Booker, who is the heir apparent at the position. Perry has sung Booker's praises since the spring, and both he and the coaches have said that Booker deserves to play.
Well, on Saturday he got his chance, and he ended up leading the Buckeyes in tackles in the first half. However, he was still routinely caught up in the blocking, allowing running back Saquon Barkley to get into the second level and have a huge day for Penn State. Booker then had to leave the game due to cramps and Camren Williams came in for him. Williams will miss the first half of the Rutgers game due a targeting penalty, so he's out of the equation for the moment.
Regardless of how long Perry is out, Booker is going to be called upon to fill in for him, and he will need to be more consistent than he was on Saturday. Given a full slate of practice reps, however, he should be.
2. Cameron Johnston continues to be one of the MVPs of this team.
So much of Saturday's game was about field position, which is right in Cameron Johnston's wheelhouse. While that same field position dictated that Johnston wasn't allowed to boom his punts, it did allow him to show off his excellent short game.
Johnston punted the ball five times, with four of those kicks landing inside the 10-yard line. Penn State started at their own 8-yard line, 2-yard line, 8-yard line and 4-yard line on those drives. They never made it out of their own territory on any of those four possessions.
Johnston has shown off his big leg in the past, but it's his ability to drop the ball inside the 10-yard line that really makes him a tremendous asset for the Buckeyes.
3. J.T. Barrett sure looks faster.
I'm sure you had to notice it like I noticed it, but doesn't J.T. Barrett look faster this year than he did last year? I have no idea if he is any faster, and I tend to believe that he only looks faster because we're used to Cardale Jones running the ball, so our eye ball judgment is a little wonky right now. Maybe he's just quicker.
Whatever he is, after rushing for 102 yards on just 11 carries against a very effective PSU defense, he sure seems fast enough. He may also look faster because defenses aren't prepared well enough to see him. Maybe for that reason alone, sticking with Cardale Jones is the way to go.
4. The run defense needs to get back to basics.
Don't look now, but the run defense is officially a concern. The coaches shrugged off the two previous weeks because so much of the yards they gave up were on quarterback runs, but over their last four games the OSU defense has allowed 169, 176, 253, and 195 yards rushing. And only once was the opposition under four yards per carry in those four games.
Saquon Barkley rushed for 194 yards against the Buckeyes on Saturday and so much of it was because defenders either couldn't get off of blocks, or because they lost leverage and didn't contain the edge. This was done by all three levels of the defense, so it wasn't just a linebacker thing or a defensive line issue.
Chris Ash said last week that the issues are fixable, and I agree that they are, but eventually they need to be fixed. The Buckeyes gave up over 175 yards rushing four times last season. They've already done it three times this season.
5. OSU has stopped the turnovers and has gotten better in the red zone, and when they stop committing defensive penalties they'll be the best team in the nation.
Playing into No. 4 above, if the defense would stop extending drives by committing penalties then they'd give up fewer rushing yards. They'd also be much more effective. The Buckeyes committed 30 yards of defensive penalties on a single drive in the first quarter and the only thing that saved them was a holding penalty on Penn State after a third-down pickup.
The Silver Bullets committed four 15-yard penalties, and they were fortunate not to give up any points on any of those drives. Better offenses will be able to take advantage of OSU's mistakes, and better offenses already have.
6. If Cardale Jones isn't going to stretch the field north and south, they can't really stretch the field with him at all.
Buckeye coaches said after the game that Penn State did a good job of taking away the downfield passing from the Buckeyes when Cardale Jones was in the game. Given Jones's inaccuracy on the wide passes, there is very little stretching of the field when he is in the game, and that's not good news for Urban Meyer's offense.
Meyer's offense is all about stretching every area of the field, and if a defense is going to take away the downfield passing game, then they essentially eliminate Jones's best traits. The counter to that, however, is now J.T. Barrett comes in and they have to play against an entirely different offense, which obviously didn't work for Penn State.
If defenses decide to take away the downfield passing, how long will Meyer stick with Jones in any one particular game the rest of the way out?
7. This offense is an absolute nightmare to have to prepare for.
Continuing on from No. 6, defenses now have to prepare for two separate offenses. They have to prepare for the power running, play-action attack that throws the ball downfield. And they also have to prepare for the uptempo, power running, option attack that stresses a defense in an entirely different way. Defenses almost need split squads to deal with the struggle.
So while the offense is not yet humming along as expected, just know that defensive coordinators are not having a good time getting ready to play the Buckeyes.
A defense may want to take away the downfield passing game, but then they will have to deal with the option game. If they want to take away the option, then the Buckeyes can attack a defense with the passing game. And no matter what offense the Buckeyes ultimately play, they'll always be handing the ball off to one of the best tailbacks in the nation.
8. The Ohio State offense worked just as it was supposed to on Saturday.
A coach's job is to put the pieces in the proper places in order to ensure a victory for his team, and that's exactly what the Ohio State staff did on Saturday. Penn State took the passing game away from the Buckeyes, and so the staff adjusted and went to a run-based offense and rushed for 315 yards, which was their second-highest output of the season.
This is the benefit of having a versatile offense. They don't have to keep doing one thing to try to get their offense to work. They can do an entirely different thing, and sometimes with entirely different players. Some may want Cardale Jones benched, but as the coaches keep saying, there's a reason why he's the starter. When a defense takes away what J.T. Barrett does, Jones will be able to step in and capitalize just as Barrett did on Saturday.
Right now this is a pretty versatile offense and their identity is in the versatility. Against Maryland, it was Jones and the OSU passing game that made the Buckeyes successful. One week later and it was Barrett and the running game. Being able to counter what defenses do is a good thing.
9. Braxton Miller needs to stick with his blockers longer.
While is seems beyond silly and idiotic for any media member to criticize what Braxton Miller does with the ball in his hands, there was a time or two on Saturday when he bailed on his blocking prematurely and reversed field unnecessarily. I would expect receivers coach Zach Smith and running backs coach Tony Alford to urge him to stay with his blocking on the jet sweeps from now on and then look for a crease. Sure, if anybody can make something out of a field reversal, it's Miller, but making something out of blocking seems a whole lot easier.
10. Injuries are taking their toll significantly on this Ohio State football team.
The Buckeyes are getting thin. One of the reasons (aside from Penn State's defense) that Ohio State went to J.T. Barrett and the running game was simply because they are down so many wide receivers right now. Nearly every single receiver on the roster has dealt with injuries this season, and the overwhelming majority continue to deal with them.
But it's not just on offense where the depth is thinning out. It is believed that at one point cornerback Marshon Lattimore was on the verge of being moved to receiver this season, but the injuries to the secondary forced Lattimore to stay on defense. Now he's the team's starting nickel back and one bad snap away from being a starting cornerback. Ohio State has three healthy scholarship safeties right now, and we don't know if that number is going to increase just yet.
Then there's the situation at linebacker. If Joshua Perry is out for any length of time, do the Buckeyes move Darron Lee over to the Will and bring Chris Worley in at Sam? Or do they stick with Dante Booker?
To this point they have been able to overcome these injuries, but they are being stretched extremely thing right now and really can't withstand any further significant injuries.
Every week tells us more about this team, even if it's just through confirmations. So what did we learn about the Buckeyes this time around? Let's examine.
1. The Buckeyes need Joshua Perry on the field.Joshua Perry left the game in the first half following a sprained ankle, of which the prognosis is not yet known, but more light will be shed on Monday. In his place came sophomore Dante Booker, who is the heir apparent at the position. Perry has sung Booker's praises since the spring, and both he and the coaches have said that Booker deserves to play.
Well, on Saturday he got his chance, and he ended up leading the Buckeyes in tackles in the first half. However, he was still routinely caught up in the blocking, allowing running back Saquon Barkley to get into the second level and have a huge day for Penn State. Booker then had to leave the game due to cramps and Camren Williams came in for him. Williams will miss the first half of the Rutgers game due a targeting penalty, so he's out of the equation for the moment.
Regardless of how long Perry is out, Booker is going to be called upon to fill in for him, and he will need to be more consistent than he was on Saturday. Given a full slate of practice reps, however, he should be.
2. Cameron Johnston continues to be one of the MVPs of this team.
So much of Saturday's game was about field position, which is right in Cameron Johnston's wheelhouse. While that same field position dictated that Johnston wasn't allowed to boom his punts, it did allow him to show off his excellent short game.
Johnston punted the ball five times, with four of those kicks landing inside the 10-yard line. Penn State started at their own 8-yard line, 2-yard line, 8-yard line and 4-yard line on those drives. They never made it out of their own territory on any of those four possessions.
Johnston has shown off his big leg in the past, but it's his ability to drop the ball inside the 10-yard line that really makes him a tremendous asset for the Buckeyes.
3. J.T. Barrett sure looks faster.
I'm sure you had to notice it like I noticed it, but doesn't J.T. Barrett look faster this year than he did last year? I have no idea if he is any faster, and I tend to believe that he only looks faster because we're used to Cardale Jones running the ball, so our eye ball judgment is a little wonky right now. Maybe he's just quicker.Whatever he is, after rushing for 102 yards on just 11 carries against a very effective PSU defense, he sure seems fast enough. He may also look faster because defenses aren't prepared well enough to see him. Maybe for that reason alone, sticking with Cardale Jones is the way to go.
4. The run defense needs to get back to basics.
Don't look now, but the run defense is officially a concern. The coaches shrugged off the two previous weeks because so much of the yards they gave up were on quarterback runs, but over their last four games the OSU defense has allowed 169, 176, 253, and 195 yards rushing. And only once was the opposition under four yards per carry in those four games.
Saquon Barkley rushed for 194 yards against the Buckeyes on Saturday and so much of it was because defenders either couldn't get off of blocks, or because they lost leverage and didn't contain the edge. This was done by all three levels of the defense, so it wasn't just a linebacker thing or a defensive line issue.
Chris Ash said last week that the issues are fixable, and I agree that they are, but eventually they need to be fixed. The Buckeyes gave up over 175 yards rushing four times last season. They've already done it three times this season.
5. OSU has stopped the turnovers and has gotten better in the red zone, and when they stop committing defensive penalties they'll be the best team in the nation.
Playing into No. 4 above, if the defense would stop extending drives by committing penalties then they'd give up fewer rushing yards. They'd also be much more effective. The Buckeyes committed 30 yards of defensive penalties on a single drive in the first quarter and the only thing that saved them was a holding penalty on Penn State after a third-down pickup.
The Silver Bullets committed four 15-yard penalties, and they were fortunate not to give up any points on any of those drives. Better offenses will be able to take advantage of OSU's mistakes, and better offenses already have.
6. If Cardale Jones isn't going to stretch the field north and south, they can't really stretch the field with him at all.Buckeye coaches said after the game that Penn State did a good job of taking away the downfield passing from the Buckeyes when Cardale Jones was in the game. Given Jones's inaccuracy on the wide passes, there is very little stretching of the field when he is in the game, and that's not good news for Urban Meyer's offense.
Meyer's offense is all about stretching every area of the field, and if a defense is going to take away the downfield passing game, then they essentially eliminate Jones's best traits. The counter to that, however, is now J.T. Barrett comes in and they have to play against an entirely different offense, which obviously didn't work for Penn State.
If defenses decide to take away the downfield passing, how long will Meyer stick with Jones in any one particular game the rest of the way out?
7. This offense is an absolute nightmare to have to prepare for.Continuing on from No. 6, defenses now have to prepare for two separate offenses. They have to prepare for the power running, play-action attack that throws the ball downfield. And they also have to prepare for the uptempo, power running, option attack that stresses a defense in an entirely different way. Defenses almost need split squads to deal with the struggle.
So while the offense is not yet humming along as expected, just know that defensive coordinators are not having a good time getting ready to play the Buckeyes.
A defense may want to take away the downfield passing game, but then they will have to deal with the option game. If they want to take away the option, then the Buckeyes can attack a defense with the passing game. And no matter what offense the Buckeyes ultimately play, they'll always be handing the ball off to one of the best tailbacks in the nation.
8. The Ohio State offense worked just as it was supposed to on Saturday.
A coach's job is to put the pieces in the proper places in order to ensure a victory for his team, and that's exactly what the Ohio State staff did on Saturday. Penn State took the passing game away from the Buckeyes, and so the staff adjusted and went to a run-based offense and rushed for 315 yards, which was their second-highest output of the season.
This is the benefit of having a versatile offense. They don't have to keep doing one thing to try to get their offense to work. They can do an entirely different thing, and sometimes with entirely different players. Some may want Cardale Jones benched, but as the coaches keep saying, there's a reason why he's the starter. When a defense takes away what J.T. Barrett does, Jones will be able to step in and capitalize just as Barrett did on Saturday.
Right now this is a pretty versatile offense and their identity is in the versatility. Against Maryland, it was Jones and the OSU passing game that made the Buckeyes successful. One week later and it was Barrett and the running game. Being able to counter what defenses do is a good thing.
9. Braxton Miller needs to stick with his blockers longer.While is seems beyond silly and idiotic for any media member to criticize what Braxton Miller does with the ball in his hands, there was a time or two on Saturday when he bailed on his blocking prematurely and reversed field unnecessarily. I would expect receivers coach Zach Smith and running backs coach Tony Alford to urge him to stay with his blocking on the jet sweeps from now on and then look for a crease. Sure, if anybody can make something out of a field reversal, it's Miller, but making something out of blocking seems a whole lot easier.
10. Injuries are taking their toll significantly on this Ohio State football team.
The Buckeyes are getting thin. One of the reasons (aside from Penn State's defense) that Ohio State went to J.T. Barrett and the running game was simply because they are down so many wide receivers right now. Nearly every single receiver on the roster has dealt with injuries this season, and the overwhelming majority continue to deal with them.
But it's not just on offense where the depth is thinning out. It is believed that at one point cornerback Marshon Lattimore was on the verge of being moved to receiver this season, but the injuries to the secondary forced Lattimore to stay on defense. Now he's the team's starting nickel back and one bad snap away from being a starting cornerback. Ohio State has three healthy scholarship safeties right now, and we don't know if that number is going to increase just yet.
Then there's the situation at linebacker. If Joshua Perry is out for any length of time, do the Buckeyes move Darron Lee over to the Will and bring Chris Worley in at Sam? Or do they stick with Dante Booker?
To this point they have been able to overcome these injuries, but they are being stretched extremely thing right now and really can't withstand any further significant injuries.
FIVE THINGS: BUCKEYES RUN OVER PENN STATE
Ohio State racked up over 300 yards on the ground and enjoyed more red zone dominance as the Buckeyes trounced Penn State, 38-10, in front the second-largest crowd in school history.
While the offense was humming the defense gave up just 10 points and owned 3rd down but still gave up 194 yards on the ground to Saquon Barkley along with another handful of chunk plays.
The win improved Ohio State to 7-0 on the year and gives Urban Meyer his fourth career 20+ game winning streak, two of which have come in Columbus. It also kept 11W unbeaten on weekends we stage our annual charity tailgate and Gold Pants Social.
Before turning the page to focus on next week's night game against Rutgers here are Five Things from an easy victory over the Nits.
RUN EZE
Another day another 100+ yard rushing outing for Ezekiel Elliott as he tallied 153 yard on 27 carries extending his streak to 12 such games. While he didn't have one of those long scoring runs he's seemingly racked up at will the junior had five chunk plays (runs of 10+ yards) with a touchdown as the slobs wore down the Penn State front.
The big night for Zeke puts him just 12 yards shy of back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons. At 988 yards in seven games, Elliott is averaging 141 yards per outing on 6.7 per carry. Even more impressive, 62% of his yards have come after halftime on the strength of 8.0 yards per tote.
Currently ninth on OSU's all-time rushing list with 3,028 yards Elliott has a legit shot to finish as high as second before he moves on to the next level.
Assuming Zeke were to average that same 141 yards and the Buckeyes make it to the title game he would finish with 2,116 yards on the year. That total would surpass Eddie George's single-season school record (1,927 in '95) and give him 4,156 for his career slotting behind only Archie Griffin (5,589) and comfortably ahead of George (3,768).
Enjoy Zeke while you can folks. He's an all-timer.
TIME AND CHANGE
Having lost his starting job to injury after Cardale Jones helped Ohio State capture the national title, J.T. Barrett has quietly gone about his business as a spot duty guy either in relief of Jones or as a red zone specialist.
Last night Barrett might have taken another step as he played the bulk of the second half totaling 11 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns with another 30 yards passing on 4/4 with two scores.
Is it time for Barrett to become the starter? I think yes. It doesn't mean Jones can't play under that scenario or even that he shouldn't but the evidence suggests the offense has a much better flow and tempo with J.T. at the controls not to mention the impact of having him orchestrate the various read and designed quarterback runs that Meyer loves.
If nothing else, Barrett has at least confirmed his red zone insertion is here to stay as Ohio State was a perfect 6/6 inside the 20 with five touchdowns. Since the plan was hatched against Maryland the Buckeyes are an astounding 12/12 in the red zone with 11 touchdowns with Barrett at the helm on 10 of the touchdowns and the lone field goal.
For perspective, Ohio State was just 12/16 in the red zone over the first five games with a disappointing six touchdowns giving them a 38% touchdown rate.
Jones again said all the right things but after a 9/15 passing performance featuring at least four throws not even close to his intended target it's feels like the time is now to make a change. Of course, Urban has forgot more about football than any of us will ever know so we'll see what he has to say this week on the matter.
BAUSSIE
Cameron Johnston was in boss mode last night.
On five punts the junior from Australia dropped four inside the eight yard line and boomed the other 56 yards. As we've come to expect, his boots combined with Ohio State's ridiculous coverage team yielded exactly zero return yards.
After Ohio State went three-and-out to start the game Johnston flipped the field with the 56-yarder to the Penn State 23.
His second attempt sailed 45 yards and was fair caught at the Penn State eight. Later, after another three-and-out from Jones after Ohio State was gifted field position at the Lion 35 he eventually punted from the PSU 34 to the two yard line.
Up 21-10, his last two punts were downed at the PSU eight and four yard lines, respectively.
To further illustrate Johnston's value, Penn State's two awful guys punted a combined seven times for a 35.9 yard average with just one downed inside the 20. Four PSU punts traveled 32 yards or less giving Ohio State favorable field position. Somewhere, Tressel just gagged a little.
IN DEFENSE OF THE DEFENSE
Yes, it would be cool of the Silver Bullets would stop getting gashed via the run in addition to giving up a few big plays per game.
No doubt its frustrating to watch a freshman in Saquon Barkley (hat tip to him, btw) rip through the defense for 194 yards and see both Gareon Conley and Eli Apple get beat for big plays through the air (45 yards and 56 yards, respectively) but there was much to be pleased with last night as well.
The defensive line's pass rush was particularly solid posting four of the team's five sacks and six of its eight TFL.
Joey Bosa embarrassed his defender on multiple occasions posting season-high results in tackles (7) and TFL (3.5) with a sack and a hurry. Adolphus Washington also set up shop in the Lion backfield posting a career-high two sacks with a forced fumble. Despite a cast on his left wrist Tommy Schutt notched a sack, Tyquan Lewis had three stops and Sam Hubbard jumped on a fumble.
Though the rushing yards yielded were painful Penn State was rendered one-dimensional as Christian Hackenberg totaled only seven completions in 13 attempts for a paltry 120 yards with 101 of those coming on two throws.
The defense held PSU to 1/11 on 3rd down and 0/2 on 4th down and gave up just 315 total yards with 44% of those coming on the two scoring drives.
A WORD OF THANKS
As most of you know we held our 3rd annual Gold Pants Social on Friday night followed up by the Black Saturday Banger.
The Social was another great event thanks to Matt Finkes, Land-Grant Brewing, The Grill's Chop House and a host of former players who mixed it up with those in attendance.
Tom Cousineau was a first-time attendee and he was awesome as you'd think he'd be. Thanks to him, Finkes, Bobby Hoying, Dee Miller, Simon Fraser, Jay Richardson and others for coming out to mingle with fans of the program and 11W.
Saturday's Banger at Hampton's on King to support long-time partner DownSyndrome Achieves was a blast and raised a ton of money while allowing us to meet and hang out with many of you.
Seeing Michigan gag away the game to Sparty capping off the event was equally as fun as talking football with all of you and raising money for a worthy cause.
Thanks to Matt for allowing us to invade his establishment, the 11W hostesses for helping raise cash via raffles, all the volunteers organized by Mark Lewis, and of course, Steve Shoemaker for his continued partnership.
Hat tip to Ramzy for his continued vision especially in having to call an audible this year on location and again to all of you for your charitable spirit.
Let's do it again next year.
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