Well, there's no other way to say this, but I was completely off on my assessment for this week. With Iowa's loss and Ohio State coming out on top in Happy Valley, the Big Ten comes down to a showdown next week in Columbus between the Buckeyes and Iowa.
As for the Penn State vs. Ohio State game, the Lions just came out on the wrong end of field position from the very beginning. The Lions got torched on special teams from the beginning of the game, and let it get even more away from them a little more in the second half. Combine that with a terrible game plan and a much better rushing effort from Ohio State and we got ourselves into some trouble.
From the start of the game, the Penn State defense was pursuing everything inside out, as oppose to last year when we played contain and filled in the running lanes. Combine that with a soft zone and cover two for the pass defense and the Buckeyes got the few chances that they needed to score on offense. My belief is that if we matched our much better athletes on the defensive side of the ball in man coverage, spied a linebacker, and played outside in, that Pryor would've been forced to stay in the pocket and make more precision passes. Rather than receivers running through and past zones at will because the db's had to keep their eyes in the backfield while working their zones. I will give credit to the Bucks offensive line as they opened up lanes all night for Saine and Herron.
On the offensive side of the ball, the coaches did nothing to help relieve the pressure from Clark all night. There were not that many underneath pass plays, screens, or draw plays to help relieve some of that pressure that was forced by the play of Cameron Heyward. Heyward had a field day upfront, working himself to two sacks, and double digit tackles by the end of the night. Combine that with more dropped passes from our receivers, no commitment to the run game, and a great wall by Ohio State's defense and our offense was stagnant all night long. The offense also completely forgot about Derek Moye, as he did not have the ball thrown his way more than once the entire night, and the only time they chose to throw his way, he drew a pass interference call in the end zone setting up Penn State's lone touchdown.
Ohio State played a good game, not a great game, but a good game with the game ball going to Ray Small because he won the field position battle for them from the beginning. From this point forward, Penn State needs to improve on special teams, Boone is a great punter, but his lack of hang time is killing the coverage men down field. The defense needs to keep playing the way they do, but they need to play more man on the outside allowing those talented db's to shape up into cover corners.
The good is that Pryor did not have the breakout game that everyone anticipated, the bad is that we lost when we had a chance to control our own destiny, and the ugly is that Ohio State has a chance to extend its streak of Big Ten supremacy. On a more positive note, the power is shifting in the Big Ten, and as these next two years unfold look for Penn State to become a faster, more athletic team. Also, look for them to continue to build on this year's success as this year is still a rebuilding year. Keep your head's up Lions, our time is coming, but for now let's just hope we don't have a let down to Indiana next weekend.
WE ARE...................
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