Ohio 24, Penn State 14: Post-Game Grades for Bill O'Brien

In Penn State's first game of the Bill O'Brien era, Ohio came to Beaver Stadium and left with a stunning 24-14 victory. It's not a major upset, as Penn State was only favored by about a touchdown. But Penn State took a 14-3 lead into halftime before collapsing down the stretch.

How much of that was on the coaching staff and how much was on the players? We take a look at that and more in this report card for Bill O'Brien.

Pregame Preparation: B+

Penn State came out strong in this game. Matt McGloin was sharp and finding open receivers in the early going, and he wound up 27-of-48 passing for 260 yards and 2 TDs.

Indeed, for the first part of the game, it looked as if all was well in Penn State's world. Yes, Bill Belton's fumble killed a promising opening drive, but Ohio wasn't doing much of anything on either side of the ball and the atmosphere at Beaver Stadium felt more like a celebration than anything else.

Special Teams Coaching: F-Minus-Minus-Minus-Minus

Gerald Hodges is a linebacker. He's an especially athletic linebacker and one of the best linebackers in the nation. But still: he's a 240-pound linebacker.

And yet Bill O'Brien put Hodges at both kick returner and punt returner to start the game. Seriously.

Hodges rewarded the decision by taking the opening kickoff out of the end zone all the way to the Penn State 12-yard line (and let's remember that touchbacks go to the 25 on kickoffs this year). He lost a yard on his first punt return, then muffed the next punt at Penn State's 13.

And that was the end of the Hodges return experiment.

Now, Hodges was the one screwing up on the field, but why in the world was he even put into that position in the first place? This was just an inexplicably bad decision, and there's no other way to put it.

In-Game Adjustments: D

Ohio's Frank Solich has spent 168 games as a head coach. Bill O'Brien has spent one.

That gap was evident on Saturday as Ohio looked like a different team after the halftime break while Penn State...well, did not. The Bobcats converted nearly every third down in the second half—11 of 12 altogether, and often on slant routes that the Penn State defense never adjusted to cover. 

Meanwhile, Penn State's offensive attack sputtered in the second half, going scoreless as Ohio scored the last 21 points of the game. Matt McGloin's second-half numbers were particularly ugly: 11-22, 81 yards and one interception (though that came on a rather miraculous tip).

McGloin struggled throughout the second half to find open receivers, and his shots downfield were rare and usually unsuccessful.

Play-Calling: B-

For as badly as Penn State struggled down the stretch, though, it really didn't look as if the problem was on the sideline; it was on the execution. When Penn State was able to hang onto the ball, the offense was more or less rolling

Penn State had seven players make catches, so O'Brien was mixing up the looks well enough to keep Ohio on its toes.

Moreover, we saw 48 passes to 22 rushes for the Nittany Lions, and whoever thought they'd see the day when Penn State had a 70-30 pass-rush ratio? But Penn State's personnel dictated it, so that's where O'Brien went with the offense.

And while Penn State would obviously like more than 14 points to show for its efforts, it's at least worth pointing out that 21 first downs and 352 total yards aren't too shabby.

Not Killing a Dude: A-Plus

According to Ben Jones on Twitter, a press conference participant actually had the temerity to ask Bill O'Brien what Joe Paterno would have thought about the team's effort.

Now, since there are no reports of O'Brien being arrested for assault, you can safely assume that he handled the question well enough. He eventually said he had no idea, and that's about right. But that's still a monumentally inappropriate question to ask at all, much less after a season-opening loss.

And yet O'Brien kept his composure, gave the question as much thought as it deserved, and that was that. Not every coach would have been so polite, though.