Penn State Football: Grading the Nittany Lions' Game vs. Ohio State

Penn State struck early and shutdown Ohio State in a 20-14 victory on the road in a stadium that has been very unkind to the Nittany Lions since joining the Big Ten. The offense showed some new wrinkles and the defense once again showed the ability to slam the door shut on their opponents. As a result, Penn State enters the final week of the regular season with a chance to pick up their tenth win of the season and earn a trip to the Big Ten championship game.

Here is a breakdown of each position on Penn State's roster with a quick take on how they played on Saturday in the road win.

Quarterbacks

Penn State did not rely on the traditional passing game against Ohio State but when they did call on Matt McGloin to throw the football he mostly avoided making a mistake. There was one pass that McGloin forced against his better judgement, which was intercepted, but for the most part McGloin avoided making too many bad decisions.

McGloin completed his day with 10 completions on 18 attempts for a total of 88 yards and zero touchdowns.

Penn State utilized the wildcat offense under center to throw Ohio State some plays they may not have been prepared for despite a quick look against Nebraska, and for the most part it worked well for Penn State in picking up some key yards and first downs. But as far as the actual quarterbacking is concerned, it was a mediocre, but effective performance.

Grade: C+

Running Backs

Silas Redd was limited to eight carries for 63 yards a week after being a little banged up against Nebraska. Was it a desire to give Redd a lighter work load with Big Ten division hopes not riding on the outcome of the game (Wisconsin's win earlier in the day mean the outcome of this game did not matter in terms of the division championship), or was it the coaching staff's desire to get Stephfon Green more involved after a solid outing against Nebraska?

Whatever the case, Green proved to be a major factor in the game, taking one carry 39 yards for a quick touchdown on Penn State's opening drive, and working through the line in short yardage for another touchdown. He ended his day with 93 yards and should be considered a part of the game plan for next weekend's game against Wisconsin.

Brandon Beachum and Curtis Dukes also got in to the game to mix things up.

When all was done, Penn State racked up 239 rushing yards against a defense that held Michigan State and Wisconsin under 100 rushing yards.

Grade: A

Wide Receivers

This was not a day for wide receivers for either team. For Penn State, Derek Moye finished the day leading the team in receptions with three catches for 40 yards and Stephfon Green was the only other player with more than one catch for the Nittany Lions.

McGloin threw some passes that were behind his receivers but there were some drops that the receivers probably should have held on to at times. Justin Brown had an especially frustrating afternoon, dropping back-to-back passes, including one catch that was overturned by video review, but some of the passes in his direction were behind him.

Only Moye had a reception longer than 13 yards, going for a game-high of 20-yards.

Grade: C-

Offensive Line

Penn State's offensive line has been a maligned unit for much of the season but against Ohio State they played very well, creating room for the running game to excel. 

There was one sequence that held the offensive line from getting a solid A based on this game—when Penn State failed to get that push in to the end zone on a 1st-and-goal from inside the 5-yard line. Michael Zordich and Silas Redd were each stuffed and unable to get the football across the goal line and McGloin was unable to get in on a QB sneak. It was the lone drawback on the day for Penn State's offensive line but some of the play-calling should be partly to blame for trying to run the football straight up the middle all four plays rather than try a play-action pass or something to spread the defense out along the line.

Grade: B+

Defensive Line

Braxton Miller caused some problems for Penn State on the ground, rushing for 105 yards and a touchdown, and Dan Herron rushed for 76 yards. Both players rushed the football 18 times but Penn State's defensive line had two sacks, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup.

Jack Crawford had a big day for Penn State's defense, recording both Penn State sacks for a loss of 10 yards. Jordan Hill recovered one of the Ohio State fumbles and Sean Stanley dropped in to coverage at one point and deflected a pass down the left sideline.

As hard as it may seem to believe, Devon Still did not enter the defensive stat sheet despite being one of the top defensive players in the nation. Was his play limited to rest up for Wisconsin?

With or without a typical performance form Still, Penn State's defensive line got the job done and did not allow Ohio State's young quarterback to continue to hurt them.

Grade: A

Linebackers

Glenn Carson led all Penn State players with 11 tackles, including six solo tackles and one forced fumble. Nate Stupar had a tackle for a loss of 7 yards and was tied for second in tackles for Penn State.

Gerald Hodges had one bad play that stood out, going for a big hit rather than wrap up Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller on a nice offensive play. Hodges finished the day with four tackles.

Grade: B+

Secondary

Ohio State welcomed back DeVier Posey to the field this week following a lengthy, 10-game suspension but Penn State's secondary did not allow him to be a difference maker in this one. Posey was the leading receiver for the Buckeyes with 66 yards, which was boosted by a 39-yard reception.

Drew Astorino recorded eight tackles and got to quarterback Braxton Miller once.

Grade: B+

Special Teams

Anthony Fera brought his A-game to Columbus, kicking two field goals over 40 yards, each time kicking a career long field goal. Fera's 43-yard field goal gave Penn State a 10-0 lead in the first quarter to tie a career high, and then a 46-yard field goal as time expired in the first half set a new career high and gave Penn State a 20-14 lead on the Buckeyes.

Fera was also responsible for some clutch punting, kicking three of his four punts inside the 20-yard line without having a football enter the end zone. Fera also averaged 69.2 yards per kickoff (four total kickoffs) with one touchback.

Grade: A

Coaching

Penn State's coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for what happened in this game. The team took to the field showing an enthusiasm and confidence level that few would have expected. When it came time to work the offense the Nittany Lions utilized the wildcat offensive system effectively enough to take the pressure off of Matt McGloin under center.

As has been the case all season, the defense shut down the opposing offense in the second half and found a way to plug some of the holes they had, which allowed Braxton Miller to make some noise.

Now the challenge will be to maintain that confidence for at least one more week for the biggest game of the season.

Grade: A

What's Next?

Penn State heads to Madison, Wisconsin next weekend for the biggest test of the season. All that has happened this season has been leading up to this particular game. All of the highs and lows will have served as a lesson for how to handle what is about to serve as the final hurdle on the way to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game.

With Wisconsin beating Illinois on Saturday the Badgers set up a Leaders Division showdown with Penn State to determine which team will advance to the conference championship game, the first of its kind. Wisconsin has been the Big Ten favorite all season and despite losing two conference games this season (to Michigan State and Ohio State) many nationally have considered Wisconsin still to be the team to beat even when Penn State had an unblemished Big Ten mark.

Penn State's players have been tired of hearing about that for a while now and have shown they will do what it takes to silence the critics and earn respect. Can they do it again next week? We will find out soon enough.

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