The Good, The Bad, The Weird: Penn State-Ohio State edition

Sunday, 28 October 2012 23:24

Written by Mark Dent

The Good

Pete Massaro: Massaro started on Saturday night, and that had to be as refreshing a site as any this year. The guy's been plauged by a knee injury for two years and a shoulder injury this season. To make it better, he had a sack against Braxton Miller in the first half, really helping set up what was a good first half defense. 

Special teams: Penn State was superb on special teams for most of the night. Alex Butterworth punted the ball well, perhaps too well in that it made Bill O'Brien a little more conservative than usual. Sam Ficken made his lone field goal attempt. And, of course, Mike Hull had the blocked punt that led to a touchdown, scored by Michael Yancich. If this game turned out another way, that would have been the play of the game - and the season for PSU. Hull was a guy who considered leaving and probably could have been a starter at a host of program, but he stayed. He and Yancich are players that O'Brien loves in that they play roles necessary for the team that aren't always the most glamorous. Here they were making the early big play. 

The Bad

Rushing offense: 36 yards. That pretty much says it all. Running backs Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak never got anything going, and Matt McGloin was sacked four times. The offensive line that had dominated for the last three games got pushed around. To make matters worse, Ohio State isn't exactly an excellent defense. The Buckeyes are better at stopping the run than the pass, but they allow an average 120 rushing yards per game. Penn State's rushing offense had seemed to have turned the corner the last three games but there is clearly plenty of work left to do. 

Playcalling: As our columnist Gene Collier pointed out, O'Brien got conservative on Saturday night. Maybe he had good reason. As Collier wrote, running the ball successfully would limit the posession of Ohio State, i.e., it would limit Braxton Miller from being Braxton Miller. The problem was PSU didn't run successfully and didn't try enough passing to open up the rushing attack in the first half. By the time OSU got its lead in the third quarter, it was too late to catch up. 

The Weird

The rest of the season?: I'd really like to get as much input from fans as possible about this last part. To me, Penn State's season just peaked. The Nittany Lions had gained so much momentum and attention the last month. Somehow, they made this season, which the NCAA took away, matter. They gave meaning to a season that was supposed to be a failure and no matter what could not end with a championship. All of this rolled and rolled into Saturday's whiteout against a huge rival in front of the 108K O'Brien had been preaching about since the summer. And then Penn State lost. It has to feel a tad deflating. I just wonder how Penn State will react for the rest of this season. And how the fans will react. Was Saturday's loss really disappointing or do you all still see a lot to look forward to over this next month?