State College, PA – Our 701st college football game began presumably well for Penn State against Big Ten foe Ohio State. The Buckeyes held a 9-1 advantage over the Nittany Lions since HC James Franklin rode into State College. They opened the Big Ten battle with an opening drive for a 3-0 lead on Ryan Baker’s 29-yard field goal. They followed to extend the lead with Zion Tracy’s 31-yard pick-six on OSU’s first series to mount a 10-0 lead. Things went PSU’s way until then. However, turnovers, careless penalties and questionable play calling and time management by the Lions helped the Buckeyes to a 20-13 victory.
The Buckeyes responded before the first period ended with Will Howards’ 25-yard TD pass to Emeke Egbuka to close the gap, 10-7. Heading into the second, PSU LB Abdul Carter jumped offsides to give Ohio State a first down on a third and two from the 27. Guest Game Analyst (GGA) Joe Massimilla stated that was expected. Carter does that every game according to his weekly observations.
Ohio State benefits from PSU penalties
Later on a third and 11, the Lions appeared to stop the Buckeye drive halting Carnell Tate for a seven-yard gain. However, with no flag thrown and no official announcement, the refs walked off a 15-yard penalty to keep the Ohio State drive alive. Later, we found out the PSU tackler stepped over Tate. That translated into an unsportsmanlike penalty. Taunting? We could not tell from section NA 48 rows up. Replays seemed questionable about any direct unsportsmanlike behavior to draw a flag. Instead of an expected punt, Ohio State finished the drive with a 21-yard pass from Howard to slotback Brandon Innis to go on top, 14-10.
Following a Penn State punt, Ohio State began their subsequent drive on their 42. They threatened to score with a first and ten at the PSU 13. Howard took it around left end, dove toward the near pylon, but a Lion DB forced him to fumble out of bounds through the end zone for a touchback. The Nittany Lions took the ball over on their 20.
Timely and surprising
Late in the second period, PSU marched to the OSU three-yard line for a first and goal. QB Drew Allar lofted a fade pass to receiver Harrison Wallace III who seemed to make a great catch with both feet inbounds before going out. However, the review to determine if he scored or not resulted in an Ohio State interception by CB Davison Igbinosun. PSU score thwarted. End of half – Ohio State 14 Penn State 10.
Ohio State maintains lead
To start the third, the Buckeyes threatened at the Lions 25. Kobe King’s sack pushed Ohio State back to the 28. Jayden Fielding made good from the 46 to widen the visitors lead, 17-10. Penn State retaliated driving to the Ohio State 27. Barker converted a 44-yard FG. The teams exchanged punts their next two possessions. Next, the Buckeyes moved the ball 64 yards on 12 plays consuming 5:02 into the third. Fielding booted a 39-yard attempt this time to lead, 20-13, with 10:13 remaining in the contest.
The Nittany Lion offense needed a touchdown with time off the clock. They finally came up with their best chance. Allars converted with TE Tyler Warren for a 33-yard catch and run all the way to the Ohio State three with 7:35 left to play. It was time for HC James Franklin to coordinate with his first-year OC Andy Kotelnicki get six and then decide to go for the tie or for the win with two.
Hard to understand James Franklin
As in critical situations witnessed during crucial games in years past, I observed Franklin’s interactions, or lack thereof, with his players and coaches along the sideline. As in the past, he stood far from the team huddled together with arms folded, headphones on, and his attached microphone on his headset sticking straight up in the air. He seemed to be listening to some conversation, but did not communicate on the mic nor with anyone standing along the sideline. He remained this way during the following sequence of events.
First play – Kaytron Allen up the middle for no gain. Second play – Allen up the middle for one. Penn State still had all three time-outs left. Time to assess play options? Motivate players? Get everyone one on the same page? No. Third play – Allen up the middle to the one. Fourth down – no time out. Incomplete pass to Khalil Dinkins on a crossing pattern along the end line. Through it all, no time-outs, no interaction between head coach with assistants or players. No imagination. No strategy. No deception. Most importantly, no touchdown.
Penn State clock management – not!
Ohio State took over from their one with 5:13 to play. Buckeyes – four yards on first play; nine more for first down; six yards; 15 more for first down; six more yards; all on the ground and then the two-minute media time-out! Still, Franklin still has three time-outs left in his pocket. Why? No strategy, no motivation, no defensive adjustments, nothing from the head coach, the supposed leader of this program, to manipulate the clock and provide his team a game plan to get the ball back. This is leadership? This is coaching? This is what he gets paid for? Franklin has a multi-year contract and a $56M buy-out? Must be nice – coaching tenure.
Ohio State continues: Quinshon Judkins – two yards; time-out PSU with 1:54 left; Howard- three yards: PSU time-out with 1:40; third and two – OSU time-out. What is HC Ryan Day planning? Howard runs three yards for first down. OSU time-out with 1:19 left. Howard runs seven yards for first down. Back-to-back remaining time-outs by both squads with 1:11 to play. Penn State offense has not crossed the goal line after 58 minutes and 49 seconds. Much too late to thwart the Ohio State offense and score. Not very strategic from a PSU perspective nor any other teams’ offensive scheme for that matter. Two OSU snaps later – final score: Ohio State 20 Penn State 13.
If not now, when?
Evidently, James Franklin feels confident his team makes the 12-tean College Football Playoff (CFP) format this season. Had his team at least scored to tie this game 20-20 with some deception and more imaginative play-calling among four shots at the end zone, even a loss in overtime would have been more honorable than what we witnessed this day. A Penn State win here and a Buckeye loss would have put the pressure on Ohio State with games remaining against undefeated Indiana and archrival Michigan.
Franklin needs to realize the road to the national championship goes through the best competition in college football. This includes Ohio State, a conference foe, in particular. What happens next time they play against one another? Especially in the CFP. As GGAs John and Joe Massimilla pointed out, will he play conservatively again? Is he going to “play not to lose, instead of to win, again?” Chants of “Fire Franklin” echoed in Beaver Stadium after the game attended by 111,030 – a new attendance record. In his postgame analysis, Franklin stated that 90% of the schools in college football would like to be in this position with his record.
Unclear goals
Probably great for the Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern and Rutgers among the FBS. If he’s most comfortable with this attitude, maybe he should seek employment among those programs. Like Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Texas among the best in college football, the Penn State fan base hungers to win it all again like it did in 1982 and 1986. They’ve waited too long since.
Penn State hired James Franklin to get them to that next level, not remain among the other 90%. Penn State gives him the resources he didn’t have at Vanderbilt. With a 1-10 record against Ohio State, we wonder how many more chances James Franklin will have to defeat them before Penn State’s administration figures how many such losses are too many. Franklin needs to be challenged. If he’s confident on his team making the CFP, why not require a goal to win this year’s title? If not accomplished, maybe Penn State needs to find new leadership for its football program.
Upcoming Battles
Ohio State (7-1, 4-1) hosts Purdue (1-7, 0-5) in the Big Noon Game on Fox. That’s the best TV can do? Penn State (7-1, 4-1) hosts Washington in their traditional “White-out!” An 8 pm kickoff on a cold November evening isn’t looked forward to by a lot of PSU fans. That drive home in the dark into the wee hours of the morning leaving the congested parking lots after a full day of tailgating is neither fun nor safe.
MACtion begins for us.
We at collegefootballfan.com start our first of three weeknight MACtion games the following Tuesday. These games provide opportunities to attend games at venues never visited before. We begin with Miami (O.) (4-4,3-1) visiting Ball State (3-5, 2-2). The Cardinals’ Scheumann Stadium becomes our 95th FBS stadium attended. No problem getting a ticket. People who will be watching election results that evening can flip back to this game. If no rain, look from me in my bright yellow Game 700 ball cap from last week’s milestone game between Notre Dame and Navy at The Meadowlands. Our adventure including interviews with my fellow tailgaters that day will be featured on an NPR Travel podcast before the Super Bowl in January. Look for more details in coming weeks.
Collegefootballfan.com October Top Ten
As initiated at the end of September, here is our Top Ten based on teams we’ve seen this season or teams we’ve “etched in stone” for the balance of our season.
- Oregon 9-0
- Georgia 7-1
- Ohio State 7-1
- Penn State 7-1
- BYU 8-0
- Notre Dame 7-1
- Vanderbilt 6-3
- South Carolina 5-3
- Montana State (FCS) 9-0
- Virginia Tech 5-4