Hindsight is 20/20, and there are no truer words will describe Penn State late against Ohio State in many of its neck-and-neck battles over the years.
Unfortunately for coach James Franklin and company, it proved once again true against the Buckeyes Saturday.
After another loss, Franklin and Penn State are left searching for what could have finally gotten them over the hump.
This goal line stand by Ohio State sealed Penn State’s fate. But let’s dive a little deeper into what went wrong for Penn State on this stanza.
On the previous play, Tyler Warren ran the ball 33 yards to the 3-yard line to set up the first and goal. It was expected that after that play he probably would be featured again on the play right after.
First Down
Not much pre-snap motion at all to provide a look at what the Buckeyes were planning on doing. The lone receiver on the field is Julian Fleming and it’s very clear that Andy Kotelnicki seemingly wanted to ground and pound the ball here. Kaytron Allen follows Warren and Luke Reynolds, but goes nowhere, a half yard at most.
You can also see Drew Allar looking to the sideline after the play in what looks to be a questioning body movement with his palms in the air.
Second Down
Now, some of that window dressing we’ve seen from Kotelnicki and the offense in the past as OL Vega Ioane lines up in the slot and comes in motion.
Allen gets a yard or so. But the problem here is that Ioane doesn’t get to his guy to seal the cutback lane which if it was open would have put Allen one on one with a safety near the goal line which typically is a good matchup.
Allar could have walked in to the end zone had he pulled the ball, but it was a positive gain for Allen nonetheless.
Third Down
It’s the same deal with Ioane, but he doesn’t get chance to even lay a hat on someone as the run goes behind him to the right and is stood up nearly immediately.
As the video illustrates the right side of the line gets obliterated on this play while the left side does their part. For Allen, a plant and cutback puts him in the end zone, but he follows the pile.
This play is a walk-in touchdown if Allar pulls the ball from Allen’s belly at any point and he can follow Ioane in the endzone, but it looks to be a straight designed run like the previous two plays.
Fourth Down
In what is an expected passing situation, Ioane is once again in motion this time coming from the left side of the formation, but once again does not get a hat on anyone. Instead of getting to Nicholas Singleton’s outside shoulder to help chip the Ohio State defender, he gets inside and the defender gets a nice lane at Allar to rush his throw.
Khalil Dinkins, the intended receiver runs a skinny post, while Trey Wallace runs a rub route to get Warren open, but the Buckeyes have help over the top and Warren isn’t able to get open.
My guess is that Singleton was forced to stay on his block way longer than necessary because if Ioane gets there and gets better leverage he could’ve slipped out of the back field with ease to get to the end zone and for Allar to get him the ball.
When it came down to it, Ohio State simply out-manned and out-executed Penn State. Jim Knowles, the defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes, seemingly knew what was coming and had his defense in the perfect position to defend the goal line.
Why Penn State didn’t find some way to get the ball in Warren’s hands in the backfield is a question only a few people know and I’m not one of them. Though the caveat to that is from the 3, you should be able to find someway to find the end zone in four plays.
Instead of a tie game and what could’ve been a spirited defensive performance on the final drive, it was yet another soul crushing Ohio State possession that allowed them to put the game away easily.
