Thereโs nothing Penn State could have done to beat Ohio State this time.
Two words that have defined the rivalry over the past decade have been what if?
What if John OโNeill and the boys didnโt botch two callsโ one of which included a video reviewโ in 2014?
What if the โBlock 6โ never happens in 2016?
What if Denzel Ward didnโt block Blake Gillikinโs punt in 2017?
What if Penn State didnโt take the ball out of Trace McSorleyโs hands on 4th and 5 in 2018?
What if Penn State brought an offense to Columbus in 2023?
What if Tyler Warren touched the ball near the goal line last year?
But thereโs nothing interim coach Terry Smith, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and the rest of the staff could have done to prevent Saturdayโs 38-14 loss at the Horseshoe.
Sometimes, the other team is just flat out better, and this Ohio State team might be better than everybody in the country, let alone a 3-5 Penn State team.
With that said, this doesnโt mean that Smith and Kotelnicki havenโt made mistakes, and one of the biggest ones has been the continued misusage of young receivers Koby Howard and Tyseer Denmark.
Going back to before the collapse that led to James Franklinโs firing started, Penn State fans wanted to see more of Howard and Denmark. In Howard, Penn State has a true freshman who already has the speed and self-confidence to contribute in the Big Ten.
Denmark, a redshirt freshman, improved enough from Year 1 to Year 2 that it inspired receivers coach Marques Hagans to drop a profanity (in a good way) during a Zoom call back in September.
With all of this promise and with veteran receivers Trebor Pena, Devonte Ross and Kyron Hudson all falling short of preseason expectations, Penn State just would not play Howard or Denmark for the first six games.
Both of them saw limited action in Penn Stateโs three non-conference games, and neither play a down in any of Penn Stateโs first three Big Ten games.
After the third Big Ten gameโ an embarrassing loss at the hands of Northwestern on Homecomingโ Penn State fired Franklin.
Fans thought that a short-term effect to Smith becoming the interim coach would be that Howard and Denmark would get more opportunities, and Smith himself implied that would be the case.
โI know what theyโre capable of, so Iโm gonna give them a shot,โ Smith said after a Tuesday practice during the bye week.
To be fair, Howard and Denmark technically have received more opportunities under Smith than Franklin. Per Pro Football Focus Howard played five snaps against Iowa and seven against Ohio State. Demark played four against Iowa and one against Ohio State (hey, one is still more than zero, which was his total for the first three conference games).
At the same time, Ross has averaged 30 snaps over those two games, Hudson 44.5 and Pena 51.5.
More confusing still is that when Howardโs been given chances, heโs made things happen.
Against Iowa, he was only on the field for two passing snaps, but on one of them, he got open and made a 14-yard reception.
Against Ohio State, Howard again made Penn Stateโs longest reception of the day, this one for 26 yards. Simply put, he needs more chances.
Denmark, on the other hand, hasnโt been targeted since the first game of the season.
Kotelnicki was asked about this days before the Ohio State game.
โWhy you haven’t seen it to date?โ Kotelnicki said. โIt’s in line a little bit of what I answered before is who’s coming off.โ
The next day, Smith clarified that the coordinators are the ones who determine who plays and when.
None of Ross (281 yards, three touchdowns, 23 receptions,) Hudson (236 yards, two touchdowns, 20 receptions) or Pena (232 yards, one touchdowns, 26 receptions) has performed well enough to where we can definitively say that Howard of Denmark wouldnโt be an upgrade.
Letโs say all three were slightly better.
None of those three have eligibility beyond 2025, and thus wonโt be at Penn State when the new coach comes.
Howard and Denmark, on the other hand, have three years left, and when talking about players essential for Penn State to keep around, those are two of the biggest ones.
Playing Koby Howard and Tyseer Denmark wouldnโt have led to Penn State upsetting Ohio State.
But not playing them could make the program worse, not just this year, but at the dawn of the next age of Penn State football.
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