Einstein's definition of insanity, but here are some stats that don't lie.
1st half - Barkley had 1 1st down run for negative yards and McSorley had 3 (read option plays).
2nd half - Barkley had 5 1st down runs for negative yards (and 3 runs on other downs for negative yards) and McSorley had none (read option plays).
So there were twice as many negative yardage read option plays in the 2nd half, when it sure seemed like PSU went away from it's normal aggressiveness on O and seemed to be protecting a lead. rather than playing to increase it.
Don't start with the hater stuff, because I'm not. I'm also not a football coach, nor do I even pretend to be one on TV. I am a fan that is extremely disappointed in the offensive 2nd half play calling, especially with the painful benefit of last season's Rose Bowl experience all too fresh in my mind.
Even when it was 38-27, or even 38-33, one or 2 more first downs would have made it practically impossible, time-wise, for OSU to come back. Let that sink in. One or 2 measly 1st downs.
The D was clearly gassed in the 4th, and losing Bucholz was huge, but in part they were that gassed from spending a lot of time on the field as the O went into a shell.
That being said, I still think this has the potential to end up being a fantastic season, with almost certainly a NY6 bowl pending; perhaps even the CFP if we get a lot of help.
That being said, don't underestimate how close this team was to basically assuring itself a seat at the CFP table, with a chance at the NC. Chances like that don't come around all that often (unless you're Bama) and that miss is incredibly painful.
Summary of Penn State possessions against OSU. We had a lot of success when we a) had Trace (and to a lesser extent Barkley) run *designed* runs, and b) when Trace had time to throw via designed pass plays. Gesicki won a lot more than he lost on Saturday - he should have been our 'go to' on nearly every play. He was targeted five times in the first half (including a 14 yard catch that was negated by penalty) and averaged 8 YPC. He was only targeted four times in the second half - two incomplete, and the other two for seven and 22 yards respectively.
Also - even when you include Barkley's 36 yard TD run, and TM's six yard TD run, we averaged 2.3 yards on 1st down when running the ball (which we did 19 times, or 76% of the time on first down). Take out those two plays and we averaged less than a yard per running play on first down, and had 9/17 go for 0 or negative yards.
Passing on first down was just as bad - of our six attempts, three were incomplete, one was for no gain, and the two that did connect did so for five and 21 yards respectively.
1st Quarter
Penn State wins the coin toss and elects to receive.
Ohio State will defend South Goal.
Psu 1-10 at Psu35 OSU ball on OSU35.
96-Nuernberger, S. kickoff 62 yards to the PSU3, 26-Barkley, Saquon return 97 yards to the OSU0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:45.
95-Davis, Tyler kick attempt good.
Penn State 7, Ohio State 0
95-Davis, Tyler kickoff 57 yards to the OSU8, 21-Campbell, P. return 17 yards to the OSU25 (4-Scott, Nick;38-Wade, Lamont).
Psu 1-10 at Osu23 PENN STATE drive start at 13:32, PSU ball on OSU23.
Psu 1-10 at Osu23 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 26-Barkley, Saquon for 5 yards to the OSU18 (4-Fuller, Jordan).
Psu 2-5 at Osu18 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 88-Gesicki, Mike for 9 yards to the OSU9,
1ST DOWN PSU (4-Fuller, Jordan;8-Sheffield, K.).
Psu 1-G at Osu09 26-Barkley, Saquon rush up middle for loss of 4 yards to the OSU13 (93-Sprinkle, Tracy).
Psu 2-G at Osu13 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace I pass incomplete to 5-Hamilton, D. (7-Webb, Damon).
Psu 3-G at Osu13 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 5-Hamilton, D. for 13 yards to the OSU0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:36.
95-Davis, Tyler kick attempt good.
Penn State 14, Ohio State 0
Psu 1-10 at Psu25 PENN STATE drive start at 10:11.
Psu 1-10 at Psu25 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace rush up middle for no gain to the PSU25 (17-Baker, Jerome).
Psu 2-10 at Psu25 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 3-Thompkins, D..
Psu 3-10 at Psu25 9-McSorley, Trace screen pass complete to 26-Barkley, Saquon for 10 yards to the PSU35,
1ST DOWN PSU, out-of-bounds.
Psu 1-10 at Psu35 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace rush over left end for loss of 2 yards to the PSU33 (35-Worley, Chris).
Psu 2-12 at Psu33 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 88-Gesicki, Mike for loss of 2 yards to the PSU31 (6-Hubbard, Sam;17-Baker, Jerome).
Psu 3-14 at Psu31 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace crossing pass incomplete to 88-Gesicki, Mike.
Psu 4-14 at Psu31 93-Gillikin, Blake punt 42 yards to the OSU27, out-of-bounds,
PENALTY PSU unsportsmanlike conduct (11-Charles, Irvin) 15 yards to the OSU42, 1st and 10, OSU ball on OSU42.
Drive: 6 plays, 6 yards, TOP 02:35
Psu 1-10 at Psu27 PENN STATE drive start at 04:38.
Psu 1-10 at Psu27 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace rush for no gain to the PSU27 (6-Hubbard, Sam).
Psu 2-10 at Psu27 9-McSorley, Trace sacked for loss of 4 yards to the PSU23 (86-Jones, Dre'Mont).
Psu 3-14 at Psu23 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace middle pass complete to 26-Barkley, Saquon for 8 yards to the PSU31 (17-Baker, Jerome).
Psu 4-6 at Psu31 93-Gillikin, Blake punt 39 yards to the OSU30, 14-Hill, K.J. return 16 yards to the OSU46 (6-Brown, Cam).
Drive: 3 plays, 4 yards, TOP 01:57
2nd Quarter
Psu 1-10 at Psu19 Start of 2nd quarter, clock 15:00.
Psu 1-10 at Psu19 9-McSorley, Trace rush for 6 yards to the PSU25 (4-Fuller, Jordan).
Psu 2-4 at Psu25 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 88-Gesicki, Mike for 10 yards to the PSU35,
1ST DOWN PSU (8-Sheffield, K.;17-Baker, Jerome).
Psu 1-10 at Psu35 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 84-Johnson, Juwan.
Psu 2-10 at Psu35 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 84-Johnson, Juwan for 6 yards to the PSU41 (12-Ward, Denzel).
Psu 3-4 at Psu41 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 88-Gesicki, Mike for 11 yards to the OSU48,
1ST DOWN PSU.
Psu 1-10 at Osu48 [NHS], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush up middle for 3 yards to the OSU45 (12-Ward, Denzel).
Psu 2-7 at Osu45 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 1H-Holland, J.,
PENALTY OSU pass interference (17-Baker, Jerome) 9 yards to the OSU36, 1ST DOWN PSU, NO PLAY.
Psu 1-10 at Osu36 [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over left end for 36 yards to the OSU0,
1ST DOWN PSU, TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:40.
95-Davis, Tyler kick attempt good.
Penn State 21, Ohio State 3
Drive: 7 plays, 81 yards, TOP 03:27
Psu 1-10 at Osu23 PENN STATE drive start at 09:14.
Psu 1-10 at Osu23 26-Barkley, Saquon rush up middle for 2 yards to the OSU21 (0E-Cornell, Jashon).
Psu 2-8 at Osu21 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 88-Gesicki, Mike for 14 yards to the OSU7 (4-Fuller, Jordan),
PENALTY PSU YO (88-Gesicki, Mike) 0 yards to the OSU21, NO PLAY.
Psu 3-8 at Osu21 3rd and 9, 9-McSorley, Trace pass intercepted by 7-Webb, Damon at the OSU0, 7-Webb, Damon return to the OSU0, clock 08:11,
PENALTY OSU pass interference (3-Arnette, Damon) 15 yards to the OSU6, 1ST DOWN PSU, NO PLAY.
Psu 1-G at Osu06 9-McSorley, Trace rush for 6 yards to the OSU0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 08:06.
95-Davis, Tyler kick attempt good.
Penn State 28, Ohio State 10
Drive: 2 plays, 23 yards, TOP 01:08
Psu 1-10 at Psu30 PENN STATE drive start at 04:52.
Psu 1-10 at Psu30 Clock 04:52, [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete,
PENALTY OSU face mask (6-Hubbard, Sam) 15 yards to the PSU45, 1ST DOWN PSU, NO PLAY.
Psu 1-10 at Psu45 Clock 04:44, 9-McSorley, Trace rush Direct Snap to Runner for 1 yard to the PSU46 (33-Booker, Dante).
Psu 2-9 at Psu46 Clock 04:44, 9-McSorley, Trace rush over left end for 8 yards to the OSU46, out-of-bounds.
Psu 3-1 at Osu46 Timeout Ohio State, clock 03:39.
Psu 3-1 at Osu46 Clock 03:39, [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush for 4 yards to the OSU42,
1ST DOWN PSU (35-Worley, Chris).
Psu 1-10 at Osu42 Clock 03:11, [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over left tackle for 4 yards to the OSU38 (35-Worley, Chris).
Psu 2-6 at Osu38 Clock 02:30, [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace sideline pass incomplete to 5-Hamilton, D..
Psu 3-6 at Osu38 Clock 02:24, [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over right guard for 2 yards to the OSU36 (97-Bosa, Nick).
Psu 4-4 at Osu36 Deadball foul,
PENALTY PSU delay of game 5 yards to the OSU41, NO PLAY.
Psu 4-9 at Osu41 Clock 01:38, 93-Gillikin, Blake punt 27 yards to the OSU14, fair catch by 14-Hill, K.J..
Drive: 6 plays, 29 yards, TOP 03:21
Psu 1-10 at Psu38 PENN STATE drive start at 00:29.
Psu 1-10 at Psu38 Deadball foul,
PENALTY PSU delay of game 5 yards to the PSU33, NO PLAY.
Psu 1-15 at Psu33 Clock 00:29, TM-TEAM rush KN for loss of 2 yards to the PSU31.
Psu 2-17 at Psu31 End of half, clock 00:00.
Drive: 1 plays, minus 7 yards, TOP 00:29
3rd Quarter
su 1-10 at Psu30 PENN STATE drive start at 11:34.
Psu 1-10 at Psu30 26-Barkley, Saquon rush up middle for loss of 3 yards to the PSU27 (59-Lewis, Tyquan).
Psu 2-13 at Psu27 [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over left end for 2 yards to the PSU29, out-of-bounds (7-Webb, Damon),
PENALTY PSU holding declined.
Psu 3-11 at Psu29 9-McSorley, Trace rush over right end for 12 yards to the PSU41,
1ST DOWN PSU, out-of-bounds (39-Harrison, Malik).
Psu 1-10 at Psu41 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 5-Hamilton, D..
Psu 2-10 at Psu41 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace sideline pass complete to 3-Thompkins, D. for 12 yards to the OSU47,
1ST DOWN PSU, out-of-bounds (3-Arnette, Damon).
Psu 1-10 at Osu47 [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over left end for 4 yards to the OSU43 (33-Booker, Dante).
Psu 2-6 at Osu43 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace crossing pass complete to 84-Johnson, Juwan for 3 yards to the OSU40 (35-Worley, Chris;8-Sheffield, K.).
Psu 3-3 at Osu40 [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over right tackle for 4 yards to the OSU36,
1ST DOWN PSU (33-Booker, Dante;59-Lewis, Tyquan).
Penn State (#52) Ryan Bates injured on the play.
Psu 1-10 at Osu36 [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush up middle for loss of 1 yard to the OSU37 (3-Arnette, Damon).
Psu 2-11 at Osu37 9-McSorley, Trace deep pass complete to 3-Thompkins, D. for 37 yards to the OSU0,
1ST DOWN PSU, TOUCHDOWN, clock 07:25.
95-Davis, Tyler kick attempt good.
Penn State 35, Ohio State 20
Drive: 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 04:13
Psu 1-10 at Psu06 PENN STATE drive start at 03:10.
Psu 1-10 at Psu06 26-Barkley, Saquon rush for loss of 5 yards to the PSU1 (8-Sheffield, K.).
Psu 2-15 at Psu01 9-McSorley, Trace sideline pass complete to 84-Johnson, Juwan for 20 yards to the PSU21,
1ST DOWN PSU, out-of-bounds (17-Baker, Jerome).
Psu 1-10 at Psu21 26-Barkley, Saquon rush for 8 yards to the PSU29 (17-Baker, Jerome;33-Booker, Dante).
Psu 2-2 at Psu29 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 88-Gesicki, Mike.
Psu 3-2 at Psu29 26-Barkley, Saquon rush for loss of 4 yards to the PSU25 (4-Fuller, Jordan).
Psu 4-6 at Psu25 93-Gillikin, Blake punt 48 yards to the OSU27, 14-Hill, K.J. return -3 yards to the OSU24 (11-Charles, Irvin).
Drive: 5 plays, 19 yards, TOP 02:42
4th Quarter
Psu 1-10 at Osu42 PENN STATE drive start at 13:13.
Psu 1-10 at Osu42 [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over right end for loss of 7 yards to the OSU49 (33-Booker, Dante).
Psu 2-17 at Osu49 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 5-Hamilton, D. (3-Arnette, Damon).
Psu 3-17 at Osu49 [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over left end for 6 yards to the OSU43 (39-Harrison, Malik).
Psu 4-11 at Osu43 93-Gillikin, Blake punt BLOCKED, recovered by OSU 33-Booker, Dante at PSU47 (blocked by 12-Ward, Denzel), 33-Booker, Dante for 6 yards to the PSU41 (17-Taylor, Garrett).
Drive: 3 plays, minus 1 yards, TOP 01:34
Psu 1-10 at Psu30 PENN STATE drive start at 11:00.
Psu 1-10 at Psu30 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 13-Blacknall, S., QB hurry by 97-Bosa, Nick.
Psu 2-10 at Psu30 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace rush up middle for 23 yards to the OSU47,
1ST DOWN PSU, out-of-bounds (4-Fuller, Jordan).
Psu 1-10 at Osu47 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace crossing pass incomplete to 84-Johnson, Juwan,
PENALTY PSU holding (66-McGovern, C.) 10 yards to the PSU43, NO PLAY.
Psu 1-20 at Psu43 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace middle pass complete to 26-Barkley, Saquon for no gain to the PSU43 (17-Baker, Jerome).
Psu 2-20 at Psu43 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace middle pass complete to 88-Gesicki, Mike for 7 yards to the 50 yardline (4-Fuller, Jordan).
Psu 3-13 at Psu50 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace sideline pass complete to 88-Gesicki, Mike for 22 yards to the OSU28,
1ST DOWN PSU (4-Fuller, Jordan).
Psu 1-10 at Osu28 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass complete to 13-Blacknall, S. for 21 yards to the OSU7,
1ST DOWN PSU(4-Fuller, Jordan).
Psu 1-G at Osu07 [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace rush up middle for 3 yards to the OSU4 (67-Landers, Robert;35-Worley, Chris).
Psu 2-G at Osu04 Clock 07:16, [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace rush for 1 yard to the OSU3 (4-Fuller, Jordan).
Psu 3-G at Osu03 Clock 06:34, [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush up middle for loss of 3 yards to the OSU6 (67-Landers, Robert).
Psu 4-G at Osu06 Clock 05:45, 95-Davis, Tyler field goal attempt from 24 GOOD, clock 05:42.
Penn State 38, Ohio State 27
Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards, TOP 05:23
Psu 1-10 at Psu15 PENN STATE drive start at 04:14.
Psu 1-10 at Psu15 Clock 04:14, 26-Barkley, Saquon rush up middle for loss of 7 yards to the PSU8 (6-Hubbard, Sam).
Psu 2-17 at Psu08 Timeout Ohio State, clock 04:09.
Psu 2-17 at Psu08 Clock 04:09, 26-Barkley, Saquon rush up middle for loss of 2 yards to the PSU6 (67-Landers, Robert).
Psu 3-19 at Psu06 Clock 03:26, [Shotgun], 26-Barkley, Saquon rush over left end for 5 yards to the PSU11 (6-Hubbard, Sam).
Psu 4-14 at Psu11 Timeout Ohio State, clock 03:21.
Psu 4-14 at Psu11 Clock 03:21, 93-Gillikin, Blake punt 57 yards to the OSU32, 14-Hill, K.J. return 10 yards to the OSU42 (47-Smith, Brandon).
Drive: 3 plays, minus 4 yards, TOP 01:07
Psu 1-10 at Psu41 PENN STATE drive start at 01:45.
Psu 1-10 at Psu41 Clock 01:45, [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace sideline pass incomplete to 26-Barkley, Saquon (35-Worley, Chris).
Psu 2-10 at Psu41 Clock 01:40, 9-McSorley, Trace sacked for loss of 5 yards to the PSU36 (11-Holmes, Jalyn).
Psu 3-15 at Psu36 Timeout Penn State, clock 01:34.
Psu 3-15 at Psu36 Clock 01:34, [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 88-Gesicki, Mike.
Psu 4-15 at Psu36 Clock 01:29, [Shotgun], 9-McSorley, Trace pass incomplete to 84-Johnson, Juwan.
Drive: 4 plays, minus 5 yards, TOP 00:23
