46 thoughts on Penn State's win over Ohio
Let's not waste time and get right into these 46 thoughts...
1. When compared to games from around the country over the first two weeks, Penn State fans should be pretty good from what they've seen out of the Nittany Lions. Finding a way to win that Purdue game was a huge early test for the program and against Ohio, they simply took care of business, something most programs struggled to do in week two.
2. Sean Clifford on Saturday did exactly what you needed him to do, be rather mistake-free, make the easy plays, and get out of the game healthy. He had some poorer throws in the game and took a sack or two that he could've gotten the ball away but overall it was a solid day for the sixth-year quarterback. Clifford finished the day 19-for-27 for 213-yards and one touchdown.
3. Let's take about Drew Allar quickly. Yes, it's just two games, and it was only Ohio when up multiple scores but he continues to show you everything you want to see out of a true freshman quarterback. Poised is the word you're going to be hearing a lot about Allar including from head coach James Franklin.
"I think the biggest thing that I think jumps out to everybody is that he's just super poised in there for a young kid," James Franklin told the media following Saturday's win. "The game seems slow to him already. I think he's doing a really good job from a preparation standpoint."
Allar for the game was 6-for-8 for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
4. Allar also showed in the victory that while he's not going to be the running threat that Sean Clifford is, you'll have to respect him in the RPO game to an extent. He had five carries for 11 yards in the game including a gain of eight.
5. Final Allar thought, while both of his touchdown passes were impressive, I thought his best play in the game was on 2nd and 6 with 11:33 in the third quarter. With a free rusher in his face, Allar showed the poise and calmness of being able to find an open Parker Washington to the outside and throwing a dart to him knowing he was going to take a big hit from the Ohio defender. It may not have seemed like that special of a play in the grand scheme of things but having the ability to remain calm and collected in that situation was eye-opening.
6. The running back rotation was not so much of a rotation on Saturday afternoon as Nick Singleton emerged as Penn State's top option. The true freshman out of Shillington (PA) gave the sold-out Beaver Stadium crowd a show with 10 carries, 179-yards, and two touchdowns. It was a special performance to watch firsthand and truly feels like a breakthrough potentially for Penn State's offense.
7. Singleton's speed is something Penn State has desperately missed in the run game over the last two seasons, making him a focal part of the offense should open a lot of things up for the Nittany Lions.
8. For comparison, while SIngleton had 10 carries in the game, Kaytron Allen had six, and Keyvone Lee had just one. I would expect Singleton to be Penn State's starting running back at Auburn next weekend.
9. Parker Washington had a nice day with four receptions for 60-yards after having a slow day against Purdue last week.
10. Going back to Clifford slightly but on the note of Mitchell Tinsley recording another receiving touchdown on Saturday. Clifford's ability to thread the needle between two Ohio defenders like he did on that touchdown throw was extremely impressive.
11. We've seen a decent amount of the true freshman wideout out of Texas in the first two games and should continue to do so going forward. He won't be a regular out there but he should see the field week in and week out if he continues to develop.
12. A good sign from the wide receiver and tight end room as a whole was the Nittany Lions had just one drop against the Bobcats after having five against Purdue.
13. A few quick notes about the tight end room, Theo Johnson missed his second-straight game with an undisclosed injury. Perhaps Penn State was playing it safe this week with their tip to Auburn next weekend?
14. Redshirt freshman tight end Khalil Dinkins got his career touchdown in the third quarter as Allar escaped pressure by climbing the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield, and finding the open Dinkins for the touchdown. The tight end room as a whole had just 56 yards in the game and the one touchdown by Dinkins.
15. The offensive line may have allowed five sacks in the game but I thought overall there were a lot of positives in the game for the offensive line additionally, at least two of those sacks were due to Sean Clifford or Drew Allar not getting rid of the ball.
16. Olu Fashanu continues to be a star in the making for Penn State. After posting a 90 pass-blocking grade last week against Purdue, he posted an 87.8 grade against Ohio.
17. Caedan Wallace had one of his better days pass blocking as Penn State's right tackle. He will likely hold onto that starting spot after Bryce Effner had a tough day while rotating in his spot.
18. True freshmen Drew Shelton and Vega Ioane saw 11 snaps a piece in the game and looked solid in their first showings. Ioane especially looks the part physically as we've mentioned in the past. We also saw JB Nelson make his Penn State debut, his pass blocking looked solid, and run blocking will need to be cleaned up but he did miss a portion of fall camp due to injury.
19. Overall, I thought it was another well-called game out Mike Yurcich and he showed some creativity at times without giving away too much before next weekend's matchup with Auburn.
20. Just some final stats for Penn State in this one, 572 total yards including 234 rushing yards and 338 passing yards.
21. The biggest negative in the game for the offense was going 3-for-12 on third downs. That must improve going forward if Penn State hopes to beat some of the better teams on their schedule.
22. To the defense for Penn State which had themselves a pretty good day themselves, allowing just 264 total yards in the game.
23. While it was a strong performance as a collective unit, there weren't many individual performances that really stood out in the game, which is okay, they didn't need any single player to take over the game to have a chance to win.
24. Two players that did stand out, however, are sophomore defensive end Chop Robinson and true freshman linebacker Abdul Carter. Robinson was making his presence known in the Bobcats backfield on Saturday while Carter truly flies around the field. Neither player was perfect but both look like future stars for Penn State once they're able to put it all together.
25. We saw an extended look at true freshman defensive Dani Dennis-Sutton. Overall, when on the field he played very well in my opinion, sowing flashes of what he could be in the future.
26. Adisa Isaac had an overall solid performance and was once again strong against the run, he's definitely still trying to get back into the groove when it comes to the pass rush, however.
27. The Nittany Lions' defense as a whole was able to get 15 pressures on Ohio quarterbacks on the Bobcat's 31 dropbacks which you'll take but the Nittany Lions' front seven especially needs to find a way to start getting home on opposing quarterbacks.
28. Through their first two games, Penn State's three sacks have come via Jonathan Sutherland and Johnny Dixon who recorded his second of the season on Saturday.
29. The linebacker room was solid against Ohio, definitely better than they were against Purdue but still quite a big area of concern for the Nittany Lions.
30. Curtis Jacobs had a good day, overall, he was strong against the run and didn't miss any tackles. Jonathan Sutherland was solid himself, he may be able to be a stabilizing piece in the linebacker room, through two games he looks comfortable at the position.
31. Going back to Abdul Carter quickly, he did miss two tackles which is to a degree a result of him playing as fast as he does, he'll need to learn how to reel himself in when needed and play a bit slower.
32. Both Kobe King and Tyler Elsdon had quality games. King did miss one tackle but other than that, not too negatives from either on Saturday afternoon. At least on the surface level, we'll have to take a closer look at on our rewatch.
33. The pass coverage in the game for Penn State on the surface level was solid, they kept Ohio quarterbacks to just a 43% completion percentage but it wasn't a perfect day either. Nothing of a major concern developed but quite a bit of minor things that need to be cleaned up.
34. Ji'Ayir Brown had a tough game against Purdue but recovered nicely with a solid performance against Ohio. He had five tackles in the game while missing just one, he also battled one ball down.
35. True freshman corner Cam Miller saw 27 snaps in the game including 17 in coverage and looked good doing so. PFF graded his coverage skills out to 68.1 which was the third highest in the game for the Nittany Lions.
37. Another true freshman in Kevin Winston Jr saw the field on Saturday for Penn State and he also looked promising in his first taste of college action including recording three tackles.
38. Overall, it was a great day for Penn State's defense and one that you can't find my complaints with. There were visible improvements, to say the least, and as they continue to play in this Manny Diaz defense and get comfortable playing in it in game situations, it should continue to improve.
39. No turnovers for the Nittany Lions on Saturday but at the same time there were not many opportunities either.
40. Looking at special teams, Barney Amour looks like the real deal for Penn State, and Blake Gillikin and Jordan Stoudt looks to be a weapon for the Nittany Lions.
41. His punt prior to Penn State's safety was simply phenomenal, he's shown the ability to pin opposing offenses deep now consistently through the first two games of the season.
42. The kickoff duties again on Saturday were handled by Gabriel Nwosu and Sander Shayadak, both were solid when on the field. James Franklin and special teams coordinator Stacey Collins would like to see a bit more leg most likely with Ohio returning five of Penn State's eight kickoffs.
43. Parker Washington was great on punt returns as expected, he averaged 12 yards per return on Saturday including one return for 30-yards. On kickoff returns, Singleton looked solid on his pair of returns while Omari Evans returned one for 16-yards.
44. The one area of concern for Penn State when it comes to special teams remains place kicking. Jake Pinegar missed an extra point and a 42-yard field goal in the win. He's struggled with consistency throughout his career, we'll see if he can bounce back from this performance.
45. As I said at the top of this list, Penn State did what they had to do on Saturday against Ohio which not a lot of schools could say in week two.
46. Heading into next weekend's matchup against Auburn, I like how Penn State matchups with the Tigers. I'm looking forward to covering that one live from Jordan-Hare.
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