Grading Penn State's performance against No. 1 Ohio State

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Penn State dropped its ninth straight game to Ohio State in Saturday's 38-14 loss in Columbus. The Nittany Lions kept it close in the first half, but they ultimately faltered in a second-half shutout under interim head coach Terry Smith. How bad was it, and were there any positives for Penn State to build on? Here's the postgame grades.

Quarterbacks: C

Given it was his second career start, and it was against the best scoring defense in the country, Ethan Grunkemeyer held up pretty well on Saturday. When he had time, he was able to make some good throws, such as a nice touch pass to Koby Howard for 26 yards and a deep out route to Kyron Hudson for 18 yards. Grunkemeyer wasn't able to scramble much against Ohio State's defensive line, which had four sacks. He completed 68% of his passes for 145 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. It's not the result Penn State wanted, but it's certainly steps in the right direction for a freshman quarterback who's playing some very stiff competition.

Running backs: B

Penn State ran the ball well early against Ohio State, including some nice plays for Nicholas Singleton on the outside. That momentum fizzled out in the second half, as the Nittany Lions trailed by multiple scores and had to pass the ball a lot more. Kaytron Allen had 76 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries, while Singleton added 18 yards and a score on six gives. The backs also combined for five receptions, which is helpful for an offense that can't consistently get its receivers open. The offense has struggled, but it's certainly not on the running backs at this point.

Wide receivers and tight ends: D

Penn State manufactured touches to Devonte Ross and Trebor Peña on screens and short passes, but otherwise struggled to push the football downfield. Liam Clifford was more involved this week with two receptions and an incomplete pass on a trick play. Kyron Hudson had one nice reception late in the game, but he's overall continued to be quiet despite being this team's best receiver on paper. Koby Howard got into the game late and made a nice catch downfield, and he certainly seems deserving of more opportunities given how poor the downfield passing game has been. Tight end Khalil Dinkins was the only one who got into the box score with two receptions.

After watching what Ohio State's offense was able to do on Saturday, it really shows how far this team is from fielding a competent passing attack.

Defense: C-

Well, the good news is Penn State held up well against the run, especially after giving up a ton of rushing yards in their last game against Iowa. The bad news is how unstoppable Ohio State's passing game was.

Freshman quarterback Julian Sayin was fantastic, throwing more touchdowns (4) than incompletions (3). He flexed his arm with some beautiful deep passes and was able to evade pressure on the few times Penn State did generate pass rush. Wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate were a handful, and they flat out torched Penn State's secondary on multiple plays for 57, 57 and 45 yard gains. When the Nittany Lions left their cornerbacks 1-on-1 with the receivers, it was pretty much game over.

Yes, Ohio State is very good, but it's disappointing to see how much defensive coordinator Jim Knowles' group struggled. Knowles was essentially hired to be able to defeat teams like Ohio State, yet his defense didn't have answers besides a forced fumble in the second quarter. Next week is Indiana, and it's hard to imagine things turning around any time soon.

Special teams: B

We saw a lot of punter Gabe Nwosu on Saturday, and he's continued to have a good season. He landed two of his six punts inside the 20-yard line, and three of them went over 50 yards. Ryan Barker didn't get to attempt any field goals, but he did hit his extra points. Not a ton to say from a special teams perspective this weekend, but there was no major errors.

Coaching: C

Penn State was outplayed, but there were a few issues you could look at from a coaching perspective. On the opening drive of the game, the Nittany Lions opted to punt the football on 4th-and-3 on the Ohio State 43-yard line. Penn State ran the ball on 3rd-and-6 to seemingly set up for a fourth down try, but then they punted anyway. If you want to punt on fourth, that's fine, but why not run a pass on 3rd-and-6 then?

Defensively, Penn State tried to cover Ohio State's wide receivers 1-on-1 early, and that failed miserably. I really can't understand why Coach Knowles, who watched Smith and Tate firsthand at Ohio State, would think he could man up on those guys and have success. However, once he dropped more into coverage, the pass rush couldn't really get through. It was a difficult matchup, and Knowles couldn't get things together for his defense.

Overall: D

This result was pretty expected for Penn State, but it still feels disappointing, especially after having two weeks to prepare for this game. The team has some bright spots on both sides of the football, but it's overall lacking juice and the same fight that it showed during the White Out loss to Oregon. With No. 2 Indiana coming up next week, this team could become 3-6 very quickly.

This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Grading Penn State's performance against No. 1 Ohio State

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