Ohio State still has path to playoff
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — After a loss, so much seems wrong with Ohio State. Even though very little has changed.
The passing game has all kinds of problems, from poor protection to lack of separation by the receivers. Ohio State’s most explosive player touched the ball only 10 times against Penn State. And the special teams came completely undone in that 24-21 loss Saturday night.
The Buckeyes (6-1, 3-1) slipped four spots to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 on Sunday and now have to worry about getting involved with a tiebreaker with the Nittany Lions just to win the Big Ten East.
Coach Urban Meyer fell back on a most common coaching cliché after the Buckeyes let one slip away in Happy Valley: “Well, every goal is still alive.”
True. If Ohio State wins all its games, starting Saturday at home against Northwestern and beating No. 2 Michigan along the way to a Big Ten championship, the Buckeyes are a good bet to reach the College Football Playoff.
“We’re just not a great team right now,” Meyer added.
Also true.
Ohio State has things to fix, but if an autopsy was performed on the Buckeyes’ first loss of the season, it would reveal the most classic of upsets: The better team lost because it made crucial mistakes and allowed its opponent to hang around long enough to steal one.
“We just didn’t get our jobs done up front,” senior center Pat Elflein said.
PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions moved into the rankings for the first time since 2011.
They had gone four full seasons without being ranked, the longest string of seasons without a ranking since they made their first poll appearance in 1940. They are No. 24 this week.
It’s the program’s first ranking without Joe Paterno as coach since 1954.
WEST VIRGINIA: The Mountaineers (6-0) moved up two spots to No. 10 in the rankings, their best showing since 2012.
That team with Geno Smith and Tavon Austin was undone by a faulty defense and ended up finishing the season unranked after peaking at No. 5 in early October.
These Mountaineers have the secondbest defense in the Big 12 and rank 32nd in the nation in yards per play at 5.14.
FRESNO STATE: Fresno State fired coach Tim DeRuyter on Sunday after the Bulldogs dropped to 1-7 in his fifth season.
After winning the Mountain West title in each of his first two seasons at Fresno State, DeRuyter’s teams struggled once star quarterback Derek Carr left for the NFL.
Offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau has been named the interim head coach. The Bulldogs host Air Force on Friday night.
DeRuyter went 30-30 at Fresno State, but was 20-6 his first two seasons. The Bulldogs won a combined nine games the past two seasons. They lost Saturday 38-20 at Utah State.