Nittany Lions’ rushing woes continue against Ohio State
COLUMBUS, OHIO — Penn State’s struggles on the ground continued Saturday night at Ohio Stadium.
The Nittany Lions netted just 33 yards on 29 attempts (1.1 average) in their 33-24 loss to Ohio State.
They dropped to 114th in rushing out of 130 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 108.1 yards per game. They’re averaging 92.2 yards in five Big Ten games, 12th in the conference.
Penn State was able to mix the run with the pass on its 89-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, but was shut down for most of the night.
Even without Ohio State’s four sacks for 22 yards, the Lions gained 55 yards on 25 carries. Their longest run was an 11-yard burst by Noah Cain late in the second quarter.
“We didn’t get any explosive runs,” Penn State coach James Franklin said, “but I thought we were much more efficient in our run. We were able to keep it mixed in there to keep them honest.”
Red zone defense
Penn State’s defensive success inside the red zone continued against Ohio State.
The Lions held the Buckeyes to one touchdown on six trips inside the 20-yard line, TreVeyon Henderson’s 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Ohio State moved inside the 15 three times and settled for field goals.
“I think we did a really good job,” defensive end Arnold Ebiketie said. “We fought hard. There’s a lot of good things we did.”
Wide receiver Jahan Dotson tipped his cap to his teammates on defense, who held the best offense in the country to more than 16 points below its season average and to a season-low 466 total yards.
“They played very well,” Dotson said. “We knew that was going to happen. We have one of the best defenses in the country. We knew they were going to play them very tight. We just wanted to put some points on the board for them to stay in the game and keep them off the field.
“We were able to do that. We came up a little short.”
Dotson on the run
Dotson, the Nazareth High School grad, scored the first rushing touchdown of his career when he took a direct snap from the 2-yard line in the third quarter.
Dotson followed blocks by tight ends Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren and reached for the pylon with his right arm for the touchdown.
Franklin said it was a play that was installed last week.
“That was a good call,” quarterback Sean Clifford said, “to get our best players the ball. Jahan’s got speed and that’s what we were going for on that play. He beat the guy to the end zone.”
Passing numbers
Clifford completed 35-of52 passes for 361 yards and one touchdown, tying a school record.
He matched the record for completions in a game, which Matt McGloin set in 2012 against Northwestern. His 52 attempts were the fourth-most in school history.
Dotson set a career high with 11 catches for 127 yards, giving him 19 receptions for 271 yards in his last two games against Ohio State.
Parker Washington had nine catches for 108 yards and joined Dotson as the first set of Penn State receivers with at least 100 yards in two games in the same season since DaeSean Hamilton and Geno Lewis did it in 2014.
“Sean played very well,” Dotson said. “He made the plays that we knew he could make. He was able to connect with me, Dre (KeAndre Lambert-Smith), Parker and the tight ends on many plays.
“We know we’re a very explosive offense, which we showed today. It’s just capitalizing on little things that the defense gives us.”
Time for Maryland
Penn State’s game at Maryland on Saturday will start at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised on FS1, it was announced late Saturday night.
No times have been scheduled yet for the Nittany Lions’ final three games against Michigan, Rutgers and Michigan State.