The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s 44-31 loss to Ohio State

Sean Clifford finished doling out hugs and congratulations to various Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday afternoon after Penn State’s 44-31 loss and made his way to his teammates to sing his school’s alma mater. The Nittany Lion quarterback found his way to his brother, Liam, and took a knee. Not long after he rose to both feet and received a hug from his brother.

The Nittany Lions began to sing and Sean bowed his head, seemingly contemplating what just unfolded. He wiped his eyes as they remained fixated on the grass under his feet, eventually lifting them as the song came to a conclusion before disappearing into a sea of blue uniforms trotting down the tunnel.

Sean was not solely responsible for the loss, but his four turnovers played a major role in the game.

“The game starts and ends with the turnovers,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said. “We knew with this type of opponent we were going to have to be able to score points on them. They’re explosive on the offensive side of the ball. They’re explosive on the defensive side of the ball. We played our tail off, but we made too many critical mistakes.”

The head coach may not have mentioned his quarterback in that quote, but he was the only Nittany Lion who turned the ball over. At least one of those wasn’t Clifford’s fault, and maybe two, but he’s at the very least responsible for two of the interceptions for not utilizing different angles or putting enough touch on the passes to get them where he needed them.

The Penn State quarterback said he plans to learn from Saturday’s game like he does every other game.

“Looking at the mistakes, growing on what happened that was good, and making the adjustments off the corrections that we need to make,” he said.

Good

Penn State’s defense: Some will put all of blame on the defense for the fourth quarter, but I don’t think it was the only reason things went wrong. But let’s start with the first three quarters.

Ohio State had 16 points entering the game’s final quarter, and seven of those were on a 41-yard drive as a result of one of Clifford’s interceptions. The defense was shutting down one of, if not the, best offenses in the country. The group was flying to the ball and making plays that halted Ohio State’s drives before they could get started.

Things changed in the fourth quarter, with the Buckeyes scoring 28. Well, seven of them were off a Clifford pick-six, and seven more were on a 24-yard drive because of a Clifford fumble. So really the group gave up 14 points in the last 15 minutes. Giving up 30 points might not seem great, but Penn State was going up against one of the most talented groups it will see all year and had about as much success as anyone could against it.

Parker Washington: I mean, wow. Parker Washington was terrific. He was the best wide receiver on the field Saturday. Well, second best. Marvin Harrison Jr. also played. But still, that’s high praise for Washington that he was on that level. He was Penn State’s entire offense for stretches of the game, making acrobatic catches to bail out the offense in crucial situations and making plays with the ball in his hand after the catch.

Washington finished with 11 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown against the Buckeyes, and made that happen in big spots. His balance and lower body strength allowed him to stay on his feet when Ohio State defenders tried to bring him down, and his speed let him run away from them. Washington is now stacking high level performances and is quickly proving to be the top target in the Penn State offense.

Offensive changes: I was fairly surprised by what I saw from Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. It was as if the Nittany Lions were holding back in their first half of the season and unveiled what the unit really wants to be this week. Now, maybe this was just what it wanted to be against Ohio State, but if I were running that group this would be the goal in every game.

Penn State ran more quick game than it had all season and used formations with tight ends in the backfield to get the running game going. The tight ends are good enough to make that work because they can also run routes out of the backfield so the defense can’t assume a run is coming. Screens, one-read passing plays and tight end involvement should all be a priority for Penn State moving forward as long as Clifford is the quarterback.

Sean Clifford in the middle stretch: Presumably, this is why Sean Clifford can frustrate fans. We’ll get to what went wrong later, but what went right was phenomenal when it was happening. Clifford was getting the ball out quickly, involving receivers and tight ends on screens and allowing them to go to work in the open field. He was making good decisions on when to throw the ball away and when to tuck it and run.

Things were going great in the middle portion of the game. He even made some big throws down the field, one that was on the move as Theo Johnson came open down the sideline and another that fell incomplete but drew a pass interference penalty because there was a reasonable chance it was going to be a touchdown. As always, Clifford was helping Penn State quite a bit when he was playing well.

Bad

Defense in the fourth quarter: Like I said, I don’t know how much of the fourth quarter is on the defense, but at least some of it is. The two primary drives it’s at fault for were not good and the first one is the drive that got the ball rolling for Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions had just taken the 21-16 lead and before they knew it the advantage was gone. Ohio State took all of three plays to waltz 75 yards down the field in 35 seconds and retake the lead. A TreVeyon Henderson 41-yard touchdown capped off the drive that was the Buckeyes’ most explosive of the afternoon.

The defense also receives 100% of the blame for the backbreaking touchdown that all but ended the game. The offense had just earned a field goal to make it a one possession game, but Ohio State answered with a 75-yard drive that lasted 2:57 and made it a 13-point game with only 2:52 left on the clock. The defense could have done more late to at least give the offense a chance.

Ryan Day’s play-calling: I just needed to address this. I have no idea why Ohio State was hellbent on running the ball. The passing game had been dominant for the most part, yet Day continually called for runs in situations that could have been crucial. If I’m being honest, Ohio State may have had this thing in hand much earlier had Day just called for C.J. Stroud to pepper his receivers with opportunities down the field.

I can’t tell you how many times I saw Harrison Jr. have an ideal matchup on the outside, only for Henderson to get a carry and gain minimal yardage or lose some. Day is an excellent offensive coach, one of the best in the country. But Saturday afternoon, or at least the early portions of it, were not his best work.

Ugly

Sean Clifford in the beginning and end: The elephant in the room. Clifford has been so good at times, like in the middle of Saturday’s game. But he has been so, so bad at others. Like at the beginning and end.

Clifford threw two interceptions early on. One looked like he forced an attempt to running back Kaytron Allen with a receiver running open behind him. The other was tipped at the line and picked off. Some will excuse the latter, but as Franklin said postgame, he has to find ways to get the ball out and over or around defensive linemen.

The last two turnovers were a fumble and interception late. The fumble was flat out not on Clifford. The pick, however, was thrown at Ohio State’s J.T. Tuimoloau and just required a leap to come down with. The best quarterbacks go with a side arm throwing motion and get the ball out there, or pump fake, readjust and make the throw. The roller coaster ride that is Clifford’s sixth year continued Saturday afternoon, for better and for worse.

This story was originally published October 30, 2022 at 11:55 AM.

Jon Sauber

Centre Daily Times

(814) 231-6461

Jon Sauber covers Penn State football and men’s basketball for the Centre Daily Times. He earned his B.A. in digital and print journalism from Penn State and his M.A. in sports journalism from IUPUI. His previous stops include jobs at The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA, and Rivals.