Penn State’s defense ‘could not cover’ Ohio State WR tandem in road loss
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State secondary failed to contain Tate and Smith, yielding multiple explosive plays.
- Lack of pass rush and inconsistent coverages let Sayin connect on several deep balls.
- Coaches adjusted schemes and emphasized doubles, but Penn State could not execute.
Penn State went into the locker room at the half against Ohio State down just three points. It had been burned once already by the deep ball to Carnell Tate, but the Nittany Lions had mostly limited the damage partly due to a crucial turnover.
But on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Julian Sayin threw it 57 yards to Tate, and from there on, Penn State had no answers for the Buckeyes’ passing attack Saturday. Tate finished Ohio State’s 38-14 win with 124 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore phenom Jeremiah Smith had 125 yards and two scores.
Sayin’s 316 passing yards were the most surrendered by Penn State in nearly two years, since Dec. 30, 2023, when Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart threw for 379 yards in the Peach Bowl.
“Credit to those guys,” interim head coach Terry Smith said Saturday during the postgame. “They’re the two best guys in the country, just watching these guys live. And I don’t mean it disrespectfully to the past Ohio State receivers, these two are better than all of them, and those guys are all good. So they put it on film, and they were outstanding today. We could not cover them.”
Smith emphasized this week how crucial it was to not let Jeremiah and Tate get behind Penn State’s defensive backs. He said Wednesday his plan was to “put an umbrella” over them, only allowing a few yards here and there.
It’s safe to say the umbrella folded under pressure, as Sayin had five passes for over 20 yards including three for over 45. After the loss, Smith attributed the defensive backfield struggles to “a combination of things.”
“Lack of pass rush, lack of DBs covering. There’s times we’re in man; there’s times we’re in Cover 3,” Terry said. “It was a point of emphasis. It was keys to victory. You cannot let them beyond you.”
Penn State tried various things to stop Jeremiah and Tate. None of them worked, even though the Nittany Lions knew exactly what the duo is capable of. Safeties coach Anthony Poindexter even had an animated message, according to the Fox broadcast, on guarding Jeremiah, saying, “You gotta double him. ... Do whatever it takes against him.”
Terry said Wednesday that Tate was the explosive -play guy for Ohio State. When the Buckeyes want to take a shot, they scheme it up for him, and that’s exactly what they did against Penn State. There was never the possibility on either of Tate’s deep ball catches that a Nittany Lion could make a play.
“When we get the chance with the right cover, the coaches say ‘we gotta take our shot,’” Jeremiah said postgame. “We don’t get too many of those. Today we got a lot of them, so we gotta take advantage.”
Safety Zakee Wheatley said as defensive backs they need to do a better job. Saturday was the second time this season Jeremiah and Tate both went for over 100 yards, and it was an out-of-character afternoon for a Penn State defense that had been struggling in the run game, but had the nation’s fifth-best passing defense.
“There’s no excuses,” Wheatley said. “(Covering receivers) is what (the cornerbacks) signed up for. That’s what I signed up for, being a safety, and we gotta come out here and be ready to compete.”
Wheatley said he felt as though defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who previously coached the Buckeyes, had a great gameplan. But clearly something wasn’t working for the Nittany Lions.
“They’re two talented receivers,” Wheatley said. “They got speed, they got size and catch the ball. Anytime you got a combination like that, you know it’s a challenge coming into that week.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM.