BWI Live: Penn State falls short in the biggest test of the year

The Penn State Nittany Lions lost their first game of the season on Saturday afternoon when they went to Columbus, falling to Ohio State. It was all down to the Penn State offense. The offense struggled to move the football all day, breaking their 30-point game-scoring streak. The Penn State defense once again kept the team in the game, holding the explosive Ohio State offense to ten points through three quarters. 

Join the BWI Live postgame show to discuss the game. Want to be part of the show? Drop your comments in the live chat to get your voice heard. We’ll cover the team’s issues on offense, the defensive performance from the Nittany Lions, and how Ohio State allowed the Nittany Lions to stick around in the game. 

Penn State offense fails to convert 

The story of the game for the Penn State Nittany Lions was that they couldn’t convert on third down. The team finished the game 0-15 on third down. Penn State had been a methodical offense that stayed ahead of the chains all year. But against Ohio State, that plan melted down. 

It was another sub-standard road game for quarterback Drew Allar as well. The sophomore quarterback got off to a rocky start; then the offense failed to protect him, with multiple pressures up the middle that forced throwaways. Allar ended the game under 60% completion percentage on the road for the third time this year. 

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We’ll cover what the Ohio State defense did to stop the Penn State attack in its tracks and force the offense into bad passing situations. 

The offense had one final gasp in the middle of the fourth quarter when head coach James Franklin elected to go for it on fourth down just shy of the 50-yard line. Allar was hit by Ohio State defensive end JT Tuimoloau, and the ball fell incomplete. The Buckeyes marched down the field for the nail-in-the-coffin moment.