Blue White Illustrated

P O S T G A M E R E P O R T W E E K 7 O H I O S T A T E 3 8 , P E N N S T A T E 1 0 O c T O B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m THE GAME AT A GLANCE GOOD NEWSSaquon Barkley returned to action after a two- game layoff due to an ankle sprain and didn't miss a beat. He finished with 194 yards to pace Penn State's offense. BAD NEWS The punt- ing was lousy, Chris- tian Hackenberg was hobbled for much of the night, and Mike Gesicki is just having a tough year. He could have really put the Lions in good posi- tion in the first quar- ter. But instead, he dropped a pass and a promising drive began to stall. THE TAKEAWAY The last time Penn State visited the Horseshoe, it lost by 49 points and was out of the game by halftime. The Lions still don't have enough play- makers to hang with a team as good as the Buckeyes for four quarters, but as Barkley's strong night proved, they're at least headed in the right direction. 1 N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m LOSING GROUND A powerful Ohio State running game proves too much for the Lions to handle COLUMBUS, Ohio - Hoping for the best, Penn State tried to convert a pair of critical fourth downs against Ohio State Saturday night. The host Buckeyes, backed by the second- largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history – many of the 108,423 fans dressed in head-to-toe black – saved their cruelest work for the occasions. The first stop halted the Nittany Lions' offensive momentum in the second quarter of a 14-3 game and le? quarterback Christian Hackenberg hob- bled. The second stop le? the Lions without hope as they tried to fight back from a 24-10 deficit. Penn State hung in there with the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes throughout most of the evening, but it missed some chances while Ohio State was much more opportunistic and dealt the Lions a 38-10 loss. "We had real opportunities," Penn State head coach James Franklin said. "If you don't capitalize on the road against the No. 1 team in the country, you're going to have some problems." No doubt, the Nittany Lions (5-2 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) had major problems against the top-ranked Buckeyes (6-0, 2-0), who built their current win- ning streak to 20 games dating back to their 2014 national championship season. Running back Ezekiel Elliott was seemingly un- stoppable, carrying the ball 27 times for 153 yards and a touchdown to go along with his four catches for 21 yards. His quarterback teammate J.T. Bar- rett created equal amounts of havoc, eclipsing the 100-yard mark himself with 11 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Even former quarterback Braxton Miller got in on the action for the Buckeyes, car- ROOM TO RUN Barrett was part of an Ohio State of- fensive attack that produced 315 rushing yards against the Nittany Lions. Photo by Steve Manuel

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