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O c T O B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 12 long. We've got to get to the quarter- back." THE BIG HURT Injuries impacted Penn State's performance on both lines. Carted off the field on the game's first play from scrimmage, Ryan Buchholz could be seen walking off with his le> ankle/foot in a boot while also on crutches. Shareef Miller also got hurt on the defensive line in the second half, but was able to return to the game. Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the ball, the Lions' suffered a severe loss, as redshirt sophomore le> tackle Ryan Bates went down with what ap- peared to be a le> ankle injury at the 8:15 mark in the third quarter. Though Saquon Barkley picked up a first down on the play, the loss of Bates was a dev- astatingly bad break. He tried to return to the game, but his le> ankle and foot were wrapped heavily and he had to come back out, as redshirt freshman Will Fries moved to le> tackle and a still-hurting Chasz Wright filled in at le> tackle. "We lost a number of guys tonight who are good players for us. They ei- ther came out or were limited and tried to go back in and weren't able to get it done," Franklin said. "There's no doubt about it, we have better depth than we've had, but obviously when you're playing that type of opponent and you don't have your starters on your field and you're down a few more guys, it's magnified." Franklin offered no indication as to the injury status of any of the players lost in the trenches, nor the status of starting cornerback Christian Campbell. Camp- bell had to leave the game with an un- specified injury, but he later returned. THE BIG PICTUREA>er suffering its first loss in an especially painful fash- ion, Penn State is at a crossroads in its season. One positive sign for the Nit- tany Lions was that many of the pro- gram's veteran players were willing to shoulder the responsibility for the loss. Whether it was Barkley expressing disappointment at being unable to run the ball in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory, or Koa Farmer lamenting many of the coverage issues that pre- sented themselves against Ohio State's playmakers, or Franklin himself ques- tioning his coaching decisions, the Lions were unified in their determina- tion to bounce back. "We didn't play good enough at a lot of positions. I didn't manage the game good enough. I didn't call the game good enough. There's enough blame to be spread all around," Franklin said. "The reality is we didn't win the game against a really good opponent on the road and we've got learn from this and get better." –NATE BAUER All too often against the Buck- eyes, Barkley found himself trapped in the backfield. He fin- ished with only 44 rushing yards, as Ohio State over- powered Penn State's offensive front. Photo by Steve Manuel

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