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Penn State struggles to contain the Buckeye offense 'OH MY GOSH' LORI SHONTZ | B L U E WH I T E c O N T R I B U T O R No one could quite explain it. Not defensive end Sean Stanley, who burst into the backfield on a third- and-goal, taking a running back who was supposed to be blocking for Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller completely out of the play. Not linebacker Gerald Hodges, a Butkus Award semifinalist, who had a bead on Miller. Next thing he knew, Miller was in the end zone. "I don't know how," Stanley said. All he could do was grin, a little sheep- ishly, as he struggled for a better ex- planation. Any explanation. Hodges had to grin a little, too. "He's not a Superman, but he's a great ath- lete." The Nittany Lions couldn't contain Miller, and they couldn't contain the Buckeyes. By the numbers, it didn't look terri- ble. The Buckeyes passed for only 143 yards, Michael Mauti made a career- high 13 tackles, Stanley made a ca- reer-high seven tackles, and Hodges led the team with 14 tackles, his sev- enth career game in double digits. But when it mattered, the defense didn't come through. "We missed tackling Braxton," cor- nerback Adrian Amos said. "Penalties. I think we had like three facemask penalties. It was just a lot of things keeping their drives alive. And when you keep good offenses on the field, they make plays." And the Penn State defense spent a lot of time on the field. Through three quarters, Ohio State held the ball for nearly 27 minutes, compared to just over 18 for Penn State. "It was a hurry-up offense," line- backer Glenn Carson said. "And I think maybe a couple of guys got tired out there and just blew assignments. … It was a combination of a bunch of things. Every play, there was just a guy or two out of place." The Nittany Lions entered the game HIGH PRESSURE Glenn Carson said Ohio State's hurry-up offense might have tired out Penn State's defense, leading to blown assignments. Jonh Beale with the second-stingiest rushing de- fense in the Big Ten, but gave up nearly double their average: 234 yards to the Buckeyes. Miller finished with 134 yards and two touchdowns rush- ing. He also threw for 143 yards and an- other touchdown. Although the play everyone will remember is the 1-yard touchdown run. "We work on that," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. "We have a drill. Make seven people miss, dive across and hold the ball. I was on field level so I couldn't see it. The conversation on the headset was, 'Oh my gosh.' " Ohio State also converted on eight of 16 third-down plays. "We had our op- portunities to get off the field," Mauti said. "We just didn't execute when we had to." O c T O B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 7 GAME GRADES QUARTERBACKSMatt McGloin was ha- rassed by Ohio State's blitz, and while he threw for 327 yards, he also had a very costly pick-six. GRADEC RUNNING BACKS Penn State's inability to get its running game going was prob- ably the decisive factor in the game. GRADEC- RECEIVERS The Lions made some tough catches – Matt Lehman's 19-yarder in the second quarter was a beauty – but also dropped a few. With McGloin under heavy pressure, the receivers didn't have a lot of opportunities to shine. GRADEC OFFENSIVE LINE Penn State didn't get much push and had a tough time keeping the pocket from collapsing on McGloin, giving up four sacks. GRADED+ DEFENSIVE LINE The Nittany Lions came hard after Braxton Miller. Worked pretty well in the first half. Didn't work so well in the second. GRADEC LINEBACKERSGerald Hodges and Michael Mauti combined for 27 tackles, and Mike Hull blocked a punt. But the Lions couldn't get off the field in the second half. GRADEC+ DEFENSIVE BACKS Stephen Obeng-Agyapong missed a chance at a pick-six in the first quarter, but the passing game wasn't what hurt Penn State. Miller only had seven completions. GRADEB SPECIAL TEAMS Penn State's oft-criticized special teams were responsible for the first score of the game, a blocked punt for a touchdown. Alex Butter- worth also did a nice job keeping Ohio State pinned deep. GRADEB+ COACHES The Lions committed nine penalties and looked ragged at times. You can certainly question some of those calls, but Penn State just didn't play a sharp game against an oppo- nent that looked highly beatable a week earlier. GRADEC CROWD Nearly 108,000 fans turned out, the second-largest crowd in college football this season. The student end zone may not have been full for warm-ups, as Bill O'Brien had wanted, but the stadium was rocking 45 minutes before kickoff. GRADE A B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M

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