Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/90346
Matt McGloin's pick-six spoils his otherwise productive performance FROM OUT OF NOWHERE LORI SHONTZ | B L U E WH I T E c O N T R I B U T O R Matt McGloin didn't see him. Didn't even look. All through the first half, he said, Ohio State outside linebacker Ryan Shazier had peeled off to match up with a running back. This time, however, three plays into the second half, Shazier stayed home. "He probably shouldn't have been there," McGloin said. But he was, and he ended up a lot closer to the ball than McGloin's intended receiver, Alex Kenney. The result: an interception return for a touchdown. Said McGloin, "I don't know if he knew the play was coming, read my eyes or what." The interception was just McGloin's third of the season, but it brought back memories of the last time he faced an Urban Meyer-coached team – the 2010 Outback Bowl. He threw five interceptions against Florida in that game, and it could have been more. This game wasn't more of the same. Statistically, McGloin played well, completing 27 of 45 passes for a ca- reer-high 327 yards and two touch- downs. He tied Kerry Collins with a Penn State record four 300-yard games, and he joined Collins as one of only two Penn State quarterbacks to throw for more than 200 yards in six consecutive games. But both of the touchdowns and 126 of the yards came in the fourth quar- ter, when the Buckeyes had the game in hand. And McGloin didn't control the game as he had against so many other teams. With the Nittany Lions unable to establish the running game – they averaged only 1.1 yards per carry – and unable to pick up Ohio State's blitzes (McGloin was sacked four times and hurried several others), their offense never got into the rhythm that it had established over the past five games. "We can only be successful throwing Jonh Beale the ball if we run the ball, and we def- initely struggled running the ball today," McGloin said. "You're going to have those days, and I need to step up and I need to make my plays when that's happening." Offensive lineman Mike Farrell said he wasn't sure whether the Buckeyes were having more success from their four-man rush or their blitzes. (Like everyone else after the game, he stressed the need to "look at the film" to fully understand what had hap- pened.) "We knew they had a solid defensive line and they wanted to outwork us," he said. "We just tried to neutralize them and outwork them. For stretches of the game we were able to do that, and they got their chances as well. Definitely not a complete game that we want to play." McGloin said the Buckeyes did a O c T O B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 6 good job of mixing up their blitzes. "There were definitely some things that were unexpected, some things that we didn't see on tape," he said. "But you've got to make those adjust- ments." Penn State also false started several times and had what McGloin called "miscommunication" that gave the team problems. "It happens through the course of the game when you have our type of offense," he said. "The crowd is a factor sometimes here. Overall, just the crowd. That's it." Coach Bill O'Brien said he wasn't concerned. He took the blame for an offensive game plan that didn't quite work, and he wasn't concerned about McGloin's costly interception, either. "The guy made a great play," he said. "Matt will learn from that. He will come back and work really hard to improve." B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M EYES DOWNFIELD McGloin finished the game with a career- high 327 yards, but he tossed a pivotal interception that was returned for a touch- down early in the third quarter.