Bulletpoints: Penn State
Thoughts on the Buckeyes' 38-14 win against the Nittany Lions.
- I think Ryan Day's next evolution as a head coach is avoiding the same trap mentality-wise that Urban Meyer fell into after all three national titles he won. I lead with this because a large part of last week and then the first half of the game itself had 2015 Ohio State "The Grind" fingerprints all over it. Day mentioned this game being a "war" in the leadup, which I get given the series history. I also think it becomes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy when a team as stacked as this one hears all week about how close things will be rather than trusting how great they are and just hitting the gas. That's why it was so aggravating that Ohio State only led 17-14 at half, despite severely outplaying Penn State. The Nittany Lions deserve some kudos for that, but the Buckeyes also couldn't get out of their own way. Penn State's tempo and shifting kept the defense off balance, while CJ Donaldson's fumble completely put the game on its head. To Day and the team's credit, they were on the same wavelength at halftime:
