STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – When James Franklin paces around the practice field during the week and barks out different scenarios for his team to execute, it’s safe to say the four-minute offense will be one of those situations this week.
“That’s something that over our years has been a struggle for us,” quarterback Trace McSorley said Saturday night following the Lions’ 39-38 loss to Ohio State. “Just treating it like any other situation and maybe just like two minute. We’ve been solid in two minute, go down and do what we do, run our offense and maybe we need a little bit more work in four minute in situations in practice so we can just get used to kind of playing against that mentality with our backs against the wall, with the defense’s back against the wall on us and kind of having to keep pushing and pushing. That’s where you really gotta grind out yards.”
The one-point loss that dropped the Lions from No. 2 to No. 7 in this week’s AP Poll had plenty of areas where blame could be directed, but the four-minute offense, one where the Lions needed to move the ball and pick up first downs to milk the clock was one of the biggest problems. Penn State’s inability to protect a five-point lead on a drive that started with the Lions at their own 15 with 4:14 left in the game resulted in a drive that took just 67 seconds off the clock and netted minus 4 yards.
“We go out there and get a few first downs that game is over,” tight end Mike Gesicki said. “We weren’t able to do that.”
It magnified Penn State’s struggles in the run game, and it of course didn’t help that starting left tackle Ryan Bates wasn't on the field in the fourth quarter, resulting in redshirt freshman Will Fries moving from left tackle to right tackle and reserve Chasz Wright lining up at right tackle. Still, this four-minute fiasco is far from a new problem for Penn State.
In the Rose Bowl loss, Penn State had a seven-point lead when it got the ball back with 3:56 left in the game and used five plays to gain 10 yards, taking 1:57 off the clock and failing to deliver the knock-out score. Both times a gassed Penn State defense was put back on the field and surrendered the decisive touchdown.
“The four-minute situation, as a running back, that’s what you live on and you’ve got to find a way to get a first down, keep the sticks moving, whatever you gotta do – if you’ve gotta make one guy miss, two guys miss, find the hole,” Saquon Barkley said. “We weren’t able to do that – I – wasn’t able to do that.”
But despite being a Heisman Trophy candidate whose stock likely dipped a little bit after this showing behind a porous line, Barkley isn’t Superman. If Penn State can’t give him room to run, it really doesn’t matter who is back there.
Going against a strong Ohio State front that whipped Penn State in the trenches on both sides of the ball, the four-minute situation is about owning the line of scrimmage and draining the clock. This is where the inconsistencies in the run game showed. After Barkley was dropped for a loss of seven yards on the first play of the four-minute drive, Ohio State could tee off with the Lions pinned back to their own eight yard line.
“Everybody in the stadium knows it’s four minute, everybody knows who is getting the ball and everybody knows the mindset of the offense,” wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins said. “It’s kind of one of those things that everyone in the stadium knows what’s gonna happen and you gotta go out there and get the Xs and Os right, and that’s something we have to look at and see what we have to do right.”
McSorley was spot on about the Lions being fine in the two-minute drill, the one where the team’s urgency and efficiency led it down the field to survive a near upset at Iowa last month. Penn State’s coaching staff met on Sunday like usual to review the game and make corrections and surely when it hits the practice field again on Tuesday the four-minute situation will be worked on again.
“We’ll come out in practice and coach puts all these situations out there: Two minute, third down, red zone, backed up, four minute, he tries to rotate those in as much as possible in all the situations that will happen so it’s hard to cover them all,” McSorley said. “We might see a couple more four-minute periods in practice now where we’ve gotta hold onto the ball for three minutes and kill the clock out.”
THE BIGGER ISSUE
I mentioned it above and it’s worth passing along again. While many fans were irate with Penn State’s play calling – a usual culprit after a loss – in many regards this game made it clear that Penn State’s issues up front kind of leave it with its hands tied.
What can Joe Moorhead call when there’s pressure in his quarterback’s face and no room for his star running back to move? Barkley had 21 carries for 44 yards, including a long of 36. That indicates he spent most of his night going backwards where he also lost 36 yards.
What does a coordinator draw up with a 3rd and 19 with under 3:30 left and his team backed up in their own territory? The Lions talk about getting to third and manageable and in the 4th quarter they faced 3rd and 17 (failed), 3rd and 13 (converted), 3rd and goal at OSU 3 (failed), 3rd and 19 (failed) and 3rd and 15 (failed). Penn State went 1 of 5 on 3rd-down conversions in the fourth quarter. What they did on first and second certainly didn't lead to desirable distances on third down. There are certain flaws that teams can hide, but in the trenches this team just couldn't hang on.
I was surprised Penn State didn’t go with a heavy dose the direct snaps and motion stuff that we saw against Michigan and also did use any of the two-quarterback looks that they’ve used earlier this season. Having to settle for the field goal in the 4th quarter is a drive that will be talked about for a long time as it let the door open for Ohio State.
"Had a chance to take the air out of the stadium," McSorley said.
There were plenty of chances, much like turning the J.T. Barrett fumble recovery into points. Instead it led to the blocked punt.
Neither of Penn State’s coordinators will be made available to the media this week, the usual procedure as it rotates through one assistant or coordinator per week.
EXPLOSIVE PLAY TRACKER
Penn State lost the explosive play battle for the first time all season. It’s a key stat that Franklin points to every week, but after surrendering 12 chunk plays to the Buckeyes – including eight receptions of 15-plus yards – the Lions lost this statistic, 12-7.
Now, part of these statistics is a little flawed given that Penn State had a Barkley kick return for a touchdown and another long return that led to a short field after the Koa Farmer return. But these numbers were not pretty for the Penn State defense.
Seven of Ohio State’s eight receptions of 15-plus yards came in the second half. That’s by far the most Penn State gave up through the air in a half this year. For some perspective, the Lions surrendered a total of seven receptions of 15-plus yards in the previous four second halves of games combined.
The Lions gave up six receptions of 15-plus yards the previous week against Michigan, so eight is a new season-high surrendered for the Penn State defense.
On the flip side, the Lions didn’t surrender an explosive rush in the second half, giving up all four rushes of 12-plus yards in the opening half. However, as the Lions’ defense was worn out and couldn’t generate a pass rush it only hurt the secondary as they were hung out to dry.
Ohio State’s rushes of 12-plus yards (4): +14, +18, +21, +23
Ohio State’s receptions of 15-plus yards (8): +36, +24, +24, +19, +38, +18, +20, +16
Penn State’s rushes of 12-plus yards (3): +36, +12, +23
Penn State’s receptions of 15-plus yards (4): +37, +20, +22, +21
Seven explosive gains for the Penn State offense is a season low.
ON THE INJURY FRONT
While Ohio State fans stormed the field, defensive end Ryan Buchholz tried to make his way to the locker room on crutches and with his left foot in a boot. Buchholz was carted off the field and while Franklin doesn’t discuss injuries unless they’re season ending, surely Buchholz’ availability will be a focal point of Franklin’s Tuesday news conference. Shaka Toney, Shane Simmons and Yetur Gross-Matos were used more without the versatile Buchholz.
Left tackle Ryan Bates was hurt in the third quarter and came back the following series with his right ankle heavily taped. However, he didn’t come back out as Wright and Fries stayed in at left tackle and right tackle for the fourth quarter. The Lions can’t afford to miss the biggest piece to their offensive line so that’ll also be a point of interest this week.
WHAT IF...
Penn State played a tougher non-conference schedule? I'm bringing this up because of the Lions' resume and yeah, they don't have any particularly strong wins on there, but I also don't think this season will do anything to deter them from altering their future scheduling strategy.
They want a marquee non-conference opponent about once every five or six years and scheduling is done so far in advance that really there's no way of telling if even Virginia Tech, Auburn, West Virginia or whoever else they have lined up is going to be a ranked opponent 10 years out when the games are actually played. For the time being, should Penn State finish 11-1 and not make the Big Ten title game, there's no way its getting into the Playoff based off of its schedule.
Michigan is no longer ranked, Iowa, unless it upsets Ohio State, is not going to do Penn State any favors and the remaining slate of Michigan State (OK, that helps a bit since they're ranked, but they're 24th so not exactly highly-touted and they could fall out of the rankings by the end of the season), Rutgers, Nebraska and Maryland won't give the committee much pause.
I get what Penn State and so many other schools do with scheduling and this is in no way me saying I'm against it, but this could be one instance where the ramifications of Saturday's one-point loss really comes back to bite this team as it's left wondering if it indeed has the talent to run with these elite teams but let one quarter derail their national title hopes.
WHAT’S NEXT?
I’ll be heading out to Michigan on Friday ahead of Saturday’s game against Michigan State that kicks at noon. It’s been a while since Penn State has had one of those starts, but I’ll gladly welcome it after the stretch of late games.
As always, Penn State's players are off Monday and Franklin meets with the media Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.