Nittany Lions face toughest test against No. 1 Ohio State

Someday, there may no longer be a quarterback controversy at Ohio State – but that day probably won’t be Monday. But he wisely chose to switch to Barrett as the quarterback for the entire 100-yard field in the second half and the team responded with a dominant performance which resembled that of last year’s national championship team.

It’s nearly as if Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was toying with Penn State to a few degree, continuing to play starting quarterback Cardale Jones. If Barkley can’t go, Nick Scott and Mark Allen could split time.

“I think early in the game, there was a touchdown that got called back for a penalty, I think that was a significant play in the game at that point”, head coach James Franklin said.

“(Hubbard) did a great job”, Meyer endorsed. “Our defense was playing well and our offense was moving the ball, but we went able to capitalize”. Besides his touchdown catch from Barrett, the highlight of the night for Miller came late in the first quarter when he made a diving reception for 17 yards on a pass from Jones.

Most of those yards were picked up on two completions, a 45-yarder on Penn State’s first possession of the game and a 56-yard gain on the first play of the second half.

Again, with all due respect to Jones, Barrett has earned at seeing what he can do for a full game. But the Nittany Lions eventually lost in double overtime, 31-24.

Despite that, Meyer still hasn’t named Barrett the starter. Instead, the Lions came out of the locker room, and three plays later, made it a two score game. “We’re going to work our (rear ends) off to get a lot better”.

On the first Barrett-led drive, OSU started at its 26 and ended with a 39-yard field goal by Jack Willoughby after the Buckeyes advanced exactly to the 20 and no further.

“That’s because he’s a running threat down there”, Meyer said on why the play worked. For the second year in a row against a good Penn State defense, Ohio State barely passed, but it had success in the running game. Barrett was clearly the star in the 38-10 victory by OSU as he followed up the jump pass touchdown with a “fade, back-shoulder touchdown pass”, according to ESPN announcer Kirk Herbstreit.

Everything you need to know about the Ohio State vs. Penn State online live stream and TV broadcast, as well as game notes and prediction. Harris also hit McGee for a 19-yard score to pull the Gators within 21-14 with 1:35 left in the first half. He has seven touchdown passes and two interceptions.

While the stats do show that Hackenberg was 3 for 4 for 64 yards and a touchdown after halftime, those numbers don’t show that he was sacked five more times, including twice on key fourth-down tries in Buckeyes territory. His running – four carries, negative-16 yards – was a non-factor. “We just have to settle down more and play our responsibilities better but they’re definitely more dynamic with him in there”.

Freshman Saquon Barkely seemed to be emerging as Penn State’s top tailback, but injured his right ankle and foot against San Diego State and has missed the last two games.

■ Sure, it’s one position that was sort of left for dead after the NCAA’s ill-fated sanctions against Penn State, but it’s still pretty unbelievable the Nittany Lions have not been able to develop a reliable punter since Anthony Fera left for Texas before the 2012 season. It’s not entirely clear exactly what kind of system Penn State offensive coordinator John Donovan is trying to run, but it is overwhelmingly clear that Christian Hackenberg is not the right guy to run it.

“The quarterback runs are equalizers”, Meyer said.

The good news was that Penn State got only one touchdown and Ohio State had five sacks, led by Adolphus Washington with two.