What’s happened to Penn State’s defense? Justin Fields and Ohio State dominate on the ground and through the air

STATE COLLEGE — When the Big Ten finally released the conference’s eight-game schedule for 2020, Penn State was staring at plenty of trouble in the month of October.

The Nittany Lions drew a difficult 1-2 punch at the start — a road opener at Indiana followed by a Halloween home opener with no fans against powerful Ohio State.

Losing both contests was possible.

Now it is a reality. And one has to wonder when James Franklin’s defense is going to recover.

After the Lions (0-2) let down late in the overtime loss to IU, allowing that regulation touchdown and then the eight points on the Hoosiers’ only overtime possession, they looked completely overmatched against Justin Fields and the third-ranked Buckeyes in a 38-25 loss Saturday night at Beaver Stadium.

Facing an offense that has NFL-caliber players at just about every position, Penn State’s defense allowed a touchdown just three plays into the game, and then got pushed around to the tune of 526 total yards.

Fields was spectacular, airing it out for 318 yards and four scores. He only threw six incompletions in 34 attempts and just missed a fifth touchdown pass.

Penn State’s defense got little pressure on Fields, who was protected by one of the top offensive lines in the country. The Buckeyes (2-0) converted 10 of 18 third-down attempts and added two fourth-down conversions in three attempts.

“Defensively, we really couldn’t get them off-schedule,” Penn State coach James Franklin said afterward.

“With a quarterback like (Fields) and their offensive personnel, not getting them off-schedule was going to be challenging (for us). … We did not win the line of scrimmage today.”

Fields leaned on his top two wideouts, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, who each went over 100 yards for the second consecutive game. Olave caught seven passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns — down-the-field plays of 26 and 49 yards.

Wilson, who took a sweep 62 yards on the first play of the game, caught 11 passes for 111 yards.

And when the Buckeyes wanted to run it, they turned to 225-pound back Master Teague, who carried 23 times for 110 yards and a score.

The Lions’ defense played well for three quarters at Indiana and only allowed 211 yards. But the defense that struggled vs. the Hoosiers in the fourth quarter and in overtime was the defense that showed up against Ohio State.

Two games, 74 points allowed, and two losses. The 2020 team clearly misses All-American linebacker Micah Parsons, who opted out to get ready for the NFL draft.

But that doesn’t explain why the defense, especially the front seven, got manhandled by the Ohio State O-line for most of the game. The Buckeyes kept the ball for 37:01 and almost every time the visitors needed a play, Fields made it. And he made it look easy.

Penn State’s offense had plenty of issues Saturday night. The Lions couldn’t run the ball (1.6 yards per attempt) and quarterback Sean Clifford absorbed a beating from Ohio State, collecting most of his 281 passing yards in the second half after the Buckeyes had built a 21-6 lead.

But this defense, even without Parsons, was supposed to be one of the best units in the Big Ten. The Lions have some talented linemen and two quality cover corners in Joey Porter Jr. and Tariq Castro-Fields.

Yet PSU looked lost against Ohio State.

Penn State’s dream of a top-10 finish went out the window Saturday night. And maybe a winning season is no longer a sure thing.

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