WEEK TWO
-RIVALRY GAME-
.....
PENN ST. NITTANY LIONS (0-0, 0-0)
VS.
#12 OHIO ST. BUCKEYES (0-0, 0-0)
Four years of heavy NCAA penalties saw a once-proud program falter, failing to win more than seven games in any single season in that time frame. Hoping to get back to business in 2016, the Nittany Lions opened the season on the road against their former conference rival, who has managed to assemble arguably one of the best rosters in college football history.
Penn State never stood a chance.
Led by senior quarterback Cardale Jones, the Buckeyes faced little resistance in their season opener, racking up over 500 total offensive yards and five touchdowns in a lopsided 44-10 victory. Jones was nearly unstoppable on the day, completing 22 of 36 passes for 401 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. His biggest target was senior tight end Ben Petty, who had an incredible ten catches for 194 yards and a touchdown, while go-to receiver T.J. Ramsour caught five balls for 147 yards and two scores. With the passing game facing little resistance, Heisman hopeful runningback Brionte Dunn received little play but still made an impact, rushing for 47 yards and two touchdowns off 11 carries. Defensively, the Buckeyes recorded three sacks and an interception, while holding the Nittany Lions to just ten points despite giving up 443 total offensive yards. With the first win of the season under their belt, the Buckeyes will stay at home next week to host FCS Midwest before hitting the road in week four to face their first true challenge of the season against the Oklahoma Sooners.
On the other side of the ball, junior quarterback Anthony Williams had a decent outing, completing 53% of his 28 passes for 265 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Sophomore wide receiver Michael Brown led the receiving corps with three catches for 104 yards and a score, while senior tight end Brent Wilkerson caught five balls for 72 yards. Senior runningback Akeel Lynch rushed for 108 yards off 20 carries for an average of 5.4 yards per touch, but the offense as a whole could not sustain drives long enough to reach the endzone. The lone bright spot on the defense came from senior Greg Mitchell (MLB), who recorded 11 tackles and two sacks. But the team's experienced secondary allowed 400 passing yards, and the Buckeyes managed to score 31 points in five redzone trips.
The loss was a painful wake-up call for the team, but there won't be any time to dwell on what could have been. Next week, the Nittany Lions will open up their Big East conference schedule when they make the short trip across the state to face off against the Pittsburgh Panthers, who suffered a shocking 44-41 loss to Central Michigan in their season opener. Led by seniors Chad Voytik (QB) and Connor Crane (WR), the Panthers will be just as anxious as their opponents to secure their first victory of the year, and start their quest for a Big East title on the right foot.
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></head><body><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn" width="575"><tr class="masthead"><td align="center" colspan="6">Penn State Nittany Lions at Ohio State Buckeyes</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="48%">Sep 3, 2016</td><td align="right" width="10%">1ST</td><td align="right" width="10%">2ND</td><td align="right" width="10%">3RD</td><td align="right" width="10%">4TH</td><td align="right" width="12%">SCORE</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Penn State Nittany Lions (0-1, 0-0)</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right" class="active">10</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td><span style="color:#CC0000;">#12</span> Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0, 0-0)</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">17</td><td align="right" class="active">44</td></tr></table><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn spacer" width="575"><tr class="masthead"><td colspan="3">Team Stats Comparison</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="60%"></td><td align="center" width="20%">PSU</td><td align="center" width="20%">OSU</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Total Offense</td><td align="center">443</td><td align="center">537</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Rushing Yards</td><td align="center">178</td><td align="center">136</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Passing Yards</td><td align="center">265</td><td align="center">401</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">First Downs</td><td align="center">17</td><td align="center">25</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Punt Return Yards</td><td align="center">0</td><td align="center">30</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Kick Return Yards</td><td align="center">106</td><td align="center">56</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Total Yards</td><td align="center">549</td><td align="center">623</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Turnovers</td><td align="center">1</td><td align="center">0</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">3rd Down Converstion</td><td align="center">7-15 (46%)</td><td align="center">4-11 (36%)</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">4th Down Conversion</td><td align="center">0-2 (0%)</td><td align="center">1-1 (100%)</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">2-Point Conversion</td><td align="center">0-0 (0%)</td><td align="center">0-0 (0%)</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals</td><td align="center">1-0-0 (0%)</td><td align="center">5-4-1 (100%)</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Penalties</td><td align="center">14-81</td><td align="center">5-30</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Posession Time</td><td align="center">28:43</td><td align="center">31:17</td></tr></table><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn spacer" width="575"><tr class="masthead"><td colspan="4">Scoring Summary</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="2">FIRST QUARTER SCORING</td><td align="right" width="10%">PSU</td><td align="right" width="10%">OSU</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">6:52</td><td width="70%">(OSU) TD: Brionte Dunn, 1 yard run</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">7</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">4:32</td><td width="70%">(PSU) TD: Michael Brown, 58 yard pass from Anthony Williams</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">7</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="2">SECOND QUARTER SCORING</td><td align="right" width="10%">PSU</td><td align="right" width="10%">OSU</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">14:37</td><td width="70%">(OSU) FG: Jeremy Ortiz, 33 yard kick</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">10</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">8:55</td><td width="70%">(OSU) FG: Jeremy Ortiz, 38 yard kick</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">13</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">4:59</td><td width="70%">(OSU) TD: Ben Petty, 3 yard pass from Cardale Jones</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">20</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">0:20</td><td width="70%">(OSU) TD: T.J. Ramsour, 49 yard pass from Cardale Jones</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">27</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="2">THIRD QUARTER SCORING</td><td align="right" width="10%">PSU</td><td align="right" width="10%">OSU</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">10:17</td><td width="70%">(PSU) FG: Pat Smith, 40 yard kick</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">27</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="2">FOURTH QUARTER SCORING</td><td align="right" width="10%">PSU</td><td align="right" width="10%">OSU</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">12:30</td><td width="70%">(OSU) TD: T.J. Ramsour, 12 yard pass from Cardale Jones</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">34</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">7:41</td><td width="70%">(OSU) FG: Jeremy Ortiz, 43 yard kick</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">37</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">0:27</td><td width="70%">(OSU) TD: Brionte Dunn, 1 yard run</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">44</td></tr></table></body></html>