And now, 20 Final Thoughts from Week 10, when eight ranked teams had the week off. They got to sit at home and watch nearly half of the other ranked teams go down.
1. Amid a season of unprecedented change in college football, one tradition remains alive and well: Penn State losing to Ohio State.
The teams entered the game trending in opposite directions. The third-ranked Nittany Lions were undefeated, while the fourth-ranked Buckeyes’ prior two games were a road loss to Oregon and a near-disaster against Nebraska. Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) even spotted James Franklin’s team an early 10-0 lead thanks to Will Howard’s pick six. Didn’t make a difference.
For all the optimism generated by first-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, Penn State (7-1, 4-1) went from scoring one offensive touchdown in last year’s 20-12 Ohio State loss to none in this year’s 20-13 defeat. After star tight end Tyler Warren ran around the end for 33 yards to get down to the 3-yard line with 6:47 left, he never saw the ball again. Drew Allar handed off to Kaytron Allen up the middle three straight plays, then threw incomplete into the end zone on fourth-and-goal at the 1, and Ohio State ran out the final 5:13.
