Penn State Football: Positional report card for Week 5 loss to Ohio State

A frustrating loss for Penn State football to Ohio State will likely leave Penn State out of the College Football Playoff once again.

Penn State had momentum and every reason to win on Saturday night. A record-breaking crowd packed out Beaver Stadium in white to create an atmosphere that is like no other in college football.

The team came out strong to start the game and outplayed Ohio State  in almost every facet of the game except for punting. Then, Ohio State capitalized on a turnover late in the second quarter that changed the entire landscape of the game, giving them hope for a comeback.

Ohio State did come back and win the game, and just like struggling to finish drives early in the game, Penn State failed to finish off Ohio State. Penn State is more talented and had every opportunity to win, but they did not execute throughout the game, especially in the fourth quarter.

Here are grades for every position group from Saturday night.

Special Teams: C+

Blake Gillikin punted the ball eight times and averaged 37.9 yards per punt. His average was brought down by a punt early in the game that only traveled 19 yards. He had a very nice punt that landed at the four-yard line,  but Ohio State unfortunately overcame that poor field position to score on that drive.

A missed field goal by Jake Pinegar was another play that could have gone another way and changed the game entirely. Penn State did only lose by one point.

The return game was not as effective as expected for Penn State.  On punt returns, DeAndre Thompkins was very ineffective and made some questionable decisions on whether or not to call for a fair catch. He finished with four returns for negative three yards, and Hamler had one return for 10 yards. Kickoff returns were not impressive either since Hamler had three returns for only 47 yards.