The Ohio State Buckeyes covered the spread and largely dominated against the Penn State Nittany Lions in a 38-24 win at the "Shoe" in Week 10. It was not, however, a perfect performance from Matt Patricia's group on defense.
As Cleveland.com's Andrew Gillis noted, there were correctable mistakes made in the trenches, particularly on one half of the field. Defensive end Kenyatta Jackson and linebacker Arvell Reese were called out by name.
"The Nittany Lions ran an effective toss play a few times right at Ohio State’s right side of the defense, and directly at defensive end Kenyatta Jackson. Penn State’s offensive line held up well for the majority of the day against a Buckeye pass rush that struggled to get pressure without blitzing, or when linebacker Arvell Reese found himself one-on-one," Gillis wrote.
"Ohio State’s offensive line had a rough first half, and even with some improvements at halftime, had some holes poked in the front five that will need to be rectified long term."
It may seem like nitpicking from Gillis, but this was a glorified practice run for the Buckeyes. OSU is closing in on the College Football Playoff soon, and with increased competition comes the fear that a couple of slip-ups defensively could be the margin between a win and a loss.
Heck, even losing to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Championship Game would be a bad omen for this team, one that's chasing perfection. Not since Nick Saban retired has a head coach looked as in charge of a budding dynasty as Ryan Day right now. Blowing that with a few 50-50 plays would be a tragedy.
Matt Patricia's defense continues to hold every opponent under 20 points
The biggest story coming out of the win was that Ohio State has held yet another opponent under 20 points this season. After ceding 14 in the first half, it appeared the Buckeyes' streak was coming to an end.
Not this week. Only so many teams in college football are capable of putting up 20 on Patricia's unit.
The Nittany Lions are not one of them.