Penn State suffered their sixth straight loss to Ohio State yesterday, though this one ended up even more lopsided than most of the previous five. The outcome has some wondering whether the Nittany Lions have a massive talent gap with their Big Ten rivals.
But if there is a talent gap between the two Penn State head coach James Franklin didn’t notice it on Saturday. Speaking to the media after the game, Franklin dismissed the question and made it clear that it was Penn State’s mistakes and turnovers – not a gap in talent – that decided the game.
“They got good football teams,” Franklin said, via 247Sports. “We played really well against Ohio State today. We had a chance to win the game, but we made too many mistakes at critical moments, which you can’t do against a top-ranked opponent like that.”
Franklin said that quarterback Sean Clifford needs to cut down on the interceptions. Other than that, he feels that the quarterback looked good.
“The game starts and ends with the turnovers,” Franklin said. “We knew with this type of opponent we were going to have to be able to score points on them. They’re explosive on the offensive side of the ball. They’re explosive on the defensive side of the ball. We played our tail off, but we made too many critical mistakes.
“… I thought he played gutsy and made some big-time plays, but he can’t have the turnovers. I don’t know if the one was necessarily his fault. It was a pressure and a strip sack. The other ones, whether we left the ball inside or whether he has to find the throwing lane around really athletic long defensive ends. I thought he played gutsy. He did some really good things, but there’s some things that we have to get cleaned up too.”
An argument can be made that Ohio State’s superior talent is what allowed them to force so many Penn State turnovers in the first place.
Still, Penn State had the Buckeyes on the ropes until their fourth quarter meltdown.
Is the talent gap between Penn State and Ohio State really that big?