Another year, another Penn State football loss against Ohio State. Last time, offensive ineptitude was the dagger in a 20-12 loss. It wasn’t any different this time, as Penn State lost 20-13.

Penn State’s offense never found the end zone. The Nittany Lions squandered several opportunities to do so, including a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter.

“You can’t have the ball inside the five-yard line twice and come out with no points,” James Franklin said. “We’ve got to find ways to manufacture points and yards. There’s no doubt about it.”

Penn State trailed 20-13 but drove down the field in the fourth quarter. A 33-yard play by tight end Tyler Warren set the Nittany Lions up at the Buckeyes’ three-yard line. Kaytron Allen received a handoff for no gain, then for one yard, and then another. On 4th-and-1, Drew Allar threw an incomplete pass intended for Khalil Dinkins, Warren’s understudy.

Franklin didn’t give a definitive answer on whether or not Penn State considered involving Warren on fourth down. Warren has arguably been the best player on the team, with 559 receiving yards, 40 rushing yards, 26 passing yards, and six total touchdowns before facing Ohio State. Against the Buckeyes, he had four catches for 47 yards and three carries for 47 yards. However, Allar said he tried to find Warren.

“It was basically just a pass, we wanted to get it to Warren, the safety or nickel did a good job of playing over the top of it and driving. It would have been a bang-bang play short of the goal line, or incomplete,” he said. “Then I was looking to [Dinkins], we just didn’t connect on it.”

Warren said the Nittany Lions “zoned it off” during the play. Once the ball hit the ground, though, Ohio State took over from a precarious position. Franklin said he hoped that if unsuccessful in going for it on fourth down, his defense could’ve forced a stop or safety, which would’ve been another chance to regain possession and win the game with three timeouts and the clock ticking.

Instead, Ohio State drained the clock by running the ball to seal the deal. Penn State’s unusual failure to capitalize on offense throughout the game was why that late-game sequence was so crucial.

“What I do know is we made a lot of simple mistakes on offense,” offensive lineman Sal Wormley said. “There were a lot of things that we don’t usually do.”

Penn State averaged 439.5 yards per game, but it only had 270 against Ohio State. It averaged 187.5 rushing yards, but only picked up 120 this afternoon.

Penn State’s struggles throughout the game were magnified in the fourth quarter, though. The Nittany Lions only had 74 total yards, which is 30 fewer than Ohio State. Even worse, it only had 43 rushing yards compared to Ohio State’s 78 despite having one of the better backfields in college football. At the end of the day, the Nittany Lions couldn’t get it done on offense, which sealed an eighth consecutive loss against Ohio State.

“That’s a huge key and obviously, we’re supposed to score touchdowns from that three-yard line,” Warren said. “That’s on us with the offense.”