Ohio State fell from the ranks of the unbeaten Saturday night.
It was rather surprising, this 24-21 loss at Penn State, but the Buckeyes really only have themselves to blame for the outcome. Ohio State held a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter before surrendering 17-unanswered points in the fourth.
We'll get to the reasons why later on in this week's version of Stock Up/Stock Down. The Buckeyes hadn't had too much go wrong through the first six games of the season, but Saturday exposed quite a few flaws — both old and new. We've praised them plenty, but Ohio State will be represented in the stock portion of this week's report.
Elsewhere around the Big Ten it was, well, another week of football. Michigan State lost its fifth-straight game, Nebraska had to mount a second-half comeback against Purdue and Rutgers experienced heartbreak.
Let's dive right in and look at this week's Stock Up/Stock Down, shall we?
Stock Up
Penn State's Defense
It was really a solid, all-around performance at all three levels for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State got to Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett for six sacks — five of which came in the second half. The Nittany Lions welcomed back a pair of linebackers — Brandon Bell and Jason Cabinda — who combined to make 31 tackles on the evening. Penn State's defensive backs blanketed the Buckeyes' wide receivers for the majority of the evening.
This year's Penn State team was one viewed by most as more of an offensive threat than a defensive one, which was different that the last few years. The Nittany Lions were stout defensively in their upset win.
Clayton Thorson — Northwestern quarterback
The Wildcats have won three in a row as the prep to come to Columbus and there might not be a hotter quarterback in the Big Ten than Thorson. The redshirt sophomore has nine touchdown passes over the last three games — versus just one interception — and he's coming off a 285-yard, three-touchdown performance in Northwestern's 24-14 win over Indiana on Saturday.
A lot of attention surrounds Justin Jackson, the Wildcats' star running back, but Thorson has emerged as a legitimate threat himself over the last few weeks.
Stock Down
Ohio State's Offensive Line
For the first time all season, the Buckeyes looked like they were replacing three starters up front. The biggest issue here, of course, is this came in the seventh game of the season — not the second like it did back in 2014.
Ohio State's offensive line simply didn't get the job done in the loss to Penn State. The Nittany Lions had six sacks, 11 tackles for loss and limited Ohio State to just 4.2 yards per carry. That includes a 74-yard touchdown run by Curtis Samuel, of course, so it's even more impressive when you consider Mike Weber was held to just 3.4 yards per rush and J.T. Barrett averaged only 1.5.
The Buckeyes simply must improve up front going forward and do it quickly.
Ohio State's Special Teams
It's certainly odd to see an Urban Meyer-coached team perform so poorly on special teams, but the Buckeyes cost themselves quite a bit with their performance Saturday night.
Meyer spends an inordinate amount of time coaching special teams, so for Ohio State to have both a punt and a field goal blocked was rather stunning. The latter of which Penn State returned for the game-winning touchdown.
Kirk Ferentz — Iowa head coach
Coming into the season, Iowa taking a step backward seemed like a strong possibility. The Hawkeyes were about the flukiest 12-0 team in recent memory a year ago and I just didn't see how that repeated itself this season.
After Saturday's loss to Wisconsin, Iowa sits at 5-3 on the season. One of those losses is to an FCS team. With Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska still left on the schedule, 6-6 is out of the question for Kirk Ferentz's team.
I included Ferentz here not because of his team's loss to Wisconsin — I kind of expected that, but for what he said after the game. I'm not even going to try to explain it, so just check it out for yourself.
This man gets paid many millions of dollars to coach football. pic.twitter.com/fiTU50BYVu
— MakeIowaAwesomeAgain (@PV_GIA) October 22, 2016
Welp.
