I thought the patience by the coaching staff to stick with the running game and being willing to take the three yards a crack to keep the Penn State pass rush respectful of the run, was the key to the entire game. Every third down was manageable. Everything within the system, within the game plan.

Using Blankenship in the passing game was a needed change this season after last year him being non-existent in it. I loved getting him involved in that.

And the defense made great adjustments midway through the first quarter. They were not athletic enough out there. They got the extra secondary player out there and suddenly McGloin had to make tougher throws.

Ohio's coaches won the chess match on Saturday.

The D was solid all day.  Penn St's 2nd TD was not the D's fault; they'd been on the field most of the 1st half and had a very short field to defend.

I'd like to see the O mix it up more in the running game.  There wasn't a lot up the middle in the first half, but they rarely went outside.  The O line really came alive in the 2nd half and controlled the line play.

No worries about that D secondary.  They weren't burned deep (although they might've been once or twice if it weren't for dropped balls) and came up with a key pick at the end.  Liked Gerald Moore on the blitz and run defense.  He had a couple of nice tackles.

The RBs looked sharp for a season opener.  Blankenship was decent getting tough yards and came up as the go-to guy for passes on the edge.

The receivers were better than I thought they might be.  Thompson caught a couple with people all over him and Foster had some nice catches.  Need to be able to go deep more, tho.

The emotional aspect of the game played out pretty much as most everyone thought.  Lots of it in the 1st Q, but by halftime the crowd was sitting on its hands and the second half was pretty emotionless for even Penn St's players.

One down, eleven to go.  If they keep playing like this, it should be a great year.

Congratulations on a great win, from a Utah State Aggies fan.  This was no surprise for us.  You guys have a terrific program.  I'll be very surprised if you don't bring home the MAC championship and a bowl win this year.  I think we'll be going to the Potato Bowl this year, but I think you're headed somewhere else.  Too bad, I'd love to have another shot at you!

Go Bobcats!  Go AGGIES!

I was really hoping this was going to be about technical video/broadcast stuff.

Since Ohio had no film of Penn State's offense I was hoping to hang close till halftime so Ohio could make halftime defensive adjustments. boy did they! Really impressed how the Cats came out at halftime and dominated both sides of ball. Folks we have a solid staff here at Ohio.

So excited for next week.

While Ohio got lucky with that tipped touchdown, if the Bobcats don't make three errors on special teams with the blocked punt and two missed field goals, they coast.

That's good when the Cats win by 10 against Penn State and feel like they left points out on the field.

We really played a great game overall. That was an extremly tough atmosphere and the team found a way to hang in there during that first quarter until we got our feet wet. Tettleton was very good and didn't force things. He played like a veteran QB and let the game come to him. Liked how we keep pounding Blankenship.  He is a big physical back and that took its told on Penn State D-line. I think our receivers really stepped up in the second half. They caught a lot of big conversions. Penn State had good coverge but we found they open guys and moved the chains.  Excellent tacking by our defense. We avoided the big play and made them have to drive until they stalled.  defensive backs played well making tackles and avoiding big yards after catches. We got a lot of good receivers. They all stepped up today.  I think we may be deeper at receiver than last year.  Looked like 4 or 5 guys that could catch the ball and run with it.  Clark, Bussey, Foster and Futrell were big as was Smith with the yards after the catch for touchdowns.  Both offense and D-lines were great today. We won those battles and by the 4th quarter we were opening holes and and on the defense we got to the QB for some needed pressure. 

Kicking game was off today, but I'm sure that will give the coaches something to address in practice.  
Weller is a good kicker and he's been huge for us. Kick coverage was excellent today. We had Penn State pinned in poor field position on every kickoff. 

 

This right here tells the tale. Their success early on was due to our soft coverage. No tape = don't give up anything big early on, get an idea of what they're doing, and then make adjustments. Even going in down 14-3 at half, I wasn't super concerned, because you could really sense in that second quarter that we were starting to make the plays that we needed. But it comes back to experience. Our coaches and players had it and could make in-game adjustments as needed. Their's didn't, and this is the result.

My 2 cents:

- Agree with everyone about how well we were treated by PSU fans. Got so many "Welcome to State Colleges" before the game that it was almost unnerving. I thought the real test would how we were treated after the win. They came up aces there as well.
- I thought the stadium was lacking. Small video boards relative to other stadiums of that size. No auxiliary scoreboards. Never saw scores or game statistics on the scoreboard. Also was surprised to see the tailgating lots, other than the yellow lots, not very full.  
- Amazing what they did to the area where the Paterno statue was. They put a hill in with a bunch of trees on it. There was a makeshift memorial there on Saturday.
- While the crowd got loud at times, not really deafening. Didn't seem to impact Ohio at all.
- Very nice Bobcat Bash.
- Ran 88 plays (PSU had 70) at Penn State.
- Times were in these type of games that Ohio would find a way to hang around for three quarters or so. But they could never run the football (average around 2.0 YPC) so the defense would ultimately fade. Solich and staff have not built the line to the point where they can average 3.7 yards on 47 carries against what is probably going to be a good Penn St. defense. And it's not like we were exactly tricking them.
- Great adjustment on defense. Not sure whether it was the inexperience or giving PSU too much credit, but CBs were way off receivers. DBs came up and made McGloin beat them over the top and he couldn't. Things really seemed to tighten up when Bass/Wells were in and give credit to Carpenter for under-cutting some routes (and the tip that lead to the initerception that sealed the game).
- Ohio is going to be OK at the receiver spot.
- I just love how Solich and staff build depth. They are not afraid to put in a backup at any position on the field at any time. Helps you prepare for injuries and for 4th quarters (see yesterday).
- This Tyler Tetteton guy. I mean his numbers speak for themselves. But if you need a drive against BG or Utah St. or to go 93 yards at Penn St late in the 4th quarter, he's your guy. Watch other team's QBs (see Toledo v. Arizona) and you'll know how good we've got it.
- That last drive. 14 plays, 93 yards and 6:42 off the clock. 3 huge 3rd-down conversions on great catches by Jordan Thompson, Bakari Bussey and Landon Smith.
- Benefits of a walk-on program. K. Moore, Kristoff and Hasting all starters and combine for 12 tackles. Ryan Clark with 4 catches for 54 yards and was solid fielding punts.
- 1st down was run-heavy (24 runs, 11 passes). But it did set up the first-down pass, Ohio was 9-11 on those.
- If I'm doing the math right, Ohio was 12-for-13 on 3rd down conversiosn in the second half. Incredible.
- Thought Bill O'Brien made a tactical mistake at the end of the first half. Could have called a timeout with 40 seconds left and made Ohio punt. Especially since you had just blocked their last punt. The fans booed Ohio mercilessly for calling the TO with 3 seconds left. But Ohio had a chance for some free points with a Hail Mary or penalty so why not? The fans should have been booing O'Brien but maybe he's "not interested in calling timeouts".

Tettleton: I just kept thinking during the game that I trust TT will make the right decision and make a play. Can't say that I've felt this way about an Ohio quarterback since .  . . well since ever (not quite old enough to see Cleve play; unfortunately, I am old enough to watch him coach the Bobcats).

End of first half: reminded me of end of first half in Detroit in MACC game when, if I recall correctly, Ohio got conservative w/ a 20-point lead. I remember thinking this was a mistake and that Ohio should have attempted to add to the lead. Of course, we know how that turned out. Maybe we learned something from that December game v. NIU. Don't take any plays off.