COLUMBUS, Ohio — Observations and notes on Ohio State’s 31-24 double overtime win over Penn State after watching the TV broadcast. • The officials struggled all night. We’ve written about the blown call on Vonn Bell’s first quarter interception, there was also Sean Nuernberger’s second quarter field goal that came nearly three seconds after play clock expired. For some reason, there was confusion among the officials at the start of overtime on which side the teams should stand on during the coin toss. There are always missed calls and officiating miscues, but it seemed there were more than normal on Saturday night. Here’s another penalty that went uncalled, a false start on Ohio State tackle Taylor Decker one play before the Buckeyes’ first touchdown. • Jalin Marshall made some interesting decisions on punt returns. He fielded one on the 4-yard line and was dropped for a short return. He tried to play another punt after first waiving it off, then grabbed one with one hand near the sideline in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Marshall played a bouncing ball while running backwards that could’ve ended in disaster with a Penn State player breathing down his neck in what was then a 10-point game. • The Buckeyes offense never seemed like it could get in sync, and struggled communicating the right signals in with the crowd noise in Beaver Stadium. Communication issues led to some broken plays, including this one where Marshall and Michael Thomas were blocking when J.T. Barrett looked to throw their way. • Penn State knew coming in that quarterback Christian Hackenberg wouldn’t have much time to throw, so the Lions had a lot of designed movement for Hackenberg and some short, quick throws…
Continue Reading: Ohio State football QB J.T. Barrett shows his mettle, rough day for officials: Buckeyes TV Rewatch
