Joel Klatt blasts Penn State for underutilizing key players vs. Ohio State
Joel Klatt was on hand to call Saturday’s top-10 game between Penn State and Ohio State. He called that game and watched as Ohio State’s defense suffocated the Nittany Lions in a 20-12 win.
As a part of his Monday breakdown of the game, Klatt admitted Penn State does not have the wide receiver room needed to compete in big-time games. However, he also believes the Nittany Lions can get their explosive production from other talented pieces on offense.
“When I look at Penn State, they don’t have the wide receivers that I think you need to at this point. But that’s not exactly where it has to come (from),” said Klatt. “Everyone’s like ‘They don’t have a WR like Marvin Harrison Jr.,’ but it’s not just about having a WR like Marvin Harrison. It’s having an out pitch like Marvin Harrison. Your out pitch can be a lot of things… You have to have a player or an element on your team that can take you to the next level. What is your out pitch?
“Penn State didn’t show it or they don’t have it, and I refuse to believe that they don’t have it because they have some really talented players on that side of the ball.”
Klatt pointed to Penn State’s tight end group and the dynamic RB duo of Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton as “underutilized” in the game. In particular, Klatt believes Singleton and Allen are the best players on the offense, but the coaching staff did not do enough to put them in a position to succeed against the Buckeyes.
“When you’re facing another great team, your great players have to play great football. Then, you have to put them in positions to impact the game as a coaching staff,” Klatt explained. “Penn State, like I’m watching this game and they thought they could just roll in here, play their base offense and beat Ohio State on the road. That wasn’t going to happen.”
“When you’re facing another great team, your great players have to play great football. Then, you have to put them in positions to impact the game as a coaching staff.”@JoelKlatt discusses what went wrong for Penn State vs Ohio State ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fagaYJGc0W
— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) October 23, 2023
Penn State faces Indiana this weekend, and it’s unlikely the team will need to dial up a lot of crazy plays to beat the Hoosiers. However, we’ll soon find out if the Nittany Lions learned anything from Saturday’s loss in games at Maryland and home vs. Michigan down the road.