The Nittany Lions quarterback analyzes a loss to Ohio State

STATE UNIVERSITY | Penn State quarterback Drew Allar walked out of Ohio Stadium last year blaming himself for the Nittany Lions' 20-12 loss. Allar had more perspective Saturday at Beaver Stadium The Nittany Lions' 20-13 losstheir eighth straight win for the Buckeyes. But he wasn't getting any better.

“I feel the same way,” Allar said. “It sucks to lose.”

Allar had a trying day against an Ohio State defense that took away his receivers, tight end early and stifled his running game, placing the outcome squarely on his shoulders. He finished the game 12 of 20 for 146 yards and a game-winning interception in the end zone late in the first half. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, he also failed to complete a fourth-down pass in the end zone that could have decided the game.

Allar's long week, which included treatment obvious knee injury He held out at Wisconsin, finishing with four snaps inside Ohio State's 3-yard line but without a touchdown. Allar had one word to say about his health: “Good.” Of that final pass play on 4th-and-1, Allar said he thought it was going to be it.

“It was basically just a pass,” Allar said. “We wanted to bring it to Ty Warren. The safety or nickel did a good job of playing over it and pushing it forward. It would have been a bang-bang play short of the goal line or incomplete. So I looked.” to (Tight End Khalil) Dinkins We just couldn’t find a connection.

That was an issue. Allar couldn't make contact with his receivers, who either didn't get separation down the field or didn't come out of their breaks cleanly enough. Running back Nicholas Singleton had Penn State's first five receptions. The receivers finished the game with three catches, two by Tre Wallace. And after Wallace's best catch of the game, a 24-yarder late in the second quarter, Allar tried to get back to him on the next play.

However, Ohio State's Davison Igbinosun didn't allow consecutive completions and ripped the ball out of Wallace's hands for an interception in the end zone. The interception was initially found to be incomplete and was awarded after review.

“I thought a one-on-one opportunity for Tre, and I just have to do a better job of hitting him or not hitting anyone,” Allar said.

The quarterback, who ran 10 times for 31 yards, also declared a second-down play on Penn State's final series. The Nittany Lions had a 2nd-and-goal from Ohio State's 3-yard line and looked to get on their game quickly. However, Allar said that this did not happen.

“We were in our 'sugar' or 'ambush' huddle and usually the (referee) tells me they're going to stop us because we made (a substitution),” Allar said. “They didn’t tell him and it kind of affected us because we sprinted to the line. That's not how we want to play this game, so I tried to tell them (the coaches on the sidelines) that Hey, I had no warning because we always talk about it, release the referee and then handle the game. But for some reason there was no communication there and that’s all.”

Meanwhile, Ohio State defensive end JT Tuimoloau said the Buckeyes had “a lot of great communication out there.”

“We expect everything on the goal line,” Tuimoloau said. “We're just making everyone aware of the plays we saw on film and keeping everyone on their toes and not getting complacent. Once complacency creeps in, a lot of things can go wrong. But you know, there’s a lot of communication, a lot of great physicality in it, and I’m proud of that.”

Allar tried to change course after the game, citing his confidence in Penn State's response to the loss.

“I have faith in our process, I have faith in our coaching staff, I have faith in Coach (James) Franklin, the leader that he is, I have faith in Coach K (offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki), the leader that he is “and I know the defense will be just fine with Coach (Tom) Allen at the helm,” Allar said. “I think it’s just our resilience. We have demonstrated this in different ways throughout the year. “Obviously we didn't get the result we wanted, but it's another test on the way for us and you can react in two ways.” You can react negatively and point the finger at yourself, or you can reflect on yourself and see what you could have done better, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

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