I thought that the key to the game was PSU exploiting a few key match-ups. As Herbstreit mentioned, PSU looked for Hamilton every time he was checked by a safety. He killed us. If you watch our film, you know that McCray cannot cover a speedy back like Barkley out of the backfield. If the rush doesn't get home, McSorley could lob the ball out to a wide open Barkley. Re: PSU's zone reads, we picked our poison and made sure to get numbers to Barkley, and we did stuff him a bunch. But, in the second half, McSorley started keeping the ball and found lots of running room. That hurt us. On one TD run, the replay showed the defense reacting hard to Barkley, leaving McSorley room to weave his way into the end zone.
These match-ups, IMO, accounted for many of PSU's big plays and overcame our defense.
These match-ups, IMO, accounted for many of PSU's big plays and overcame our defense.
