5 takeaways from Penn State's 33-24 loss at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Penn State fought hard and covered on Saturday night at Ohio State.

Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, that did not equal an upset victory on the road.

The Buckeyes amassed 466 yards, scored on a defensive touchdown, and did enough on defense to secure a 33-24 win in front of a sold-out Ohio Stadium crowd clad in scarlet.

Here are our takeaways.

What a performance by Penn State off of arguably one of the worst losses in program history.

The defense played tremendously, the offense found its groove at times, and there was no quit from James Franklin's bunch when there were numerous opportunities to.

All of that effort wasn't wasted, but at the same time, it wasn't enough to overcome just too many mistakes on the road. The Lions did win the big play battle 10-8 and had three fewer penalties than the Buckeyes but also lost the turnover competition. Ultimately, the key metrics James Franklin tracks were close, but 10 Buckeyes points off three turnovers, two of which were made by quarterback Sean Clifford, were the difference in the final score, and that undoubtedly is going to sting this group for quite some time.

There are no moral victories for college football fans, but members of 'Nittany Nation' should at least feel somewhat better about things after seeing this performance tonight.

It does leave us with one question, though: How, exactly, did this team lose to Illinois at home?

That was a Mike Yurcich quote from earlier this year when asked to discuss his veteran quarterback during a media availability.

The offensive coordinator was certainly telling the truth.

Sean Clifford turned out to be healthy enough to do everything this offense needs him to do after that wasn't the case against Illinois. He was mostly accurate, constantly found open receivers, and even ran the ball a bit and moved the pocket. It was exactly what the Nittany Lions needed from the senior, and he delivered in a big way.

It's true that his second half interception hurt plenty, as did his fumble that Jerron Cage returned 57 yards for a touchdown, and the Lions couldn't move the ball enough in the end as many expected. But, No. 14 gutted through it and finished 35 of 52 for 361 yards in addition to a touchdown toss and interception.

Let's not go any further without giving credit where it is due to Yurcich.

The first-year play caller put together a mostly masterful performance from behind his headset. The Lions had at least a few important runs for the first time in a long time even if it netted a rather disgusting 33 yards on 29 carries, thanks in part to some improved receiver blocking, and he constantly picked plays that attacked Ohio State's vulnerable secondary in the middle of the field. The full house T-backfield that led to Keyvone Lee's third quarter touchdown was sweet.

A former OSU assistant, Yurcich smacked plenty of proper buttons for most of this game, and it kept the Nittany Lions in it when no one thought that would be the case.

Credit to him and the attack for putting together a game plan that was much better than what we saw against Illinois. But, unlike the last three week's, the offense ultimately couldn't score enough to win.

There is no question that Penn State's defense bent a fair amount in this one, but holding that offense to 30 points is something few teams had done previously this season, especially in Columbus.

Ohio State was only five of seven in the red zone and kicked three field goals as a rush unit that was absolutely gashed last week against Illinois mostly stood up to the Buckeyes' Treveyon Henderson in short yardage situations. He finished with 152 rushing yards, 68 of which came on one carry.

Some penalties were costly by Brent Pry's group, but overall, it gave the offense an attainable target to strike at on the road.

The Lions are still amid a three-game losing streak, moral victories aside, and that's painful for a program that prides itself on winning.

There were positives to take away from this game, and let's be frank, few expected this to be within nine points by the time it was over. Franklin's team showed up and put it all on the line, but as expected, they weren't good enough to win on the road against this caliber of opponent in the end.

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