The Penn State football players filed into the visitors’ media room at Ohio Stadium, one by one, staying for a bit to talk to reporters then leaving.
Each of them sat down, justifiably disappointed after losing to the second-ranked Buckeyes, 28-17.
It wasn’t the score, exactly that made things painful, but more the nature of the game. The ninth-ranked Nittany Lions went down 21-0, and then, in an extremely unlikely turn of events, battled all the way back to 21-17 only for Ohio State to pull away again at the end.
The loss eliminated Penn State from contention in the Big Ten East and almost certainly the College Football Playoff.
And yet, despite the heartbreaking loss, the Nittany Lions were asked how, with their starting quarterback injured and down 21 points to one of the best teams in the country, they were able to mount the near-comeback they did.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth did his best to muster up the words to describe his team’s comeback effort, but it was clearly hard to think about.
“I guess we proved that we’re tough and resilient and stuff,” Freiermuth said.
The tight end finished the game with six catches for 40 yards and was arguably Penn State’s most potent weapon in an otherwise lackluster passing attack. But he spent the last seconds of the game slumped on the bench with a towel draped over his head as the seconds ticked away on the clock.
Eventually, in his postgame interview, his front fell away,
“It just stinks,” Freiermuth said, pausing to gather himself. “It was tough not to come out with the win, but we’ll learn from it and go from there.
“... Nothing really to describe it like. It’s just not a good feeling.”
Safety Lamont Wade, a Clairton alumnus, had a career game. He finished with 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, a fumble recovery and tied a Big Ten record with three forced fumbles.
And then, afterward, Wade stood up in front of his teammates in the locker room and told them how proud he was of their fight.
“It feels like my heart got ripped out of my chest,” Wade said. “But one thing I told them guys is the only thing that’s holding my tears back right now is how hard we fought, and we didn’t give up. So like I said, it hurts, but me being proud of those guys in the locker room is helping.”
That’s a message that might take hold in the coming days and weeks for the rest of the Nittany Lions.
Even Wade acknowledged that no matter how the game was contested, losing feels the same.
It doesn’t matter that backup quarterback Will Levis came in after starter Sean Clifford’s injury in the third quarter to lead Penn State to a touchdown within minutes. It doesn’t matter that the Nittany Lions followed that up by forcing a turnover, scoring another touchdown, forcing another turnover and kicking a field goal to pull within four.
It doesn’t even matter that Penn State was the first team to put a real scare into Ohio State this entire season. The Nittany Lions still came up short.
So when they were asked about the fight of their team after the game, each of the players complimented their never-say-die attitude. None, however, allowed any room for interpretation on whether that near-comeback softens the blow any.
“No, we still lost,” guard Mike Miranda said. “We didn’t win, so it’s gonna suck.”
Added defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos: “You’ve gotta figure out a way to win sooner. Third quarter’s too late to turn it around. You’ve gotta get out from the start. We should have started faster. Offense and defense.”
Maybe, in the offseason, Saturday’s game will be the kind that players and coaches can point to as an example of just how close Penn State is to breaking into the upper echelon of the conference and the national landscape.
But that doesn’t help now. After nearly fighting all the way back, the Nittany Lions saw their goals slip away at the hands of the Buckeyes, who truly are the cream of the crop, both in-conference and nationally.
So it was hard, in the moment, for Penn State to point to any specific lessons learned. Except for the obvious.
“You learn that you’ve gotta have your brother’s back in times of adversity,” Gross-Matos said, “and that this isn’t the year for us.”
First Published: November 24, 2019, 2:18 p.m.