The Penn State Nittany Lions' inability to get over the hump against their biggest Big Ten rivals, Ohio State and Michigan, continues. On Saturday, James Franklin's team, entering the matchup at The Horseshoe against the Buckeyes with matching undefeated records, left with its first loss of the season.
Outside of containing Marvin Harrison Jr., the defense had a great day limiting Kyle McCord and the Buckeyes offense. Unfortunately, first-year starter Drew Allar had even more troubles of his own against the Ohio State front.
However, some Penn State fans couldn't help but feel that the refs at Ohio State's home stadium weren't a bit favorable of the home team.
Sure, the final tally shows that Ohio State was penalized six times for 54 yards while Penn State only had five flags on them (accepted, at least) for 32 yards. However, with some key no-calls, some potentially game-changing calls against them, and so on, Nittany Lions fans were getting heated and ready to blame the refs for the loss.
Penn State fans livid over refs in loss to Ohio State
With this game in Columbus and the way the officiating transpired, it's no surprise that Penn State fans were red with anger over the way the refs handled the proceedings.
For what it's worth, there were a number of calls against Penn State that even the most ardent Nittany Lions fans couldn't argue with -- most notably on Ohio State's first touchdown drive in the first half.
Having said that, there were several instances where it seemes as if the Buckeyes could've been called for a penalty, but the refs kept the laundry in their pockets. Even with that, however, it's hard to absolve Franklin's team, Allar in particular, of all blame given how stunted the offense was throughout Saturday's matchup, including notching just one third-down conversion for the game.
That won't stop the cries of this game being rigged emanating from Happy Valley, though. And though it wasn't the sole reason for the loss, the officiating definitely didn't help matters.
