Some people liked the decision, some didn't, but Penn State's players loved having a chance to go for it on fourth down Saturday at Ohio State.
"We loved the call," fullback Michael Zordich said. "We were all about the call. We were actually begging for [the coaches] to make that call."
Even those who agreed with interim coach Tom Bradley's decision to go for it, however, may not have liked the play call of Silas Redd going over the top from the 1-yard line. Redd came up short, the same result as the previous three plays as the Nittany Lions failed four times trying to run right up the gut.
Penn State was having success getting to the outside using the wildcat, but it didn't try that once at the goal line.
The Lions were leading, 20-14, in the third quarter at the time and squandered an opportunity after getting first-and-goal at the 2. The failure didn't hurt them as they won by that score, but they probably can't afford to come up empty in those kind of short-yardage situations and expect to beat Wisconsin on Saturday.
"When it didn't happen, it was on us," said Zordich, who carried on first and second down but gained only 1 yard before quarterback Matt McGloin was stuffed on a third-down keeper. "It had nothing to do with the play that was called or who called it. It had everything to do with the guys who were in the game, and we didn't get it done.
"We can't put that blame on the coaches. That was all on us."
It all comes down to execution, Zordich added, and in short-yardage situations, execution comes down to leverage.
"After seeing the film, all of us, we need to work with our leverage," Zordich said. "Usually we're down real low and we're able to shoot off the ball and get under the guy. But Ohio State did a good job of staying real low to the ground, and they were able to get under our pads, and it was hard to get any lift because we were so high up."
