Brian

It is revenge time for the fourth ranked Nittany Lions as they are slated to play the Indiana Hoosiers under the lights at Beaver Stadium this Saturday. Last season kicked off with one of the most heartbreaking and season disrupting “losses” when Indiana defeated Penn State by one point in overtime on a questionable two-point conversion from veteran QB Michael Penix Jr. We all know how the rest of that season went so there is little reason to rehash that.

Indiana has given Penn State a tough time in many games in recent history despite only coming up with that one win during Franklin’s tenure. Despite the #4 ranking Penn State holds and the 2-2 record Indiana currently has, this game should not be taken lightly.

Indiana still has many impressive veteran players on their offense and defense including all-conference worthy linebacker Micah McFadden. He came up with 11 tackles last year against the Nittany Lions and is third in team tackles this year already despite missing some time from a targeting ejection. Their defensive end Ryder Anderson is also having a nice season already with 4.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. The ground game, exposed as the one obvious weakness for Penn State last week, is going to have to get going in order to achieve some success in this game. It will be tough, but I am confident that last week was a hangover and that there will be some improved rushing success with more carries from Noah Cain and the emergence of John Lovett who seems to be the most explosive back in the room at the moment.

Indiana’s impressive defensive resume does not stop there however because they have an All-American cornerback in Tiawan Mullen who is bound to give Jahan Dotson some problems. I imagine that after the last few games Sean Clifford has had, Indiana will be respecting the passing game more than teams have throughout the first four contests. This should open up some rushing lanes. It will likely take a balanced approach to defeat the Hoosiers this weekend and Mike Yurcich is going to have to find ways to get the air and ground game going including getting Jahan Dotson some space.

On the offensive side of the ball is where it is clear Indiana has regressed from last year. Despite playing a very tough schedule to this point including games at Iowa and against Cincinnati – the QB play and the ground game for Indiana have been practically non-existent. They carry the ball for about 3.5 yards a play (similar to Penn State’s ground game) and nobody yet has emerged as a true threat on the ground like Penn State had faced in Chez Mellusi or Tank Bigsby.

Michael Penix Jr, who seemed to be the consensus ‘best QB in the Big Ten’ in the preseason, has been beyond disappointing to this point. Playing like a shell of his former self, Penix is completing only 55% of his passes including 4 touchdowns to 6 interceptions. He has taken 7 sacks already and has rushed 15 times for -32 yards. To be completely fair, he has played great defenses in Iowa and Cincinnati, but Penn State’s does not get any easier. He has played some great football in the past but has had 3 consecutive season ending injuries and sadly looks the part. His biggest and best weapon is his all-conference level Wide Receiver, Ty Fryfogle. Last season he had 37 receptions for 721 yards, 19.5 yards per reception, and 7 touchdowns. Shutting him down and keep the running game at bay will be the name of the game for the Nittany Lions and if successful, I am not sure where Indiana will find points.

With the announcement this week that defensive tackle Hakeem Beamon will not play for Penn State this season there is some added pressure to control the run from PJ Mustipher and Derrick Tangelo. The D-Line is arguably the weakest part of this defense because of its lack of depth and there will need to be improvement there from the second and third teams to keep Penn State at its current pace.

Penn State is coming into this game as a 12.5-point favorite. That is hard to argue when you have seen how these two teams have played to this point and you factor in the night game atmosphere in Happy Valley. I expect Penn State to win and flip the 2020 script completely and start 5-0 instead of 0-5. Do that and there is a HUGE game coming up on the horizon. But we don’t talk about that yet.

1-0.

3-0 right now. Three wins and zero losses. Penn State started the season with a road win against #12 Wisconsin, a blowout victory against the reigning MAC champions, and an impressive defeat of the #22 Auburn Tigers (and referees). Coming off of a 0-5 start to last year and all the question marks that Penn State had, especially at QB, I did not possess a lot of confidence in this team if I am being honest. I wrote a few weeks back that it was essentially up to Sean Clifford performance in week one not only to earn a win against a tough road opponent but to set the tone for the season. In reality, I was mentally preparing for another disappointing season.

Penn State did not allow my fears to come true. The defense, especially in the secondary, has been absolutely incredible this season. Names like Joey Porter Jr. and Jaquan Brisker are becoming household names across college football. The offense, now led by offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, since the start of quarter three against Wisconsin looks inspired and noticeably different than in any post-Saquon season. Sean Clifford, who I put so much pressure on as essentially the make-or-break component of this team, just played his best career game in Blue and White against a very tough Auburn defense completing 87.5% of his passes for 280 yards and 2 scores. His one interception was more of a hail mary / punt anyways and I do not put much stock into that.

I have been really quite impressed by Mike Yurcich and what the offense has been able to do this season. Every week a new facet of the offense seems to come alive, and his creative play calling and play design has kept defenses off balance. The tight ends against Auburn got more work including Tyler Warren, the third string, getting a few plays as a wildcat QB and even scoring a TD in the works. Defenses have focused their attention on Dotson (who is incredible by the way) but they have found creative ways to get him the ball in space despite that. There is some left to be desired when it comes to running the ball, but I have confidence that will be figured out in time especially with the improvements the offensive line has taken this season.

Brent Pry’s unit is another top 10 defense in the sport but seemingly for a completely different reason than what fans have seen before. Usually, a Pry defense is very stout against the run but has trouble in the passing game. A lot of very mediocre QBs have had career days against Penn State defenses in the past. This year you are seeing a much stronger passing defense led by a very deep secondary but again some left to be desired in the run game. If I had to give my biggest worry about this team right now it would be our run defense. Penn State allowed about 5.1 yards per carry among the three main Auburn Ball carriers and only 4.7 yards per completion. When you are allowing more yards per carry than yards per completion a better passing attack could cause some issues and burn the Nittany Lions defense in a later game. My hope lies partially with Hakeem Beamon, who has yet to see the field and was touted to be one of the most important pieces in Penn States defensive line (as both a DT and DE). I imagine with some adjustments and his return the defense can remain as a top unit in the sport. Oh, and that Jaquon Brisker kid is pretty good. Joey Porter Jr. too.

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The first quarter of the Penn State season has been an absolute success, so let’s look ahead to the next. Penn State squares off at noon this Saturday against a tough FCS opponent in Villanova and then follows that up with a home game against Indiana and a road game against #5 ranked Iowa. Villanova is the #10 ranked team in the FCS and that is about all I know about them. I can read some articles and pretend like I am giving you insider knowledge, but the truth is that Penn State should easily handle this opponent even without having their best players on the field. This should be a good game to get some depth pieces playing time and ideally see what backup QB Ta’Quan Roberson is able to do over the span of more than a drive or two.

I will save this conversation more for next week, but a likely 4-0 start followed by a primetime kick against a struggling Indiana (the team who beat PSU on a controversial call and derailed the entire 2020 PSU season) is enough to get me very excited for the future. The prospect of an undefeated Penn State going to face an undefeated Iowa in a top 6 matchup has me struggling to maintain Coach Franklins 1-0 mentality. None the less, Penn State needs to take care of business at home twice before we can truly get there. The fact that I even get to be excited about this again like I was before the disaster that was the 2020 season has me giddy.

There is that excitement in the air again, can you feel it? Shades of 2016 and 2017 surround this Penn State football team. Fans are worried about losing Coach Franklin again instead of wanting him fired. The offensive coordinator is on the field and not in the booth. Penn State is already battle tested and came out unscathed. The Big Ten looks vulnerable. Put on your homer hats ladies and gentlemen its time to get excited about what we are seeing here. Let’s go beat Villanova and keep that ball rolling. We Are Penn State.

1-0.

Penn State Football took care of business last Saturday against a Ball State team that, while good in the MAC, was unable to compete with the Nittany Lions. Watching the game, I was yet again impressed with the defense and am excited to see what a full season at defensive end for Jesse Luketa is going to look like. Luketa made an incredible one-handed interception off of the line on Saturday and looks like a brand-new player since his transition from linebacker. There were many defensive snaps taken by second and third string players which is exactly what one could have wanted from a game like this. Those snaps help build depth for years to come and with Penn State’s schedule being so unbelievably tough this year, they need to find those snaps wherever they can.

Offensively I was particularly underwhelmed but not enough so to be concerned. I think that the vanilla play calling and the pretty, shall I say boring, game was due to the fact that after two offensive drives and two touchdowns it was more or less already won by Penn State. Sean Clifford played another decent game where he did what he was asked to do and while again there were some throws that were missed, none were particularly dangerous. Again, no turnovers for the Nittany Lions and that is going to be key for Penn State this season. With how aggressive and fast this defense seems, keeping the ball with the offense and finishing enough drives when in the red zone may be enough to beat almost all teams on the schedule.

All in all, there are not a ton of takeaways that I have from this game. There was never really a point where I was concerned that Ball State would even threaten, let alone win. It was said in practice this week that we have yet to see much of Mike Yurcich’s offense, so I am very excited to see what is being cooked up for this week in the White Out against the Auburn Tigers.

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Speaking of teams that are hard to find takeaways from, lets discuss Auburn. Auburn’s strength of record so far (having played Akron and FCS team Alabama State) ranks so low that it is among FCS teams. Yes, this means that they have played easier opponents than every single team in the FBS and many in the FCS. When you look at their consecutive 50-point wins against these teams, there is not much you can say other than they took care of business. When talking Auburn and trying to predict the outcome of this game, you need to look to the last few years as a lesson.

Auburn is a lot like Penn State in the SEC historically and now. They are typically a good-great program known for a consistent solid defense who has to run into the buzz saw of a team that is on always waiting for them on their half of the conference. They have Bama and we have Ohio. This year they seem to have another great defense and an offense that the book is still out on. Their defense is likely not as fast as Penn State’s is, but it is a little bigger. They carry a quarterback who came into the league with a lot of hype but who has significantly underperformed his expectations, especially in road games. They have decent pass catchers, but nobody really stands out as an all-conference type of player. Auburn’s offensive line is solid (but not great) and is constantly helped out by one of the best running backs in the league.

I am not convinced that Auburn is going to be able to generate enough big plays with their offense that they can win this game. Former 5-star QB for Auburn, Bo Nix, does not have a good track record in road games.

Home Stats: 64% completion%, 3078 yards, 20 TDs, 1 INT, 4.5 yards per carry, 9 rushing TDs

Away Stats:  54% completion%, 1617 yards, 9 TDs, 10 INT, 2.3 yards per carry, 5 rushing TDs

It appears as if the White Out may be enough alone to freak Bo Nix out for this game without even taking into consideration how solid the PSU defense has looked. The strength of Auburns offense will come from their sophomore running back Tank Bigsby. Rushing for 834 yards (6 per carry) and 5 TDs last season and already 241 and 2 this year – he is poised to perform as one of the best RBs in the sport over the next few years. The problem for Auburn is that if Penn State can focus to take him out of the game (much like Jonathan Taylor and Wisconsin in 2019) I am unsure Auburn will be able to generate enough offense elsewhere. Bo Nix will have a play a pretty great game to win on Saturday, and if history tells you anything – he may not have it in him.

Auburn is anything but proven this year. Penn State is battle tested and ready. I see this game as another strong win for the Nittany Lions despite what you may hear from SEC fans on Twitter. The question marks that surround the Auburn team all fall into the strength of this Nittany Lion defense and that does not bode well for the Tigers. For Penn State to win this game they are going to have to limit turnovers, finish drives, and get pressure early on Bo Nix. For Auburn to win this game they are going to need to brave the White Out crowd and play a brand of football away that they have not done in many years. Nittany Lions got this.

1-0. WE ARE!