Two wins in the game’s final minutes. Two wins against teams that really stood no chance.
All four games this season have a showcase of Penn State’s issues on both sides of the ball.
And one loss, where the big plays never happened, shows that those issues are no more fixed than they were a week ago.
So at its core, nothing about Penn State’s 29-6 loss on Saturday was surprising. Penn State has been dodging the bullet for weeks now. The inevitability of inconsistency has finally swung back in favor of losing.
And as head coach James Franklin has said since Week 1, the victories hide your issues, the losses magnify them, but no matter what, the issues are still there.
That’s what happened on Saturday.
The sum of all fears.
Penn State has never been able to run the ball. Ranked 108th in the nation coming into the game there was little shock when the Nittany Lions basically abandoned the run after it failed to do anything of note. Thirty-five of the 50 yards Penn State did manage to rack up came in the final two drives of the game. The Nittany Lions’ five TD ground performance against UMass was hardly a tipping point for the offensive line and running backs.
Penn State hasn’t been able to protect Christian Hackenberg with any sort of consistency. The game against Rutgers showed that all it takes is a little bit of pressure to flush him out of the pocket — if he’s even lucky enough to make it that far. Four sacks killed Penn State drives and even more hits and pressures impacted plays. All of this boils down means that Penn State is a team that has struggled to score.
Penn State’s defense can’t do it on its own. The Nittany Lion defenders started four different defensive drives inside their own 32. Even the most talented units can only hold back a capable offense for so long. They forced turnovers, they bent but they did not break. It wasn’t a flawless effort by the Nittany Lions defense, but it held the Wildcats scoreless for nearly two and a half quarters of play. The door was open for the offense to strike. But it never did.
The Nittany Lions have been able to get away with some of those issues, but taken together it’s too much for any team to overcome. Poor punts, blocked kicks, interceptions, few third down conversions, four sacks. The game had everything — everything wrong if you’re Penn State.
Players will never say that a loss was bound to happen, that’s not how you approach each game. But there is an understanding that the Nittany Lions have been playing with fire, and fire will eventually burn you.
“I actually think you look how we’ve played all year long and we’ve started some games slow and we’ve been able to come back and rally late in games. You can only do that so many times,” Franklin said after the game. “You can only do that so many times before it comes back to haunt you. You have to be able to play all four quarters. You have to be able to start strong. You have to establish a running game and protect the quarterback; all the things we’ve been talking about. We’ve been able to get by with this by playing smart, playing hard, playing with tremendous effort and persevering.”
“Let’s be honest, we haven’t played pretty all year long and it caught up to us today against a good, solid, well-coached, hard-nosed team.”
And that’s maybe the most anyone needs to say about Saturday.
How good this team can be is something of a mystery. There have been glimpses of a half decent team followed quickly by complete ineptitude. The offensive line is in a situation where, despite football being a team game, the issues all truly lead back to it. Penn State will take two of the next three weeks off thanks to a favorable schedule and that time will be used for as much self-scouting as it will be for Michigan and Ohio State.
If anything, Saturday is a reminder that Penn State is supposed to lose. A 4-1 record is something of a minor miracle and largely the work of Christian Hackenberg and a generally stout defense.
How Penn State responds is the next big question waiting to be answered.
“We will get this fixed,” Franklin said. “I promise you and guarantee you we will get it fixed.”
