Following Penn State’s 18-13 loss to Michigan in 2014 James Franklin stood in a packed media room and talked about at least one of the many realities impacting the state of the program.
“I think the margin for error is small.” Franklin said at the time. “That when you have 62 recruited scholarship players, the margin of error is small. But the margin for error is small for a lot of teams in college football. We have to find a way to get it done.”
The numbers have changed, admittedly in Penn State’s favor, but in large the issues still remain and the underlying obstacles are still as present as they have ever been. The Nittany Lions are not blessed with unrivaled talent nor the ability to make up for past errors. That’s just the way it is.
And facing No. 5 ranked Michigan State there was little space to maneuver between the inevitable ups and downs that populate across the timeline of a game. Everything that had to go right needed to go right. On Saturday evening that only happened on occasion.
So as Michigan State’s Demetrious Cox returned a Kyle Carter fumble 77-yards for a score and give the Spartans a 20-3 lead it appeared to be one error too large to overcome. Not for a lack of trying or a lack of a plan, but the mountain was just going to be too high to climb back up.
To Penn State’s credit the Nittany Lions strung together a 10-play 67-yard drive that finally ended with a red zone score as Chris Godwin hauled down an 8-yard pass from Christian Hackenberg to cut the margin to just 10 points. It was then that at least in theory that the game was still alive.
Penn State answered a 9-play, 80 yard touchdown drive by Michigan State to start the game with a 19-yard field goal as yet another drive stalled inside the five. Gerald Holmes’ 6-yard run made it 13-3 just some seven minutes later and Penn State responded with a 9-play, 52 yard drive to chew up some clock.
Despite the halftime 20-10 deficit it was far from a poor half of football for Penn State. 268 yards of offense far exceeded the just 207 gained against Michigan the week prior. Saquon Barkley’s 85-yard opening 30 minutes proving why he can become and perhaps already is one of the best in the nation. For all of the bad, Penn State provided fans with at least reason to believe. Five drives over 30 yards, just two first half punts. If not for struggles inside the five Penn State could have laid claim to a 14 points halftime total.
But playing against teams like Michigan State, with Big Ten hopes and national title ambitions, close isn’t good enough and good enough only happens when you make the most of opportunities.
Back to back touchdown drives by Michigan State of 75 and 69 yards opened the half and by the time Christian Hackenberg got the ball for the second time in the third quarter just over three minutes remained on the clock and a 34-10 margin loomed large. 77-yards later thanks to a Saeed Blacknall catch, fumble and recovery got the Nittany Lions to the two. Nine plays later, a combination of penalties of loss yardage, Penn State found the endzone via a Chris Godwin reception, his second score of the nigh and ninth reception. A failed two point conversion ended a redzone drive that lasted nearly four minutes despite being just six feet from pay dirt to start.
Michigan State answered with a fifth straight touchdown drive after a onside kick recovery and in turn made an already completed game essentially a formality with 11:18 to go in regulation. A deflected pick-six with 9:56 to play turned it 48-16. A fumbled kickoff return by Koa Farmer gave Michigan State the ball deep in Penn State territory and one more score made it 55-16.
By the game’s end the margin of error was no bigger nor any smaller, simply irrelevant. Penn State lost to a team better at every level and sometimes it doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.
The Nittany Lions will now await their bowl destination and one final shot at ending the 2015 season with a positive memory.
