Column: Flashbacks to winning football mark happy return at Penn State

Penn State tried to be the best offensive version of itself this season.

Really, it did.

The hurdles and challenges associated with installing a new offense, with three new assistants on that side of the ball and four total, during a pandemic-altered offseason were hard enough. Even with the loss of Journey Brown before the start of the season, the Nittany Lions made a go of it, relying on expected contributions from the likes of second-year starting quarterback Sean Clifford, tight end Pat Freiermuth, Noah Cain, Jahan Dotson, and a veteran offensive line.

But by the time the Nittany Lions coughed up three turnovers in a stunning overtime loss at Indiana to open the season, were ineffective offensively in a loss to Ohio State, then again suffered self-inflicted wounds against Maryland, at Nebraska, and again versus Iowa, the jig was fully, completely up.

With a line unprepared to operate at maximum capacity in Phil Trautwein’s new system despite its best intentions, a running backs room decimated by a second season-ending injury to Cain, and a quarterback position lacking confidence in the face of week-after-week of backbreaking turnovers, all helping contribute to a defense unable to hold up against the avalanche of subsequent bad spots, Penn State head coach James Franklin had no choice but to inject a wholly unwelcome trip down memory lane.

Ascending through a coaching career that has made the best of suboptimal situations, first in a wildly successful three-year stint at Vanderbilt, then followed by back-to-back seasons at NCAA sanction-burdened Penn State, Franklin understands inherently what that looks like. It's an ugly, unsavory, conservative approach, where points come at a premium and risks are mitigated as much as possible.

And coming off a 23-7 win at Rutgers Saturday afternoon, the Nittany Lions’ second in as many weeks to upend their 0-5 start to the year, it’s a decision that deserves praise for what it is; a winning one.

“This program is not a losing program. It's just not who we are,” Clifford said Saturday afternoon. “We've had a rough start. A lot of things factored into that, but we know that we're not a losing program. We didn't come here to lose.”

By taking the keys away, much to the displeasure of Penn State fans loathe to return to the look and feel of the Nittany Lions’ back-to-back 7-6 seasons in 2014 and ’15, Franklin is attempting to ensure that they don’t.

Shielded by an easy cover of blustery conditions that impacted decision-making and performances for both teams, Franklin appeared to make the call Saturday afternoon, leading 20-0, in the third quarter. Backed by a defense dominating a Scarlet Knights’ offense that had been its best in years, but appeared hapless throughout the game against the Nittany Lions, the offense shut it down.

Anything and everything that might jeopardize Penn State’s position, owning a lead that could effectively be insurmountable given the conditions and the Knights’ performance to that point in the game, was thrown out. And the Lions’ drive chart reflected as much, particularly following a Devyn Ford fumble on first down at their 40-yard line midway through the second quarter, and again upon Clifford’s third-and-8 interception off the hands of Isaac Lutz thrown from his 21-yard line early in the second half.

Creating easily Rutgers’ best field position of the game to that point at Penn State’s 36-yard line, the Knights were forced to go for a fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line and converted on an improbable, reeling completion from Noah Vedral to Bo Melton.

What’s interesting here is that the thread didn’t deter Franklin. If anything, it appeared to embolden him to double-down on a conservative approach that wasn’t likely to build much on the lead, but also wouldn’t endanger it.

The choice to run Will Levis on quarterback draws the next three plays to set up a fourth-and-1 punt demonstrated as much. Crossing into the fourth quarter on their next possession, the Lions finally hit on a bubble screen to Dotson to pick up 20 yards, then crossed into Rutgers’ territory on a 14-yard carry for Ford.

From there? A Ford carry on first-and-10, a stretch-the-field pass down the sideline to Dotson unrewarded with a catch or pass interference Franklin acknowledged afterward as warranted, another horizontal pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and a failed fourth-down carry for Clifford on a designed QB draw.

Only once true freshman, fourth-string running back Keyvone Lee broke loose for a 31-yard carry, backed against the Lions’ end zone on second-and-8 with plenty of time left in the game, did the Nittany Lions create some breathing room for themselves. But it wasn’t the result of desperation or greed, traits that had often been the case in Penn State’s failures in its first five losses. Rather, leaving Clifford to play within himself and allowing the Lions’ defense to do the heavy lifting, Franklin created the conditions for a wholly unremarkable, wholly unsexy, and wholly uninspiring performance the rest of the way.

Paramount to any of those three factors, of course, it also created a wholly satisfying win for a program craving them. And maybe most notably, it’s a plan and approach with which Penn State’s players are fully on board.

Seeking to manage the game, seeking to take the shots that are there while avoiding being greedy, and allowing the playmakers on offense, defense, and special teams to do the work to relieve his shoulders from the burdens of winning, Clifford acknowledged the relief and satisfaction of the moment. Once as before, during an otherwise absolute disaster of a season, Penn State turned one win into two by reverting to its basest instincts and tendencies. And the Nittany Lions’ couldn’t be happier about it.

“We're just getting back to ourselves. There were five weeks in a row that we were just completely out of whack,” Clifford said. “t I think that we're just getting back to winning football, doing the little things, making sure that we're trying to cover all the bases during the week to make sure that when we get into games, we're ready.

“And it's just getting comfortable with the new offense, not new anymore, really, but with everything. So, I think that there's a lot of things that are going on that I'm just glad that we're 2-0. We're 1-0 this week, 2-0 the past two weeks, and that's really all that matters.”

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