Column: Looking back, not ahead, Lions' biggest obstacle

Twice during Penn State’s five-week-old 2018 season, the Nittany Lions have needed to answer questions about looking ahead.

Before even taking a snap against Appalachian State to open the season, Penn State’s players and coaches had already taken questions about Pitt and the week two matchup with the Panthers. Before clearing the hurdles of Kent State and Illinois, the Nittany Lions were well aware of the oncoming collision to occur at Beaver Stadium Saturday night against Ohio State.

Penn State head coach James Franklin acknowledged as much during his weekly radio show leading into the slugfest between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions.

“I’ll be honest with you. I wish this wasn't the case, but the reality is, we had our best week of practice against Pitt. We had our best week of practice this week for Ohio State. And as much as I try to keep it consistent, and I want the standard to be like this, it's human nature,” said Franklin. “They're hearing it. I get that. I'm trying to eliminate as much of that external noise as I possibly can and it's about our standard. But for me to say that there's not human nature there, and the guys don't feel it, and it doesn't bring natural energy to practice, it does.”

The concept, of course, is just as applicable to Penn State’s past.

And now, coming off a 27-26 loss to the fourth-ranked Buckeyes, breaking Penn State’s unbeaten status, those tenets of Franklin’s coaching philosophy will be put to the test. Given the manner in which they suffered another excruciating 1-point loss to the Buckeyes, one year after falling 39-38 in similarly tough fashion, and understanding the impact it could have on Penn State’s goals for the rest of the season, the Nittany Lions will be fighting human nature in the coming days and weeks.

“You lose by one point and everyone’s mind immediately is, ‘What could I have done better?’ It was a situation where we had an opportunity to win the game and we just weren’t able to come through,” quarterback Trace McSorley said after the game. “People are just hurting over that stuff, but it is something that is going to hurt for the next 24, 36, 48 hours or whatever it may be, but we are going to have to come back and just learn from this, be critical of ourselves, and get better.”

In an odd twist of schedule-making, the Nittany Lions will have to do so with the specter of the 2017 season looming.

Falling to the Buckeyes on the road a season ago, then traveling back out to Michigan State for another matchup pitting Top 25 teams against each other, the Nittany Lions have acknowledged that they allowed one setback to turn into two in their 27-24 loss to the Spartans.

Cascading from a No. 2 ranking entering the Ohio State game, down to No. 7 when facing the Spartans, the Nittany Lions dropped to 16th nationally to play their final three games of the regular season. With games only against Rutgers, Nebraska, and Maryland, Penn State could climb no higher than No. 9 in the rankings for its Fiesta Bowl matchup with Washington.

The same does not have to be true of the 2018 campaign, and the Nittany Lions know it.

“Obviously what happened last year was, we lost by a point and then went to Michigan State, and I know it kind of affected our play against them,” said linebacker Jan Johnson. “We did have other factors in there such as that rain delay for a couple of hours, but I think that we have to make sure that we don't let this same thing play out as what happened last year.”

To do so, they’ll be forced to fight the human nature that very likely still has its grip on many minds throughout the Lasch Building. Having two weeks to prepare for the Spartans with a bye on deck for the weekend of October 7, the Nittany Lions acknowledged just moments after the loss Saturday night that they’ll have to shake that grip as quickly as possible in order to move forward.

Saying that the team’s collective response to Saturday night’s loss is going to “define” how the team plays the rest of its season, specifically in how it reacts in the course of its normal routine of rehabilitation, film study, and practice, junior tailback Miles Sanders laid out the plan for the immediate future.

“We’re going to come in next week, grind, get better, get an early start on Michigan State. Then we’re going to come out next week, we got Michigan State at home. We just gotta keep grinding and get better,” he said. “Of course we think about last year, but right now, I’m focused on this matter. Then next week we’re going to get after Michigan State.”

The first of three more matchups in the regular season that will see the Nittany Lions square off against opponents currently ranked in the AP Top 25, Michigan State at No. 20, a trip to No. 15 Michigan on Nov. 3, and No. 16 Wisconsin back at Beaver Stadium the next weekend, it’s an opportunity the Nittany Lions are determined to not let slip away.

“It’s tough because we work so hard and to fall short by one point the past two years sucks,” said safety Garrett Taylor. “But we have leaders on our team and we are going to bounce back and keep pushing the message that we have to keep playing and we have our next game. 1-0 mentality. We have a good chance to win the rest of our season so we just have to do that.”

To avoid the fate of a 2017 season that dragged “what ifs” well into the summer months, they’ll have to.