Complimentary football needed for PSU to end skid: One big thing
Columbus, Ohio -- Penn State is facing a three-game losing skid for the second time in as many seasons and fourth time in the James Franklin era.
The bad news is that consecutive losses to Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio State have thrown a once-promising season completely off the rails. The good news is that the Nittany Lions should know how to get back in the win column, considering that what it must do for that to happen is what got it to this point in the first place.
Penn State's defense may have been good enough to win on this night, as it held the Big Ten's highest-scoring offense at 49.3 points per game to only 33 despite facing constant sudden-change situations, and yet safety Ji'Ayir Brown said afterward that he didn't feel like it played to a Nittany Lions standard. The offense, then, was much better than it was a week ago with Sean Clifford clearly feeling better, and yet his two turnovers that led to 10 Buckeyes points were ultimately the difference, at least on paper in this 33-24 setback. Kicker Jordan Stout, for all of his punting and kickoff spectacular, also missed another field goal, this time from 49-yards to put the final nail in the visitor's coffin.
Put it all together, and the equation is simple: Until Penn State starts playing complementary football again, it's more likely than not to have nights like this one and the two that came before it.
"We like being on the field, we like the pressure on us, that's what our defense strives for, we want the game on our backs," corner Joey Porter Jr. said.
The problem, of course, is that has been the case in too many games this season, even wins like the Wisconsin game and losses like the three already on the ledger this year.
It goes both ways. Dropped interceptions and 357 Illinois rushing yards played a role in last week's defeat, even if holding an opponent to just 10 points in regulation should be enough to win. At Iowa, the defense did all it could to prop up Ta'Quan Roberson, and on this night, it bent on a few too many big plays but routinely held the Buckeyes to a field goal or nothing in the red zone to give the offense a shot.
On the other side of the ball, some things were fixed. Sean Clifford was certainly able to do more in this game than he did the last one and directed some terrific drives because of it. However, his performance was marred by a second quarter fumble that resulted in a touchdown and a second half interception that led to three points in a nine-point game. The run game was again stagnant, even if there were some signs of efficiency as Franklin put it, and protection issues popped up again as they have all season long.
Penn State now moves into November with four games to go, starting with a 3:30 p.m. kick at Maryland next Saturday on FS1. To leave College Park with a win and bowl eligibility secured, the Lions must fire in all three phases and not force one to have to carry the majority of the weight.
Otherwise, it could be another lost day in a season already full of too many of them.
"I think we played hard all year long," Franklin said. "I know last week, we did not play the way we're capable of playing, but I thought we played hard all year long with a challenging schedule, especially early on.
"We didn't play good enough to win tonight, but we're close. I'm gonna keep working with these guys, loving these guys, and we'll find a way to get a win next week."
It starts with complementary football for a full 60 minutes.
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