Lions calm, confident under second-half pressure
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Trailing Illinois in the third quarter, 24-21, Penn State wide receiver K.J. Hamler felt no panic.
His Nittany Lions, 26-point favorites in their odd Friday night tilt at Memorial Stadium, had produced more than 300 yards of offense in the first half and 19 first downs. Production not an issue, Hamler said the Nittany Lions collectively understood what to do.
“We know. We know what time it is. We know we just gotta step up, We don’t fold under pressure,” said Hamler. “Illinois is a great team, but we just had to all pull through. We knew what we had to do offensively and defensively.”
Message received, resoundingly.
Responding immediately with a five play, 80-yard touchdown drive to retake a 28-24 lead, the Nittany Lion defense followed suit. In what had been an avalanche of offensive production by the Illini, the Nittany Lions forced back-to-back possessions of zero yards for the hosts.
By that time, Penn State’s offense was well on its way to punching in six touchdowns on consecutive possessions to finish a 63-24 throttling of the Illini.
“We’ve been in these situations before. Really, the last three years, whenever we get into these situations we don’t panic,” said Franklin. “We make the adjustments. We believe in each other.”
And as the Nittany Lions showed throughout the second half, they certainly have plenty of internal confidence, too.
Generating 42 second-half points, the Nittany Lions built on a trend through the first four games of the 2018 season in which the first half starts slow, only to follow with explosive second half production. So second-half dominant are the Nittany Lions that of 222 total points scored this season, 149 have been posted in the second half or in overtime, a nearly 2-to-1 ratio.
Acknowledging a desire to start faster in the first half of games, running back Miles Sanders said there is an internal understanding that an offensive explosion can still take place in the second half.
“We do good in the second half,” said Sanders. “We knew it was close in the first half. We got a lot of things to clean up, turnovers and not being ourselves, but we just came out and we executed. We had to separate the game and put our foot on their neck.”
Having done so against the Illini, the Nittany Lions will have another opportunity to return to an extended week of practice with corrections to be made following a win. With No. 4-ranked Ohio State on deck for a 7:30 p.m. kick next Saturday at Beaver Stadium, it’s a chance to put themselves in the best position possible for inarguably the most challenging opponent they’ll face to date.
“I don’t think we’ve played a complete game. I think we are getting better,” said Franklin. “There are certain plays, there are certain series, there are certain quarters you’re not happy with… I don’t know if we’ve played up to our level really since we’ve been here, but really I think we’re getting better and that’s the thing I focus on.”