Penn State Football: Week 3 Studs and Duds against Kent State

After two weeks of play, Penn State led FBS in fewest number of penalties against (6).  On Saturday, the Nittany Lions were flagged a whopping nine times.  To make matters worse, many of those 15 total penalties have taken would-be touchdowns off the board.

Saturday was no exception.

Tight end Pat Freiermuth was called for offensive pass interference setting a pick that wiped out Juwan Johnson’s 76-yard touchdown scamper.  On the opening series of the game, center Michael Menet was called for an offensive holding penalty wiping out a 56-yard touchdown pass to KJ Hamler.  In the second half, Trace McSorley had a 66-yard touchdown pass to Cam Sullivan-Brown called back because of a holding penalty to CJ Thorpe.

To be fair, it wasn’t just the offense that had costly penalties.  The defense had some back-breaking penalties, too. Defensive tackle Robert Windsor jumped into the neutral zone giving Kent State a fourth down conversion which ultimately led to a Woody Barrett 47-yard touchdown pass.

In a game against a team like Kent State, these penalties can easily be glossed over because of the final score, but Penn State has those penalties against tough Big Ten competition and that could likely cost them a game.

Head coach James Franklin discussed the number of miscues and penalties after the game.  “Think about this, we had one penalty that we jumped offsides on third down, which created a first down. Then, we came back, did it again.”

Look for the Nittany Lions to have a cleaner game next week as mental focus and sharpness are sure to be points of contention for coach Franklin and his staff this week.