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Penn State Football: Bye week gives Nittany Lions chance to clean up

By Collin Wieder

CHAMPAIGN, IL - SEPTEMBER 21: Juwan Johnson #84 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs the ball after a catch as Cameron Watkins #31 of the Illinois Fighting Illini reaches for the tackle at Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - SEPTEMBER 21: Juwan Johnson #84 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs the ball after a catch as Cameron Watkins #31 of the Illinois Fighting Illini reaches for the tackle at Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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A week off before another top-25 matchup couldn’t come at a better time for Penn State football. Some things need to be fixed on both sides of the ball.

A 27-26, heartbreaking loss to Ohio State Saturday hurt Penn State football’s chances, but the team is far from eliminated. At 4-1 overall with a high-powered offense led by Heisman Trophy candidate Trace McSorley and a defense that’s shown flashes of brilliance, this team can still accomplish its goal. With that said, improvements must be made. Both sides of the ball didn’t play consistent enough to come away with the win.

Defense wins championships

If there’s one thing that needs the most attention during the bye it’s PSU’s defense. The Nittany Lions gave up a 26-14 advantage in the fourth quarter because of a 13-0 Ohio State scoring run. During that run the pass defense gave up two scoring tosses that embarrassed the secondary. The first of which involved three missed tackles. Then, a screen broke free for the game-winning score. It was ugly.

No doubt, Ohio State was going to score points. OSU’s offense is always strong, but a championship defense comes up with a stop in winning time. It failed to do so against the Buckeyes. Right now, the defense gives up more than 350 yards of offense.

It has to make stops and create turnovers. The defense has forced seven turnovers in five games, but it hasn’t been extremely ball hawking. In fact, Garrett Taylor’s interception against OSU was off a dropped pass by a wide receiver. Sure, the defense has had some great new additions to the defense like Jan Johnson’s breakout, as he leads the team in tackles (29), but it needs more playmakers on defense.

Passing Game reconnects

For the first five games, Trace McSorley has been stellar. He’s put up 16 total touchdowns against just two interceptions. He has hit receivers with catchable passes, but they haven’t rewarded him consistently. In fact, the Heisman hopeful has just a 53.2 completion percentage – that’s not good.

The good news is that for the most part, it’s not on him, which means this unit can be improved. The wide receivers are talented and can help McSorley. The upperclassmen like DeAndre Thompkins, Brandon Polk and Juwan Johnson were expected to break out. They haven’t yet. Johnson’s one-handed catch against OSU seemed like a good sign of things to come.

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Should these guys step up, the offense will have more weapons to go along with KJ Hamler. I expect Penn State football to claw back into the fight this week against Michigan State and finish the year at either 11-1 or 10-2, solidifying McSorley as the greatest Penn State QB of all time.

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