Penn State Football: Offense must return to form against Indiana

Saturday was a season-low for Penn State football’s offense. It has to get back on track to help salvage the 2018 season or risk more disappointment.

A Penn State football offense that had averaged 55.5 points per game during its 4-0 start to the season, fell off to average of just 21.5 points per game in each of its last two contests. Both of which resulted in losses. The fast-scoring, momentum-shifting drives seemed to evaporate when the Nittany Lions needed it most.

There’s plenty of hope, but it needs to get back on the winning track. This offense has so many weapons and it can bounce back. The next four opponents (Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin) have a combined record of 19-7. Penn State will need its high-octane attack if it even hopes for more than an even split of those four teams.

First things first, the team needs a win against a rising Indiana (4-3 overall, 1-3 in conference) squad headed up by sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey. He’s recorded 15 total touchdowns and is completing his passes at 68.7 percent clip. The PSU offense will need to combat him by scoring points.

It all starts at the quarterback position. Trace McSorley had his worst game of the season against Michigan State. He completed 19-of-32 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. The numbers weren’t bad, but they weren’t great either.

It also wasn’t all McSorley’s blame by any means, but the passing game just couldn’t find its footing as the receivers failed to get open. McSorley did miss a few targets, but that’s forgivable, especially when the pass rush was keeping pressure on him.

The receivers are the bigger problem. They still haven’t come together for a complete game yet. Freshmen KJ Hamler and Pat Freiermuth continue to be the most productive players at their respective positions. They’ve combined for 29 catches for 496 yards and seven touchdowns. I said that in my keys last week, and it still rings true that the offense hasn’t completely clicked.

If anyone would’ve told me that Juwan Johnson, Brandon Polk and DeAndre Thompkins had just 34 combined catches through the first six games, I would’ve been shocked. Johnson has been better with less dropped passes, but he’s still not tearing up defenses like many expected he would. In fact he caught two passes for 19 yards against Michigan State.

For the running game, it simply needs to stay the course. Miles Sanders has been fantastic with 700 yards and seven touchdowns on 6.7 yards per carry through the first six games. The problem that’s persisted in the run game is the lack of carries to Sanders. He carried 17 times against Michigan State, as the offense attempted to go to the air more.

For Penn State, the offense has to stick to what it does best, running the ball to set up the big play. This is no shot at McSorley but right now this is what the team needs to do, because of the struggling receiving corp. Settle the offense in and then go to the air – that’s the solution to another 10-plus win season and a big-time bowl.

Indiana is a great place to start the turnaround, beating an above .500 squad and getting back on track.