Big Ten power rankings Week 3: How shakeup at the top impacts Penn State Football
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The Nittany Lions took care of business, handling the defending MAC champs, Ball State, 44-13 on Saturday.
Quarterback Sean Clifford was efficient, going 21-29 for 230 yards and a touchdown. The defense continued its dominance as well, giving up just 13 points, with the only touchdown coming late in the fourth quarter when most of the second string was in.
This Ball State team is good and will win lots of games this year, so there should be no complaints about beating them by 31. While that’s true, you would like to see a little more from the Nittany Lions in the run game.
The offense collected 240 yards on the ground, but 66 of those yards belonged to Clifford. Noah Cain averaged just 3.5 yards per carry in this one. Some of this has to do with the fact that the offensive line is still trying to figure things out and guys are moving all over the line.
Penn State didn’t show too much on offense either in this game. There were a lot of methodical drives with few downfield shots or flashy plays. That was the right thing to do with Auburn coming to town this weekend.
Look for Penn State to get more comfortable with their new offense and start to look for more big plays. If they do, along with how good this defense looks, they will compete for the East.