Three weeks into the Matt Campbell era, Penn State is still purely hypothetical. Ranked No. 14 in the country and now 3-0 after a 55-13 win over Buffalo, the Nittany Lions have handled business against a weak non-conference schedule, yet it’s impossible to say definitively how good this team will actually be. We just don’t know.
So, with so much uncertainty tied to the early-season results, Matt Campbell is hyper-fixating on Penn State’s flaws. After Week 2, it was the run game, which he and his staff repeatedly said was “a hair off.” In Week 3, Penn State ran for 269 yards, averaged 7.8 yards per carry, and three of its four primary running backs reached paydirt and the fourth eclipsed 100 yards.
After Week 3, Campbell's focus is on the penalties, which he called “really disappointing,” adding, “When you're playing the way, physically, we want to play, you've got to be elite at the finish. We weren't that today.” Penn State committed eight penalties for 96 yards.
Sometimes, those mistakes are easy to overlook, but until the Nittany Lions play a real opponent, Campbell has no choice but to spotlight the negatives because they’re the only thing that’s real.
Penn State’s penalties aren’t a big problem, but they are a helpful coaching point
Penalties aren’t always about discipline. Sometimes holding, pass interference, and other between-the-whistle infractions are skill issues. If an offensive tackle can’t stay in front of the pass rusher, they have to grab; same for corners helpless to stay in front of opposing pass-catchers. You would imagine that Penn State didn’t have those types of problems against Buffalo.
However, half of Penn State’s penalties came from backups who likely won’t see the field next week against Wisconsin. Now, those players should still be better than Buffalo’s first-teamers, but it’s not as though Penn State’s first team was drawing flags for sloppy pre-snap issues or undisciplined mistakes.
You’d prefer not to have that many flags, of course, but it’s hard to say it’s a glaring issue that will carry over to Week 4. However, Campbell has to treat it that way because he cannot afford to let his team get complacent after starting 3-0 and cruising against lesser competition. Penn State saw how that can go just last season, falling to 3-3 after starting 3-0 against Group of Six opponents.
It’s time for the Nittany Lions to face some real competition
The other reason for Campbell to call out mistakes and say his team is “not where we need to be” is because against opponents like Marshall, Temple, and Buffalo, it’s hard to latch onto anything the team does well. If you struggle to run the ball against Temple, or if you have penalties against Buffalo, those are clearly problems. But if your passing game is crisp against Marshall or the ground game gets going against the Bulls, there’s really no way to know that will translate.
For everyone’s sake, it’s a good thing Penn State is finally playing a real opponent next week. It’s time to find out what’s real about this team, and if it can contend for a College Football Playoff spot. So far, it looks good, but it was always supposed to. An 8-4 and 11-1 Big Ten team would beat up on this three-game slate all the same.
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