The Penn State football team had a huge week one game that they spent the offseason preparing for as they hit the road to take on West Virginia to start the season. The Nittany Lions clearly came into that one prepared as they easily handled the Mountaineers in a tough road environment, beating them 34-12. It was a great way for Penn State to start the season, but they didn't look nearly as good in their week two game against Bowling Green.
Penn State hosted Bowling Green one week after their big win against West Virginia, and it was clear that the Nittany Lions were sleep walking a little bit. At one point in the second quarter, Bowling Green actually took a two-score lead over Penn State. A touchdown made it a 17-7 game, and the Nittany Lions were in trouble.
The Nittany Lions were able to score some more points in the second quarter to make things closer, but Bowling Green still took a 24-20 lead into the break.
Penn State's defense played much better in the second half, but their offense was only able to score 14 more points against Bowling Green. It led to a near upset, but the Nittany Lions did find a way to get the win as they won 34-27. Still, based on the preseason expectations for this team, this was a concerning performance.
James Franklin has done a good job as the head coach of the Penn State football team, but the last eight years have been filled with near misses. For a minute, Saturday looked like it could be another disappointing loss for Penn State as they hunt for their first College Football Playoff appearance.
The Nittany Lions took a huge step forward in 2016 when they won the Big Ten championship, but after two losses early in the season, the Nittany Lions still weren't able to get in to the College Football Playoff. Ever since then, the Nittany Lions have been very good, but not as good as Michigan and Ohio State.
In the four team College Football Playoff era, it was very difficult to make the CFP if you weren't the best team in your conference. The Nittany Lions were never the best team in their conference. Even in 2016 when they won the conference, Ohio State made the CFP over them and they lost to Michigan by 39 points. They were the third best team in the conference.
Now, Penn State can keep their 10-2 trend going and get into the College Football Playoff. They don't need to be the best team in the conference now. They can lose two or maybe even three games and find a way in. This could be the year that the Nittany Lions finally get into the CFP, but they simply can't play like they did against Bowling Green, and because of that, there are some concerns going forward.
This is supposed to be the year that Penn State finally gets into the College Football Playoff, but if they play like they did on Saturday against teams in the Big Ten, they are going to be in trouble. Here are some areas of concern after Saturday's showing.
Drew Allar
Drew Allar is the starting quarterback of this Penn State football team, and he is obviously one of the most important players on the team. If the Nittany Lions are going to make a run this season, Allar is going to have to have a big year. On Saturday, Allar didn't look the part.
Against Bowling Green, Drew Allar finished the game 13-20 through the air for 204 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The interception that Allar threw was a bad one, and it was deep in Bowling Green territory, too, costing his team points.
Allar can't have performances like that going forward, and he is lucky that it happened against a team like Bowling Green. Allar and the Nittany Lions did not play against a good team, so they were able to get away with their sloppy performance.
Defense
The bigger concern on Saturday was the play of the defense. It's pretty common for a QB to have a shaky game every once in awhile, but the entire defense struggled a bit, especially in the first half. Like it was previously stated, Penn State did play a lot better in the second half, and that's a good sign, but still, they can't have performances like they did in the first half of this game.
Bowling Green was on pace to score 48 points when this game went to halftime. The Penn State defense is much better than that, and they showed that in the second half of the game. If the Nittany Lions did that in the first half of a game against a team like Ohio State, for example, they would've been run out of the building. Penn State has to clean that kind of stuff up.
Is there real reason for concern?
Should Penn State football fans be worried after what they saw on Saturday? No. The play of Drew Allar and the defense are both certainly things to keep an eye on going forward, but games like this do happen to good teams, especially at the college level. Just look at Michigan last year. The Wolverines played their worst game of the season against guess who? Bowling Green. JJ McCarthy threw three interceptions and it was a close game at halftime. The Wolverines ended up winning a national championship.
Saturday's win wasn't pretty, but it was a win, and now Penn State can move on and get ready for their next opponent. The Nittany Lions are a good team and it's unlikely we see them play down to that level again. It's better for them to get it out of their system now instead of in Big Ten play.
Penn State has an early bye week so they won't play in week three, and then they have another tune up game against Kent State in week four. After that, Illinois comes to town to kickoff Big Ten play.
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