The Penn State football team started the season off strong with a 6-0 record, and they went into their matchup with Ohio State undefeated and ranked #7 in the country. This looked like the Nittany Lions' best chance in a long time to get over the hump in the Big Ten East, but they came up short against the Buckeyes, and because of that, it's going to be hard for Penn State to achieve their goal of winning the conference and making the College Football Playoff. The Nittany Lions still have a chance, but they have a lot to clean up before they host Michigan on November 11th.

Following the loss to Ohio State, Penn State football had what was supposed to be an easy win against Indiana football at home. The Nittany Lions struggled mightily in that one, however, but they pulled away late for a 33-24 win. The game was tied at 24 late in the fourth quarter. Penn State has to be better, and DT Dvon Ellies know that.

“Dvon said something in the locker room,” James Franklin said, according to an article from Basic Blues Nation. “What he said was something that we talk about a lot, ‘The best teams are honest teams.’ And you got to be willing to have those conversations with each other. To me, it’s always at its best when it’s player-led. When the players can hold each other accountable, and have real conversations with each other. Whether that’s at practice, or in the locker room, or on game days, or Saturday nights.”

That's a good message from Dvon Ellies, and James Franklin knows how important those kinds of messages are.

“After wins, you have to be as transparent and as honest as you can be with yourself, as coaches and as players,” Franklin said. “But then also be able to have those conversations head coach to assistants, head coach to players, assistants and coordinators to the players.”

Ellies also took the podium this week, and he was honest when speaking about the Penn State defense.

“We fell short as a defense,” Ellies said. “Cohesion and communication are the most important things when you’re talking about your defense. When you lack that, there are a lot of missteps that lead to bigger issues…I just think we weren’t all in tune in that moment… We’ve worked past it. We’ve grown from it. You won’t be seeing the same thing again. We’ve identified the issue, we’ve addressed it, and now we’re moving forward. That’s another thing with our defense. Whatever issues we have, whatever mistakes we’ve made, we make it an emphasis for it not to happen again.”

The defense will have to be better going forward, and Ellies and the Nittany Lions know that. It can be difficult to bounce back after a deflating loss like the one Penn State suffered against Ohio State. Still, the Nittany Lions have everything in front of them, and they need to focus up quickly.

Penn State is back in action this weekend against Maryland, and the defense needs to be ready for that tricky Terrapins offense.