With all of the exuberance and, dare we say, catharsis surrounding Penn State’s maple-flavored second-half offensive explosion on Saturday, it was easy to forget that the Nittany Lions punted on eight of their first nine possessions against Rutgers.
A short-handed and virus-plagued unit wasn’t faring much better than the inconsistent, sniffle-free offense that had taken the field in Penn State’s first 10 games, and yet, even though Jordan Stout was getting far more first-half touches than Jahan Dotson, the Nittany Lions were in no danger of falling behind an inferior opponent because their defense was, once again, completely in charge.
Right now, a decent chunk of Penn State fans (and maybe, not-so-very deep down, some of the Nittany Lions themselves) are playing a tortuous “What if?” game, and swapping scrappy rookie QB Christian Veilleux in for an ineffective Ta’Quan Roberson and/or a not-at-100% Sean Clifford at a few key junctures over the last month, if only in their imaginations. Would the Nittany Lions have one more win? Two more? Three more? Fou…
…well, even fantasies have their limits.
