Dispensing Thoughts & Opinions: Penn State vs. CMU

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• Man, beer sales at Beaver Stadium can’t start soon enough, eh?

• In all seriousness…Saturday can’t always be a symphony. Sometimes, like today, it’s a middle school recital. Jagged. Discordant. Off key. Off note. Rough on the senses. Enjoyable to no one besides the parents of the participants. And that’s OK. After surviving Week 1 on the road, and then shellacking an SEC foe on the road in Week 3, a 60-minute sleepwalk through a meddlesome MAC contender and its shark-loving coach shouldn’t have been a shocker to anybody. So, while the message board Chicken Littles on Rivals, 247 and On3 point to the sky, jaws agape, we’ll try our best to keep things in perspective: Penn State won by 3 TDs, won the turnover battle 4-0, and other than slight discomfort shown by 44-Tyler Warren late and the mysterious disappearance of 64-Hunter Nourzad, the Nittany Lions escaped this chore of a contest fairly healthy: mission accomplished.

• With that said, if Penn State sputters and smokes like 1981 Chrysler Imperial in need of an oil change next week against Big Ten doormat Northwestern and the worst in-game coach in the conference, Pat Fitzgerald, then we too will raise a red flag and sing the same song as this week’s vocal minority.

• Admittedly, we’re suckers for excitement just like the rest of the Penn State fan base, but today’s game magnified how raw Nick Singleton is as a runner – which, given his age and primitive high school offense is understandable and not a knock – and how advanced and polished Kaytron Allen is at this stage as a runner – which, given his age makes no sense…but given IMG’s reputation for developing no-assembly-required RBs, does make sense.

• For the sake of his current health and future ability to procreate, Brenton Strange needs to quit leaping over (or trying to leap over, more accurately) defenders downfield. Can’t believe I’m typing this considering the unkind things published on FTB about the tight end unit throughout the spring and preseason, but Brenton Strange is a vital, irreplaceable cog in this offense.

• Anyone know what the little flappy wing gesture Penn State’s secondary flashes post-incompletion means? I’d guess, but I don’t wanna embarrass myself. For context, back in 2016 when Marcus Allen and other DBs were wearing gold-colored mouthguards and “showing the grill” post-TFL/post-PBU, I thought they were “hooking a fish” – as in, “Ahh, we baited you into that bad play.”

• Dani Dennis-Sutton’s development – specifically whether it’s expected, slow-paced true freshman development or exponential, 5-star-you-can’t-keep-off-the-field development – is the undetermined Wild Card that could transform a good/great defense into a great/great/greatest defense by late October. For those of you who stuck around Beaver Stadium for the entire game, or for those of you on the couch who didn’t flip to the Clemson/Wake Forest OT, you were treated to DDS manhandling CMU’s starting tackle repeatedly in the final breathes of Saturday’s win.

• Joey Porter Jr. is playing like a man with a Golden Ticket in his back pocket. Yes, his pass defense is top notch. Tossing a ball toward his side of the field is a waste of a down. And if he ever figures out how to catch, he’d win the Thorpe Award. BUUUUUUUT, man, for such a physical guy, filling run gaps and putting ball-carriers to the ground has suddenly become his kryptonite. Hand up – we’re nitpicking here. It’s true, but we are nitpicking. At the college level, JPJ is a true shutdown corner – an endangered species in the modern game.

• Took a minute, but when all is said and done – be it at the end of this season or next – John(ny) Dixon might leave Happy Valley as the most impactful member of James Franklin’s 2020-21 Transfer Portal pickups…yes, even more impactful than All-Big Ten DE and second-round selection Arnold Ebiketie. Sticky coverage guy. Calm and effective at the catchpoint. And, surprisingly, Dixon’s got some Scrappy Doo/Mighty Mouse in him when required to muscle up and dip a shoulder.