Not (First) Half Bad: Lions Avoid Hangover But Still Can’t Put Together Full 60 Minutes

For the second straight week, Penn State faced an important test. This one was of a much different nature than the test it ultimately failed in last week’s loss to Ohio State.

The danger was that the soul-crushing defeat would linger, that the Nittany Lions would lose confidence and focus and that they would have to work harder than they should to beat another inferior team, that they would look different than the flawed but forceful group that was deserving of its top-10 ranking, a team that’s been pretty damned consistent all year, even if consistently imperfect.

Instead, a better team showed up.

It only stuck around for a half, though.

A group that had been at least relatively sluggish in the first half offensively and defensively all year wasted no time jumping on the Huskies. Drew Allar was sharp. His wideouts, um, caught the ball. The running plays were well-timed and well-blocked. The red-zone play-calling was creative and also simple—get it in the hands of 44. Penn State converted all seven of its third-down opportunities in the half.

The defense, which had been battered and bruised early before throwing counterpunches in the second halves, stayed patient as Washington’s offense used the quick game, waiting for its chances to turn its pass-rushers loose and then doing just that. Washington tallied only 71 first-half yards, just 29 of those coming after the opening drive.

And then, the second half, which the Nittany Lions had owned all season until last week, when they were basically dead-even with the Buckeyes until that last fateful goal-to-go drive … well, you were there. No need to rehash. Anyway, in this second half, the razor-sharp edge the entire team had exhibited in the first 30 minutes dulled quickly, from a penalty on Nick Singleton’s would-be kickoff return to the house to fumbles by himself (after he was down) and Tyler Warren (before he was down) to Ryan Barker’s first field-goal miss of the season. They did add a late fourth-quarter touchdown as an answer to two Washington field goals, but the half as a whole (read that twice if you have to) had a “meh” feeling even if you didn’t compare it to the sparkling half that preceded it.

What is at stake during these final few post-Ohio State games for the Nittany Lions is not only winning them all and ensuring (or getting as close as they can get to ensuring) a playoff berth, but also eliminating the bad habits that came home to roost against the Buckeyes that could cost them in a playoff game. Instead of their typical Jekyll-Hyde routine, they pulled a Hyde-Jekyll on Saturday, the sloppy plays and untimely penalties and inconsistent execution coming in the second half instead of the first.

They probably don’t have to be as efficient across the board as they were in the first half against a Washington team that’s been Jekyll and Hyde itself in road-home splits, but they do have to be better in the big spots than they were against the Buckeyes or avoid the physical and mental lapses we saw late against the Huskies. Or, depending on the opponent, probably both. We’ve seen that projecting how the Nittany Lions will perform against the best teams in the nation based on how they perform against well, everyone else is a tricky procedure at best, if not entirely futile. While many of the Lions’ most important pieces (Allar, Abdul Carter, a healthier-looking Singleton) are rounding into form as the weather gets cold and while they’ve looked increasingly comfortable playing in the respective schemes of their first-year offensive and defensive coordinators, they’ve not been able to keep the pedal on the floor for an entire 60 minutes.

Does that make them different than any other program, even the few they’re looking up at in the rankings? No, but it does illustrate the challenge they face as they continue to try to make the short but difficult jump from great to elite—at this level of the atmosphere, every play matters, whether that’s continuing the momentum you established during a near-perfect half or finishing off a long drive against your hated rival. You could say that Saturday’s second-half malaise was excusable given the game was well in-hand, but that ignores the standard this team is trying to set this season.

The Nittany Lions did nothing Saturday to set them off their desired path to the playoff, but it feels like they missed a good chance to feel a lot better about what they might do if and when they get there than they—and you—did this time a week ago. Part of that is simply the quality of the opponent. The other part is something they’re still trying to figure out, and the opportunities to do so are dwindling.