Sunday Column: Lions Crush Another Bug Under Their Feet…But Is That Proper Preparation for the Beast That Awaits?

The nothingburger of the week was made from James Franklin’s comments on the way an unnamed conference opponent (rhymes with “Witch again”) schedules, er, less than staunch non-conference opponents. A few media outlets twisted the remarks to make it seem as though the Penn State coach was taking a shot at, um, the Jewel Vereens, when in fact Franklin was actually complimenting the program for a strategy he has used consistently since he arrived nine years ago.

Which brings us to Saturday’s game against the fighting Minutemen of Massachusetts, who put up about the resistance most expected (almost none) in a 63-0 loss to the Nittany Lions. When Penn State put this game on the schedule in January 2019, UMass had been an FBS program for only five seasons and had won a total of 16 games in that time period. Since that time, the Minutemen are 4-44, including Saturday’s loss.

In a brief and half-hearted defense of Franklin, and the coach he wasn’t taking a shot at, and basically the heads of all Power 5 programs, I get it. There is no point in going out of your way to schedule difficult non-conference games if A) Everyone else is doing it and B) Your conference schedule has the juice to get you to a playoff on its own.

Well, there might be one point, and whether it is a point of significance or not might not be known for one more week. If you have enough guppies on your schedule, sooner or later you’re going to run into a four-game stretch like the one Penn State is currently in: sleepy road game at scrappy but overmatched conference bottom-feeder led by lame duck interim coach; bye week, rainy home(coming) game against probably-should-still-be-FCS opponent; road visit to major rival ranked in the top 5.

Of all the ways to gain momentum to take into the Horseshoe, that is … one of them.

Sure, you could say that the Nittany Lions’ confidence will be high following another lopsided win. The nation’s top-ranked defense piled up seven more sacks and looked as invincible as ever. The offense overcame some more early “meh” possessions and its first turnover of the season to put together some efficient, almost workmanlike scoring drives. And nickel extraordinare Daequan Hardy gave the special teams a boost with Penn State’s first punt return to the house since 2020 … and then another one.

The confidence that comes from brushing aside an overmatched opponent can only take you so far against an opponent that is your equal or, just as likely, a little better. Because next week, everything that Penn State did on the field Saturday is going to be harder. Every block, every edge rush, every route run or covered, every punt and kickoff. Drew Allar won’t have as much time to see the field. Kaytron Allen won’t drag a solo tackler for 5 yards without anyone else touching him.

Now, is the gap between Ohio State, Michigan and (presumably) Penn State and any other team the Big Ten has to offer incredibly wide and getting wider? Yes, and the Buckeyes and Wolverines proved that again Saturday. If Penn State were able to hand-pick an opponent that might best prime them for next week’s litmus test, and do so today, it probably wouldn’t be able to do much better than the Iowa team it flattened during the Whiteout or the Illinois team it pulled away from, at least in terms of conference opponents, and any home-and-home with a comparable team from another Power 5 school (who would be just as loath as Franklin to schedule such a series) would be unlikely to be played this late in the season.

But it should be able to do better than UMass. And that leads us back to the problem with having these opponents (or the likes of the Delaware Blue Hens) anywhere on the schedule. In one sense, a very literal and simplistic sense, football is about executing the play at hand, and the kind of team that can go into Columbus and beat Ohio State should be able to consistently execute against anyone, anywhere, anytime. Penn State could well be such a team this season. In another sense, football is a game of intangibles and feel and momentum, and the feel is going to be drastically, inescapably, wildly different next week. Maybe the Nittany Lions can adjust to the switch in skill level from rookie to All-Madden in only a few plays. And maybe the extra game work they got for their second-teamers and rest for their starters in the second half, as has become a weekly custom, makes it worth it.

But maybe they have a harder time making that jump. Maybe they don’t adjust to the stiffer level of competition until it’s too late. Maybe, just maybe, putting those guaranteed (W) games on the schedule four years ahead of time can be something you wind up regretting, even if they produce the wins, and somewhat hollow confidence, you thought they would.

Even if everyone else is doing the same thing.