Sunday Column: Opportunities Still Abound for Talented but Still-Confusing Penn State Team

Penn State’s bye week fell smack-dab in the middle of the season, making for a clean landmark for those who like to take stock of what a team has done prior to the bye and predict what it will likely do the rest of the way (or for those who have a weekly column space to fill and no game to fill it with).

Few would have been all that surprised if you had told them back in August that the Nittany Lions would arrive at this point at 5-1, though the way they got here would have been a lot more difficult to nail down. Penn State’s defense, which had question marks up front and at one safety spot, has been an absolute terror, answering all of those questions and a few that weren’t even asked while staking its claim as the nation’s fourth-best scoring defense and second-best red zone defense and one that matches up well against a variety of styles.

The offense, at different junctures and at various position groups, has been a pleasant surprise, all-too-predictable disappointment, and more than a bit of a mystery, sometimes in the same quarter (and all that was before it lost its quarterback!). The special teams, after a couple of early hiccups, have been mostly solid, if lacking some of the game-breaking firepower they’ve displayed the last few years.

Through all six games, the Nittany Lions did what James Franklin asks of his team each week — played complementary football. In the first five games, the three units played off of one another beautifully, picking up a pair of wins over then-ranked foes in the process. In the sixth, the injury to Sean Clifford triggered a disaster of an afternoon for the offense, and the defense could only hold up for so long before bending to the break itself.

For all the grief Clifford has taken during the last three years — not all of it undeserved — the Nittany Lions were clearly a different team without him in Iowa City. And they’ll need him for the bulk of the final six games, three of which will be against teams currently ranked in the Top 10. But that’s what makes the second half of this season so compelling — after going 2-1 in the three biggest games of the first half, Penn State has three huge chances to boost its already-strong resume in the second half. Lately, Big Ten teams not named Ohio State had few visible paths to the playoff after losing one game, but the Nittany Lions’ path is clearly marked.

What will they need to navigate it? Well, Clifford on the field by no later than Oct. 30 in Columbus, for starters. Someone — or maybe multiple someones — to step up and replace at least some of the interior production of P.J. Mustipher, who was having a sensational season before it was brought to an end by an injury in Kinnick Stadium. They’ll need the injury luck they had through the first five games, when the biggest problem was a not-quite-healthy Noah Cain, than they had last week, when Iowa fans hardly had time to take a drink after booing one injured Nittany Lion before screaming at the next.

They’ll also need the offensive line to show at least a portion of the efficiency it has displayed in pass-blocking when it has to run block. They’ll need their talented tight ends to step up and block a lot better on both run and pass plays and to pull more of their weight as receivers. They’ll need to watch that the quietly disturbing tendency of the defense to let up just a bit immediately after the offense has scored a touchdown doesn’t get them in trouble against the likes of Ohio State and Michigan. They’ll need Arnold Ebiketie to be every bit the terror he’s been off the edge, and for Brent Pry to continue pushing the right buttons for when to bring extra pressure and when to trust that the front four will get home.

They’ll need Mike Yurcich to continue dialing up the chunk plays, as he’s done so well, and find ways for his offense to pick up short gains on the plays in between, which he and the rest of the offense have not done so well. It’ll need Jahan Dotson to continue making plays everywhere on the field, and for Parker Washington, KeAndre Lambert-Smith and the rest of the Penn State receivers to make enough plays to move the chains when the opponents can take Dotson away. They’ll need Jordan Stout to be as accurate as he is powerful on field goal attempts and steady as a punter.

They’ll also need the sort of breaks that, added up throughout th year, ultimately determine the difference between an OK season and a good season, or between a good season and an exceptional season. They had gotten most of those breaks until the trip to Iowa. But again, perhaps the biggest break to go Penn State’s way is how the schedule shook out, setting up numerous chances for redemption and to make the loss to the Hawkeyes a distant memory. In most seasons, for most teams, those second chances are about all you can ask for in mid-October.

Other than to see No. 14 back in the shotgun, that is.