Analyzing Penn State’s 42-7 loss to Michigan: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

James Franklin stared at a stat sheet as he rattled off his opening statement, giving Jim Harbaugh’s crew credit and admitting that the Wolverine defense “kicked our butts” in a 42-7 loss. Then, still looking at the final box score, the Nittany Lions head coach made an astute observation.

“Our defense has been on the field for way too many reps the last couple of weeks.”

Bingo.

Brent Pry’s unit — which performed admirably for three quarters on Saturday — got run down. The Wolverines logged 69 plays, 52 of which were rushing attempts by Karan Higdon and company. This comes a week after Iowa ran 88 plays and two weeks removed from Indiana hitting the century mark.

All things considered, Penn State held up against Michigan. Jan Johnson’s 10 tackles led the unit, Cam Brown flew around the ball, and Yetur Gross-Matos recorded yet another sack. Believe it or not, it was still a 14-0 game with a minute to go in the third quarter.

Of course, Penn State’s defense caved late, when it became clear the Nittany Lions wouldn’t muster anything on offense, when the Wolverines imposed their will. But give credit where credit is due. Johnson, Brown, Gross-Matos, Kevin Givens and the rest of Pry’s group battled and allowed the Nittany Lions to hang around.

Good

• In McSorley’s worst start of his career, there were two tiny bright spots in Penn State’s passing game: True freshmen Pat Freiermuth and Jahan Dotson. The former led the Nittany Lions with three catches on three targets for 51 yards, including a 25-yard gain on Penn State’s first snap. The latter, meanwhile, had two catches for 29 yards. Not eye-popping numbers whatsoever. But given Penn State’s sheer ineptitude in the passing game, Freiermuth and Dotson at least have something to build on.

• It’s worth noting that Blake Gillikin had a 74-yard punt. Yes, that’s 74 yards (with a helpful bounce or two). Gillikin, who also pinned a coffin corner kick at the 5, did have a couple clunkers. But the past few weeks have been really rough for the talented punter. So to see Gillikin send one to the moon was encouraging.

• Penn State’s blocked field goal should have its own separate category, something in-between the “good” and the “bad.” On one hand, Nick Scott’s block and Garrett Taylor’s scoop-and-score was a thing of beauty — a momentum-shifter that, for a brief second, knotted the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter. Instead, Taylor’s weaving 74-yard return turned into a 9-yarder after being called back on a questionable illegal block penalty. It was a positive play by Scott and Taylor. But in retrospect, had that gone for six points, who knows how this game shakes out?

• The Penn State Blue Band and the Michigan Marching Band joined houses at halftime to perform the “Game of Thrones” theme and several other songs from the critically-acclaimed HBO series. If you don’t know who Arya Stark or Davos Seaworth are, then this halftime show probably did nothing for you. Otherwise, the performance — capped by a rendition of “The Winds of Winter” — was glorious.

Bad

• For the second week in a row, McSorley and Miles Sanders botched a handoff exchange. And on Saturday, this one was on McSorley. “It was indecision at the read. We waited ‘til the last minute, it was on his hip, and you can’t do that,” Franklin said. “To be honest, as soon as Trace came to the sideline, that’s what he said: ‘I was indecisive.’” It was an error that possibly cost Penn State points; thanks to a pass interference on the drive after Taylor’s blocked field goal return, the Nittany Lions were sitting pretty at midfield. Instead of capitalizing, Chase Winovich fell on McSorley’s mistake, and the Wolverines put together a 5-minute touchdown drive.

• Continuing the theme of bad things happening in consecutive weeks, Robert Windsor jumped offside yet again. Windsor’s early start in the second quarter turned Michigan’s third-and-7 into a third-and-2, which it later converted on fourth down. Three plays later, Shea Patterson connected with Donovan Peoples-Jones for a 23-yard touchdowns strike. Windsor has quietly put together a nice 2018 season but he must cut those unnecessary penalties out of his game.

• Juwan Johnson did not travel with the team, which is concerning. The talented redshirt junior struggled to limp off the field at Indiana a couple weeks back and was limited against the Hawekeyes. For him to miss the trip completely, though, something clearly isn’t right with Johnson. And to those who were happy he couldn’t travel, Penn State’s drop issues continued anyway. The Nittany Lion receivers just can’t shake them.

• Miles Sanders wasn’t given an opportunity to get going. The junior had only seven carries for 14 yards, the first time all season he hasn’t eclipsed 14 attempts. Sanders now has 148 total rushing yards in his last three games. That’s troubling for a guy who racked up 495 yards in Penn State’s first four contests.

Ugly

• Penn State had a chance to cut Michigan’s lead in half just before the break — but McSorley, admittedly, squandered it. On second-and-10 from Michigan’s 39-yard line, DeAndre Thompkins put a move on his man and ran all alone down the Penn State sideline. It was a gift of a touchdown. And yet, McSorley sailed Thompkins by five yards. “I can’t miss him,” McSorley said shaking his head. “We had him open. I just missed him.” If they connected, Penn State would have been down 14-7 with momentum.

• Fans have complained about Franklin’s timeout management since his arrival in 2014, and Saturday gave them more ammunition. After a 7-yard sack of McSorley brought up a fourth-and-17 on Michigan’s 46, Franklin called timeout with 1:01 to go in the first half. The Wolverines didn’t have any timeouts. Why did he stop the clock for Michigan? Was he considering going for it on fourth-and-17? It didn’t make any sense. Thankfully for the Nittany Lions, Harbaugh decided to kneel it out. A puzzling decision nonetheless by Franklin.

• It’s not an overreaction to say that Penn State is one of the worst third-down offenses in college football. The Nittany Lions entered Saturday ranked 102nd in the nation, converting 35.8 percent of their third-down opportunities (39 of 109). They added to that miserable success rate with a 2-for-11 showing at The Big House. Of those 11 third-down tries, six were third-and-8 or longer. “We’re making it harder on ourselves,” McSorley said. “We really don’t have any third-and-3 or third-and-2s. We’re all third-and-6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. We have to be better on first and second down to give ourselves a better chance to convert on third.” The Nittany Lions didn’t do that at Michigan Stadium. Just another reason why Saturday was a day to forget for Penn State.

This story was originally published November 4, 2018 at 11:30 AM.