Why is Penn State football’s offense struggling with consistency? The answer proves difficult to pinpoint
Penn State lit up the scoreboard at the start of Saturday night’s 28-21 White Out game win. The Nittany Lions put up 21 points in the first 23 minutes of game time, and looked like they were going to put away the Michigan Wolverines early. Then, it happened again. The potent passing attack vanished, the rushing attack was halted near the line of scrimmage, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford found himself under pressure.
Saturday night wasn’t the first time Penn State’s offense has found itself in that situation. Just two weeks earlier a similar scenario played out when the Nittany Lions failed to score for over two quarters after putting up 28 points in under 16 minutes of game time. Four weeks prior to that, the Nittany Lions’ offense was held scoreless for nearly two quarters against Buffalo after it took a 7-0 lead 10 minutes into that game.
In that game, Penn State’s offense recovered to score 31 points in the final 27 minutes of the game. Against Purdue, it was able to put together a 7-play, 87-yard touchdown drive to get back on track. This weekend, the Nittany Lions connected on a deep shot to break the slump. Clifford hit redshirt sophomore wide receiver K.J. Hamler wide open to extend the team’s lead to 28-14 after the Wolverines scored 14 straight to cut the Penn State lead to a touchdown.
That touchdown proved to be enough to earn the victory, but questions remain about the consistency of the Nittany Lions’ offense. Those questions may not have definitive answers, either. Each player and coach asked about it after Saturday’s game gave a different answer.
Penn State head coach James Franklin said in his postgame press conference that it was a matter of missing shots offensively.
“We missed some shots,” Franklin said,” and I think what happens sometimes is you guys don’t see the shots as they’re called and we get pressured. We get sacked or pressured and things like that.”
Those shot plays are a necessary part of beating Michigan defensively. The Wolverines, under defensive coordinator Don Brown, play mostly man defense with an emphasis on pressuring the quarterback. Franklin has a point, but it still doesn’t explain the extended scoring droughts.
So what happens that causes the droughts? Well, that depends on who you ask.
Clifford said he didn’t have a good answer for why it happens, but is determined to find out why.
“Honestly, I don’t really know,” Clifford said. “I just want to watch the tape. I don’t really know (why that) lull (happened). Obviously we had one, and there’s a lot of things we’re going to be able to correct.”
Redshirt junior center Michal Menet thinks the bigger issue is the execution.
“I think that’s probably the biggest thing,” Menet said. “All 11 not executing how they need to on a given play. Obviously that can bring a huge lull to an offense and kill drives, which it did tonight.”
The offensive lineman said that was the issue against Purdue, and there’s a clear way to fix it.
“I think we just need to hone in on it and have a good mindset going out,” he said. “Whatever happened last drive, let’s say a three-and-out, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t continue to (the next drive).”
While sophomore running back Ricky Slade said he doesn’t know why the extended scoreless stretches happen, he has an idea of how to prevent them in the future.
“(We can) stay more consistent on first and second down,” Slade said. “(We can) get positive yards on first and second down to make that third down a little shorter, so we can have our whole playbook still open.”
Lulls like the ones they’ve endured during the games against Buffalo, Purdue, and now Michigan, are going to be more difficult to come back from against elite teams. In the Big Ten, that means Ohio State.
Whether the issue is missing big plays, execution, early downs, or another problem, the Nittany Lions have five weeks to figure it out before they make the trip to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes.
