Changing quarterbacks didn’t help Penn State football’s turnover problem in loss to Iowa
Penn State head coach James Franklin thought he had found the solution — twice.
About 20 minutes before kickoff in Penn State’s 41-21 loss to Iowa on Saturday, redshirt sophomore quarterback Will Levis appeared on the Beaver Stadium video boards with the Nittany Lions’ other starters. It wasn’t much of a surprise that Penn State opted to go with Levis to begin the contest, especially after redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford — the usual starter — had turned the ball over eight times through three-plus games before being benched early in last week’s loss to Nebraska.
But after Levis fumbled early in the second quarter and then again on the Nittany Lions’ first drive of the third quarter, Franklin chose to go back to Clifford. First, he responded by throwing touchdowns on his first two passes. Eventually, though, the same problems persisted. Clifford threw an interception with about 10 minutes left in the game, and then threw another that was returned for a touchdown with about two minutes left — ending any remaining hope of a Penn State comeback.
“The whole reason for the change was the turnovers,” Franklin explained about his decision to start Levis over Clifford. “So I felt like we had to do something to go back to Sean, and it initially helped us, but then the turnovers came back again.”
Turnovers have been a theme this season for the Nittany Lions. And if Franklin and Co. thought the solution would be as easy as swapping out their quarterback, boy, were they wrong.
Through five games, Penn State has turned the ball over 13 times, while its defense has only forced four turnovers. The team has given up a total of 57 points off its miscues. And on Saturday, the Hawkeyes turned the Nittany Lions’ errors into 24 points.
When Iowa defensive lineman Zach VanValkenburg recovered a fumble at Penn State’s 41-yard line off a bad pitch from Levis to freshman running back Keyvone Lee with 9:58 to go until halftime, the Hawkeyes scored a touchdown eight plays later. Then, when Levis was strip sacked two minutes into the third quarter, VanValkenburg jumped on the loose ball again — this time, his team found the end zone 12 plays later.
It wasn’t much different when Clifford was in at quarterback. His two interceptions led to a Hawkeyes field goal with 7:14 left and a 74-yard touchdown return by defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon that put the nail in the coffin with 1:58 remaining.
Junior receiver Jahan Dotson said that the team works on the offense’s ball security and the defense’s ability to force turnovers every day in practice in turnover circuits. He added that during that period, he and his teammates have to try to “go as hard as we can” in order to try to rectify their problems.
“The turnovers, they kill you,” Dotson said. “At that point, you’re beating yourself. So, we’ve gotta take care of the ball moving forward and just worry about sustaining drives.”
While Penn State’s turnovers haven’t solely been on its quarterbacks, Clifford and Levis have combined for 12 of the team’s 13 turnovers this season.
After the loss, Franklin said “there’s no doubt” that he’s concerned about his team’s quarterback situation with both the Nittany Lions’ top two options having repeatedly coughed the ball up. But Dotson, on the other hand, voiced his confidence in both Levis and Clifford.
“I’ve been catching passes from those guys since I was a freshman — both of those guys,” he said. “So we built chemistry over the years — it’s just a matter of execution. We just gotta execute. We’ve gotta do our job, do our assignment, be on time for the quarterbacks. And we know they’re gonna get the ball to us. They’re both more than capable of playing winning football. And we all know that.”
And if Penn State wants a chance to win a single game this season, it must hope Dotson is right.
