The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State’s 39-24 win over Michigan State
Before the 2020 season began, James Franklin thought he knew his team. Penn State’s seventh-year head coach looked around the Nittany Lions’ practice facility in early August and saw the makings of a national contender.
Then, the personnel losses piled up — star linebacker Micah Parsons opted out, running back Journey Brown was forced to medically retire, running back Noah Cain went down with a season-ending injury and tight end Pat Freiermuth had season-ending surgery.
But recently, Franklin has found ways to win with the group he has available. That allowed Penn State to rattle off its third consecutive victory on Saturday — 39-24 over Michigan State in Beaver Stadium — since starting the season 0-5.
“We had to (learn to) play very differently,” Franklin said. “And it took us a little bit of time to find our rhythm.”
Franklin added that he’s seen his team get back to its “identity” over the last three games. And that’s been the biggest difference for the Nittany Lions.
“Over the last seven years, we’ve overcome adversity,” Franklin said. “We’ve played great second-half football; we’ve blown people out; we’ve had comebacks — we’ve had all different types of wins, and a lot of them. And over the last three weeks, we’ve gotten back to that identity.”
GOOD
Second-half turnaround: When Penn State found itself down 21-10 at halftime against Michigan State, the script seemed all too familiar.
The Nittany Lions had trailed at the break in five games prior to Saturday and had gone 0-5 in that stretch. Oftentimes, the holes that Penn State dug itself into early in games would be too deep for the team to climb out of. Halftime deficits of 10 points versus Indiana, 15 points versus Ohio State, 21 points versus Maryland, 21 points versus Nebraska and 17 points versus Iowa all proved to be too much.
But against the Spartans, the Nittany Lions completely turned things around and took control of the contest early in the second half.
Penn State scored on its first drive of the second half — on an 8-yard touchdown pass from redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford to freshman receiver Parker Washington — to cut Michigan State’s lead to three points. From there, the Nittany Lions defense only allowed the Spartans to score one field goal, while their offense tacked on three more touchdowns.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Will Levis had a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the final seconds of the third quarter and Washington caught a 49-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Then, junior receiver Jahan Dotson returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown with 11 minutes left in the game to put the nail in the coffin.
Penn State outscored Michigan State 29-3 in the second half. The Nittany Lions also had 232 yards of total offense after halftime, compared to the Spartans’ 147.
Franklin said he didn’t “say a whole lot” to his team at halftime, but rather emphasized “subtle adjustments” that the group needed to make. Whatever approach Franklin took, it worked.
WR Jahan Dotson bounces back: Heading into Saturday’s contest against Michigan State, Dotson had two back-to-back quiet outings versus Michigan (three catches for 30 yards) and Rutgers (four catches for 30 yards).
Before those two games, the 5-foot-11, 182-pound Nazareth native had posted three games of 100-plus receiving yards (144 yards against Ohio State, 123 against Maryland and 139 against Iowa) through Penn State’s first five contests.
On Saturday, Dotson was back to looking like Clifford’s No. 1 target and one of the best receivers in the Big Ten. He caught eight passes for 108 yards and had an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown.
During Penn State’s first drive of the second half, Dotson had three catches — for 16, 12 and nine yards — to allow the Nittany Lions to march into Spartans territory. Eventually, Clifford hit Washington on an eight-yard touchdown pass — a play that brought Penn State within three points of Michigan State.
Then, in the fourth quarter, Dotson had his punt-return touchdown. The score extended the Nittany Lions’ lead to 15 points with 11:24 to go in the contest and all but put the game away.
The junior receiver now leads the Big Ten in receiving yards (695), is second in receptions (46) and is tied for third in receiving touchdowns (six).
After being Penn State’s third receiving option — behind second-round NFL Draft pick K.J. Halmer and Freiermuth — in 2019, Dotson has demonstrated this season that he’s fit to be one of the leaders of the Nittany Lions’ offense.
WR Parker Washington continues to shine as a freshman: Even if Dotson leaves for the NFL after this season, Penn State’s receiving corps is in good hands because of Washington.
The freshman has been a reliable target for Clifford all season. Out of the Nittany Lions’ eight games so far, Washington has had five outings with 70-plus receiving yards. And on Saturday, he had a career-best performance.
Washington caught four passes for a career-high 95 yards and two touchdowns.
He scored in timely moments, too. On Penn State’s first drive of the third quarter, Washington caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Clifford, cutting his team’s deficit to just three points and shifting the momentum of the contest.
His biggest play of the game came early in the fourth quarter. With a little over 12 minutes left to play, Clifford dropped back and pump-faked before hitting Washington near the right side of the field. Washington brushed off one defender and out-ran another on his way to the end zone for a 49-yard touchdown that gave the Nittany Lions an eight-point lead.
The 5-foot-10, 205-pound Sugar Land, Texas, native is eighth in the Big Ten in receiving yards (473), tied for eighth in receptions (35) and tied for third in receiving touchdowns (six).
A former four-star prospect in the Class of 2020, according to 247Sports, Washington was thrust into a sizable role for a freshman this season — and he’s delivered.
BAD
Running game: In Penn State’s two wins leading up to its game against Michigan State on Saturday, its running game had become the focal point of its offense.
The Nittany Lions ran for 254 yards against Michigan and 248 yards against Rutgers. Freshman running back Kevyone Lee led the way on the ground in both of those contests — rushing for 134 yards versus the Wolverines and 95 yards versus the Scarlet Knights.
But against the Spartans, the Nittany Lions’ rushing attack wasn’t effective. Penn State ran for just 119 yards and averaged 3 yards per carry.
Lee had only 31 rushing yards on 12 carries (2.6 yards per rush), while sophomore running back Devyn Ford didn’t play because of an undisclosed injury or medical issue.
Clifford led the way on the ground with 48 rushing yards on nine carries (5.3 yards per rush) and a touchdown. The redshirt junior quarterback ran for a 31-yard score with 10 minutes left in the second quarter to give the Nittany Lions their first touchdown of the game.
Levis — who led the team in carries with 15 — scored the second of Penn State’s two rushing touchdowns of the afternoon. With two seconds left in the third quarter, he plowed his way into the end zone for a 1-yard rushing touchdown that gave the Nittany Lions a one-point lead headed into the final quarter of play.
The good news is that Penn State proved it can win without having a big game on the ground. Still, the team will need its rushing attack to again be formidable to avoid being one-dimensional in the future.
UGLY
A slow start: After Penn State’s first two wins of the season — against Michigan and Rutgers — it would’ve been safe to assume that the slow starts that plagued the team in its 0-5 start were a thing of the past.
On Saturday, though, that proved to not be the case.
The Spartans first-time starting quarterback Payton Thorne had a field day against the Nittany Lions’ secondary in the first half. By halftime, he had already totaled 202 yards through the air on 11-13 passing (10-10 in the second quarter), three touchdowns and an interception.
Penn State failed to get any substantial amount of pressure on Thorne, and he made the Nittany Lions pay. Some of Thorne’s throws looked effortless — like his 45-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter that was delivered on the money to receiver Jalen Nailor.
Michigan State had totaled 242 yards of offense at the break, compared to Penn State’s 173 yards. Clifford had also thrown for only 92 yards in the first half.
Though the Nittany Lions ended up making a turnaround, their sluggish start was certainly a bit concerning.
After the game, redshirt senior defensive end Shaka Toney said he “really can’t” put his finger on the reasons for Penn State’s poor first-half performances throughout this season. The slow starts have been less of a concern as of late, but the Nittany Lions will need to make sure that they find a remedy to that problem moving forward.
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 5:40 PM.
