How Penn State football’s offense clicked in the second half on its way to victory over No. 12 Wisconsin
Jahan Dotson hauled in a pass at the six-yard line, turned to his right, saw nobody in range and trotted into the end zone. The senior leader for Penn State football put his finger to his mouth and looked around at the surrounding Badger fans at Camp Randall Stadium Saturday afternoon.
“Shhhhhh,” the move told 76,832 fans looking on.
The touchdown wasn’t the continuation of success.
Rather, it was the conclusion of a drive where things finally clicked for a Penn State offense that struggled in the first half but came together in the second to help earn the No. 19 Nittany Lions a 16-10 victory over the No. 12 Badgers in their season opener.
Dotson felt a special joy in the touchdown and the silence that ensued
“It was good,” he said. “They had a packed house out here today. It was fun. There was a lot of excitement.”
The score was well-earned for the senior receiver, who racked up five catches for 102 yards and that touchdown on 11 targets in the game. Like the rest of the offense, Dotson struggled to get going in the first half.
He only had three catches for 11 yards going into the locker room against mostly man coverage from Wisconsin senior cornerback Faion Hicks, but the senior never doubted what was to come.
“Going into halftime, we knew that we hadn’t played our best football yet,” Dotson said. “We were able to come out after halftime and use some tempo a little bit to help us get a little boost forward. ... (Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich) is literally a mastermind. He has an answer for every situation we’re in. He said in the locker room that he’s got us. We had his back. We knew he was going to put us in great situations to make plays and that’s what he did.”
That message wasn’t isolated to Dotson, either. Whether it was the senior receiver, redshirt senior quarterback Sean Clifford or junior running back Noah Cain, seemingly every offensive player for the Nittany Lions knew there was something lingering. Whether it was in the third quarter or fourth quarter, something was going to click.
That type of confidence is as big of a part of Yurcich as his usually prolific offenses are. The Nittany Lions’ newest offensive coordinator was calm, cool and collected when he spoke to his unit at the half.
“He’s a really good coach,” Clifford said. “He didn’t blink an eye. He just told us, ‘it’s just a matter of time.’ And that’s really how this is. ... We just needed that momentum to get us going. And once we hit it, it was awesome.”
Clifford was even surprised by how Yurcich reacted to the half. The coach is usually involved and fiery in practice, not afraid to call out his players when something was amiss.
But Saturday was different. There was still fire, but even more confidence.
“He was calm,” Clifford said. “He was fiery and he was excited, but at the same time, the same way that all of us thought, we really knew that once we hit that first one it was gonna start. ... He was on the same page as us. He knew that we were close, that we were one play away.”
The confidence paid off. The contrast between the two halves was stark for Penn State. The offense could barely move the ball against Wisconsin’s stout defense in the beginning. They struggled to run, they struggled to pass, they struggled to block and they struggled to get open to the tune of earning only one first down and 43 total yards in the game’s first 30 minutes.
The second half couldn’t have been more different. They racked up 254 total yards and 10 first downs, gashing the Badgers with big play after big play. In fact, all three scoring drives included a play of at least 40 yards in it.
The Dotson touchdown to open the scoring was from 49 yards out. The team’s third quarter field goal came after sophomore receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith caught a 52-yard pass from Clifford. The game’s final touchdown occurred not long after Clifford hit Dotson for a 42-yard gain.
That’s the type of explosiveness Penn State head coach James Franklin was hoping to see from his offense, even though the group left more opportunities on the table.
“The explosive plays get the ball down the field to (Jahan),” Franklin said. “That was big. We probably could have hit a few more. We’ll get that cleaned up.”
Now, the question is no longer about whether the Penn State offense is good enough to beat good teams. Saturday proved that. The unit only put together a half of good football and still managed to do enough to earn the victory over what will likely be an elite Wisconsin defense.
The question now is, can this offense be good? Good enough can win games against very good opponents on the road, especially when Penn State’s defense is as good as it is.
But to beat elite teams — teams like Ohio State — the offense can’t be good enough. It has to be great. It has to hit on almost all of its big plays. Time will tell if it can reach that point before Penn State travels to Columbus in late October.
For now it is good enough. And good enough just helped the Nittany Lions knock off the No. 12 team in the country in a hostile environment.
