What can we learn about Penn State football against Villanova? Here are Saturday’s 2 key matchups
Penn State football is off to a 3-0 start and Saturday’s opponent isn’t exactly primed to knock the Nittany Lions out of the ranks of the undefeated. The Villanova Wildcats will take on Penn State at noon Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
Here are the two key matchups in the game between the two Pennsylvania schools.
Jon Sauber: Penn State QB Ta’Quan Roberson vs. the Villanova defense
Villanova isn’t winning this game, and they probably aren’t keeping it close. So this is more about learning more about Penn State than determining how it can win on Saturday. There isn’t a position we can learn more about in this game than backup quarterback, and that means Ta’Quan Roberson.
Roberson has seen very few snaps of game action, even though he’s in his third year on campus. This will be his first opportunity to see a quarter of game time, if not more. Redshirt senior starter Sean Clifford should be able to lead the Penn State offense up and down the field against Villanova and that should put Roberson in the game relatively early.
Sure, Villanova isn’t the stiffest competition for Roberson to face, but at this point it would be a major benefit for the Nittany Lions to get him snaps against any opponent. In fact, facing a weaker opponent could be of even greater benefit for him. It should allow him to adjust to game action and give him a greater margin for error. That will let him get into a rhythm and grow his confidence, a major positive as he prepares for a situation that could warrant him getting onto the field in more important situations down the road.
Roberson has flashed good, but not great, arm strength in open practices with his decision-making lagging behind his accuracy and overall arm talent. He has flashed the necessary decision-making to be a starting quarterback at this level, but needs to do it more consistently to earn himself a starter spot down the line.
This will be an excellent opportunity for him to succeed, given the level of competition, and an excellent opportunity for Penn State to learn what it has at quarterback. If Roberson takes the field Saturday and shows he’s a decisive signal caller who can hit his playmakers in open space and make plays, while also checking down when he needs to, it would be a great success for him and for the Nittany Lions. If he doesn’t have that type of success, and struggles against the Wildcats when he sees game action, it will be just as valuable for the Nittany Lions. It will tell them they need him to develop more before he’s ready to be the guy at the Big Ten level.
Kyle J. Andrews: Run defense vs Villanova’s running backs
As much as people want to look at this game as a surefire win — it should be — there is an area where Penn State’s defense could look to improve and get back on track. That’s the run defense, a unit that gave up 184 yards to Auburn’s star-studded backfield in Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter. Bigsby led the way with 23 carries for 102 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Hunter had nine carries for 63 yards, averaging seven yards per carry.
Villanova, ranked the No. 11 Football Championship Subdivision team, has a strong running game of its own. The 3-0 Wildcats have already rushed 112 times for 640 yards in three games with six touchdowns. They’re averaging 5.71 yards per carry on the ground, which is nothing to sneeze at. Star running back Justin Covington is averaging seven yards per carry on 44 rushes for 307 yards and two touchdowns. He’s one of five rushers on the team that average over five yards per carry.
As for Penn State’s defense, they have a chance to get back on track with physical play at the point of attack and the ability to set the edge on rushes. It shouldn’t be much of an issue in the trenches with PJ Mustipher playing as well as he did against Auburn’s rush, with an 84.7 Pro Football Focus grade, and he also had four tackles in the game. Derrick Tangelo played very well, too, with three tackles and a fumble recovery with a 73.8 tackling grade from PFF.
If they play as well as most think they can against Villanova, it should be a very easy day for the Nittany Lions defense. Maybe it’ll be an opportunity to get some freshmen involved who haven’t seen much game action to this point.
This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 2:37 PM.
