Here are 5 takeaways from No. 6 Penn State football’s 38-17 victory over Villanova
Penn State dropped Villanova 38-17 in a game that probably got bit too close — score wise — for head coach James Franklin’s liking.
With a 31-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter, Penn State allowed 14 points in the fourth quarter. While the lead was pretty comfortable, the Nittany Lions should have been able to continue stacking points on the board against a lesser opponent — even with its backups playing. Nevertheless, they are 4-0, but it will give Franklin and company a ton of things to review heading into an important Big Ten game versus Indiana at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday at home.
Here are five takeaways from Penn State’s 38-17 victory over Villanova.
John Lovett is a starting caliber running back
While Lovett missed the first two games of the season due to undisclosed reasons, he’s more than made up for the lost time. Even in his two carries for nine yards against Auburn on 4.5 yards per pop, Lovett looked like a nice change of pace back to the likes of Noah Cain, Keyvonne Lee and Devyn Ford.
Lovett had 11 carries for 45 yards on 4.1 yards per carry this Saturday. He looked sturdy and continued to push himself forward in every rush. If Penn State continues to feed him the ball, the running game could improve significantly.
The offensive line continues to struggle in the run game
Penn State’s offensive line has struggled in the running game this season. In the first game against Wisconsin, Penn State rushed 18 times for 50 yards and one touchdown with just 2.8 yards per carry. Things looked far better in the following game against Ball State with the Nittany Lions rushing 48 times for 240 yards and two touchdowns on five yards per carry. Auburn was another tough running game, with 33 rushes for 83 yards and two touchdowns and 2.5 yards per carry.
And Villanova, a Football Bowl Subdivision team, still held Penn State’s rushing attack to 80 yards on 34 carries, averaging just 2.35 yards per carry. It’s an ongoing problem that has yet to be solved by the Nittany Lions offensive line, which can seemingly not get much forward push in the running game. Linebackers often run free. Players are left unblocked. It could be Mike Yurcich’s scheme, but the more likely situation is that the offensive line is just struggling at run blocking. However, they’ve been elite at pass blocking for the past two weeks.
Penn State needs to start stronger against lesser opponents
It was clear that Villanova wasn’t a match against Penn State all game. Despite that, Penn State only had a 17-3 lead at the half, with most of its starters still playing. If Penn State wants to remain in the College Football Playoff conversation, it’s time to add style points to inch up in the Associated Press poll. While winning is ultimately what matters, putting up big numbers next week against Indiana, coupled with a win over Iowa, is what the Nittany Lions will need to do to jump non-conference schools like No. 3 Oregon, No. 2 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama.
Sean Clifford had his statistically strongest passing game, yet he could have played better
If one would look at the box score, they’d marvel at Clifford’s play against Villanova. They’d see that he went 19-for-26 on passes for 401 passing yards, four touchdowns and an interception. The interception, however, wasn’t his fault — it was a bobbled ball off of the hands of wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith. What they wouldn’t see if they didn’t watch the game would be Clifford’s skittish play in the pocket.
Clifford made his reads downfield, but wouldn’t check the ball off to running backs or tight ends. He held onto the ball too long. It’s not that Clifford played particularly poorly, but after his 28-for-32, 280-yard, two-touchdown passing performance against Auburn last week on national television, it seemed like a down performance.
But at the end of the day, he still got the job done and put up gaudy numbers. That’s all that matters in the end and he has a chance to keep building with a victory over Big Ten opponent Indiana at home under the lights next Saturday.
Wildcat formation against the Wildcats was a nice touch
Nittany Lions tight end Tyler Warren entered the game at quarterback once again on the goal line. The former high school quarterback punched the ball in from three yards out on the goal line for his second rushing touchdown of the year. It was his third rushing attempt of the season, his first two coming against Auburn. Maybe soon Penn State will break out Warren as a passer on the goal line.
This story was originally published September 25, 2021 at 4:19 PM.
