Penn State vs. Bowling Green: Final thoughts and analysis of the Nittany Lions’ home opener
Penn State will host its home opener Saturday afternoon when it takes on Bowling Green. The Nittany Lions will take on the Falcons in Beaver Stadium in Week 2 of the college football season. Here are some final thoughts and predictions ahead of the Nittany Lions’ matchup with BGSU.
Wide receivers should get opportunities
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar only targeted two wide receivers in Saturday’s win over West Virginia, but that number should tick up quite a bit against Bowling Green. The Nittany Lions will have more reason to rotate in receivers in a game they can reasonably expect to win by a significant margin, but even if that weren’t the case, they should be able to increase the number of wideouts who get involved in the passing game. Tre Wallace and Omari Evans were the only two targeted against the Mountaineers, but Liam Clifford and Julian Fleming also saw a significant number of snaps at the position and should be more involved this weekend. Not to mention, Anthony Ivey and Tyler Johnson — who each played fewer than 10 offensive snaps against WVU — should also get extra time.
Add all of that, and the potential return of Kaden Saunders to the offense after dealing with an injury, and it should create more distribution in the passing game. That’s going to be especially important over the next month of home games as the Nittany Lions try to determine how many of their receivers they can trot out against the likes of USC and Ohio State — when the offense will need multiple weapons on the outside to succeed.
Rotation on offensive line
One of the surprises of the season opener was how little Nolan Rucci played at right tackle after he competed with Anthony Donkoh for the starting job during the preseason. Penn State head coach James Franklin previously said that both would get time on the field, but it was Donkoh who dominated snaps at the position for the Nittany Lions. That should change this weekend in a matchup with lower stakes. There will be more incentive to rotate in some of the offensive linemen against a team that will not be able to stay with Penn State in the trenches.
That applies to Rucci, but also to interior offensive linemen like Cooper Cousins and JB Nelson — although Nelson can also play tackle. It could also mean reps for J’ven Williams, who can play guard or tackle and has a chance to be a strong part of the team’s offensive line in the future. It would not be a surprise to see all four of those players rotating in much more heavily than they did against West Virginia in order to see how they play with the usual group of starters.
Young players take center stage
This is going to be the team’s first opportunity to play youth across the board, and it would be a surprise if the coaching staff didn’t take advantage. The Nittany Lions will likely go up early and pull away from the Falcons relatively quickly, giving the team’s backups ample time to get snaps. Some of those will be players with roles who didn’t rotate in much against WVU — like cornerbacks Elliot Washington II and Zion Tracy and linebacker Ta’Mere Robinson — but will likely need to play at some point later this season as the team reaches into its depth.
There will also be players who could potentially redshirt, like running backs Quinton Martin Jr. and Corey Smith, who can utilize this matchup as one of their four games played that they’re allowed while still redshirting. This could be one of the very few opportunities fans have to watch these players take part in a game in Beaver Stadium this year — giving them a glimpse into what the future of the program could look like.
Final predictions
Penn State 52, Bowling Green 7: I highly doubt Bowling Green is going to score more than once (if at all) against Penn State’s starting defense, so this is just a matter of figuring out if the Falcons can do it against the team’s backups. I’ll say they get the backups once and the Nittany Lion offense is humming early, leaving the result obvious very early in this one.
MVP: Beau Pribula. Pribula saw the field a good bit against West Virginia, but should get a full quarter exclusively at quarterback if this is as much of a blowout as I think it will be. He’ll get reps at various positions early, then shine late as the signal caller, totaling three touchdowns — two through the air and one on the ground.
The last word
Penn State head coach James Franklin on offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s Penn State debut
“Yeah, I think it was good. It was good. I think he did a really good job. Obviously when you’re able to do the things that we were able to do in this game on offense, in terms of running the ball, in terms of throwing the ball, in terms of explosive plays, it’s definitely something to build on. And then also the fact that we were able to create touchdowns and not turn the ball over. Touchdown to interception ratio, that continues to be a strength of ours. Drew has done a really good job of that last year and started out this year the right way. Yeah, I think there is a ton of excitement. I think you guys have heard me say before it’s been more balanced during all training camp. It was more balanced in the West Virginia game as well. So, yeah, a lot of the excitement and a ton to build on.”
