Devyn Ford (28) and the Nittany Lions have found no room to run through three games heading into Saturday’s basement brawl with Nebraska.
Barry Reeger | AP photo
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Out of reflex, James Franklin answered a simple “How are you” before a question at a news conference.
“Good,” the Penn State coach said.
A moment later, he interrupted the ensuing question.
“I shouldn’t have said that,” Franklin said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m good. All things considered, again, blessed and good. But that’s probably not an honest answer. But I appreciate you asking.”
It’s been that kind of year for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State’s stunning 0-3 start had more bad news piled on top of it this week with the announcement that top running back Journey Brown is retiring from football because of a serious heart condition.
One of the few positives this weekend is that the Lions are playing at all, as they have avoided any COVID-19 outbreaks on their way out to face another winless traditional power in Nebraska on Saturday.
The program got a scare early in the week when last week’s opponent, Maryland, began reporting positive tests on its roster. Eight positives were announced on Wednesday, forcing the Terrapins to cancel their game with Ohio State.
But Franklin said Wednesday evening that his team hasn’t had any similar issues, and the Lions boarded their flight to Lincoln as scheduled on Friday afternoon.
Now the trick is figuring out a way to play something resembling a complete game, something that hasn’t happened the first three weeks of the season. Penn State has trailed at halftime by two scores in each game, with the low point of a 28-7 deficit last week against the Terps, a game in which the Lions were favored by four touchdowns.
Against the Cornhuskers, they will take something — anything — to feel good about themselves again to try and spark a turnaround.
“We have to get back to having fun,” said running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, who has lost not only Brown but No. 2 rusher Noah Cain (ankle) for the season. “We have good players. We still know how to freakin’ coach. We just gotta do it. It’s time for us to hit the switch and do it together — all in, players and coaches.”
His boss agreed.
“This has been a challenging year,” Franklin said. “There are things behind the scenes going on that are very difficult. The year’s not over and we have an opportunity to experience some joy on Saturday. That’s where all of our focus and energy is at.”
THREE AND OUT
Getting back together
To that end, Penn State held its first in-person team meetings of the season on Tuesday. Franklin said he was looking to build some of the chemistry and camaraderie that has been lost because of COVID-19 concerns while still following state health protocols.
Whereas coaches and players have been meeting exclusively by virtual meetings outside of practice, Franklin brought in a few portions of the roster at a time to the team’s wide-open Holuba Hall practice facility just to get some face time with each other.
“It was a change I felt I needed to make,” Franklin said. “Talking on Zoom sessions every single day to the team, it doesn’t have the same type of effect.
“Tuesday (after meeting in person), that was the best practice we’ve had this year. … I felt as connected with the team on Tuesday as I’ve felt in awhile. … They felt better and I know I felt better getting up in front of them face to face.”
Repairing the run game
Turning the season around may start with the intangibles, but there’s plenty of more work to be done out on the field.
Of Penn State’s many flaws this season, the lack of any consistent run game has been perhaps the biggest, as defenses have been able to tee off on quarterback Sean Clifford.
With Brown and Cain out, Clifford has been the Lions’ leading rusher. The running backs — sophomore Devyn Ford and true freshmen Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee — have just one touchdown between them, and that came when Indiana intentionally allowed Ford to score, which ultimately led to a Lions loss.
“It’s tough — I’m not gonna sugarcoat it,” Seider said. “You try to put on the best face that you can to move forward. I tell the guys all the time, the game of football never tells you it’s sorry for anything.
“Whether injury happens or a turnover here and there, whatever happens in football, football doesn’t apologize to you. As a coach, I can’t sit down and feel sorry for myself — I lost Journey, I lost Noah — because this is not fair to the young guys who are going to need that extra attention.”
While the Lions’ offensive line has not distinguished itself in the first three games, it’s also striking that the running backs aren’t gaining yards after contact, nor are they making defenders miss.
“The O-line’s job is to cover guys up. Our job is to make plays,” Seider said. “Whether that means breaking a tackle or getting a guy in open space and winning, we’ve got to do a better job of that. I’m never going to put the O-line under the bus, and I’m never going to make excuses for what we do in this room.”
QB conundrum
Clifford played the entire game against Maryland, throwing a program record 57 times. Two late touchdowns with the game out of reach made the numbers look better than they were — Clifford missed on 20 of his first 30 passes.
Backup Will Levis made brief cameos for designed short-yardage run plays against Indiana but fumbled in the red zone on one of them. Odds are that Levis could see the field in some capacity on Saturday.
“We need to get him involved in a lot of different ways, to help Sean out and also to continue investing in Will,” Franklin said. “I think you’ll see that moving forward. Not just this week, but for the rest of the season.”
Nebraska, meanwhile, is already freely rotating its quarterbacks between veteran Adrian Martinez and newcomer Luke McCaffrey, younger brother of Carolina Panthers star Christian and son of former Denver Broncos standout Ed.
Martinez and McCaffrey are the top two rushers for the Huskers through two games, but neither has thrown a touchdown pass this season.