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James Franklin caused a little more hand-wringing from Penn State fans on Thursday evening with this proclamation:
“Right now we’re gonna have to play a more conservative style on offense and allow those guys (on the offensive line) to build more confidence,” Franklin said on his weekly radio show.
To give a little more context, Franklin said the goal for Saturday’s home opener against Buffalo was to do a better job of establishing the run. The idea is that any small amount of success for the offensive line might be able to enough to get things rolling in the other direction.
It was surprising this week to hear Franklin say multiple times that he felt that confidence for the offense began draining with the very first sack. It’s evident that there were a lot of mental scars that formed last season, and they won’t be going away.
Also interesting to hear that former Penn State offensive line coach Mac McWhorter stopped by team practice on Thursday to give something of a pep talk, reminding players that the 2012 team he worked with started out 0-2.
According to Franklin, McWhorter previously had plans to return to Happy Valley to take in the home opener, so it wasn’t some last-minute request made after the O-line struggled in the opener.
The Lions will take any help they can get right now.
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BUFFALO (1-0, 0-0 MAC) vs. PENN STATE (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) Noon, Saturday, ESPN2 |
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| QUARTERBACK | ||
| It couldn’t have gone much worse for Hackenberg, who had been a strong starter in his first two seasons. But he went from breaking the school record with 454 yards in the 2014 opener to barely topping 100 last week against Temple. Like the middle of last season, Hackenberg wasn’t particularly sharp, but the blocking and the play-calling gave him little chance of success to begin with. Bulls senior Joe Licata played as a freshman and is now in his third full season as a starter, owning a solid career line of 62 touchdowns to just 22 interceptions. EDGE: PSU |
| RUNNING BACK | ||
| The Lions had the Temple defense off guard for a quarter and they caught LB Tyler Matakevich going the wrong way on Akeel Lynch’s surprisingly easy 42-yard touchdown run. But the run game (and the offense in general) did next to nothing after that score. Hard to run the ball when the defense can figure out exactly what’s coming next. Lynch played his high school ball in suburban Buffalo and should be motivated. The Bulls counter with senior Anthone Taylor, a second-team All-MAC selection who had a strong 2014, topping 200 yards three times. EDGE: PSU |
| RECEIVER | ||
| Five different receivers had at least three catches for the Bulls in their easy win over Albany last week. Like the other skill position spots, Buffalo has plenty of experience here with Ron Willoughby, Marcus McGill and tight end Matt Weiser all in their senior seasons. The Lions have plenty of talent, but it was puzzling to see the passing game dissolve into a mess last weekend with little work in the middle of the field. The Owls showed plenty of man-to-man and PSU’s receivers either couldn’t exploit it or there wasn’t time to get the ball to them. EDGE: PSU |
| OFFENSIVE LINE | ||
| There were plenty of hideous numbers for Penn State last week. But perhaps more disturbing than those 10 sacks allowed was James Franklin’s admission that the unit seemed to lose all confidence after giving up that first one. Very bad news indeed if the group is so fragile. Paris Palmer didn’t look ready for major college ball last week, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Andrew Nelson slid over to play the left side. Buffalo lost a ton of experience to graduation and has a new coaching staff, but PSU doesn’t deserve the nod here right now. EDGE: UB |
| DEFENSIVE LINE | ||
| Believe it or not, there was one very good stat for the Lions from the opener. They rank third in the country in tackles for loss with 15, led by 2.5 apiece from Anthony Zettel and Carl Nassib. In particular, Nassib had a great inaugural start of his career, recording 10 tackles. Penn State struggled a bit when the Owls got QB P.J. Walker on the move, but most every play Temple ran from under center was squashed. The Bulls are adjusting from a 3-4 scheme to a 4-3 under their new staff and only came up with two late sacks last week. EDGE: PSU |
| LINEBACKER | ||
| Just a heartbreaking knee injury to Nyeem Wartman-White, who had been looking forward to playing in his hometown in front of friends and family. Though he has kept a positive outlook on his situation, things are less bright for his teammates, as Penn State lacks an ideal replacement. Gary Wooten was the backup in camp, but the Lions may be better served shifting Jason Cabinda over to the middle and plug in a new face at the weak-side spot. The Lions are just happy that Buffalo no longer has top-five NFL draft pick Khalil Mack leading the linebackers. EDGE: PSU |
| SECONDARY | ||
| Last week’s surprise was true freshman John Reid getting the start at corner because of an injury to Grant Haley. James Franklin said last Saturday he expected Haley back against Buffalo, then labeled him questionable on Tuesday. Reid mostly held his own though he did get badly turned around on Jahad Thomas’ long touchdown run. Safety Marcus Allen uncharacteristically missed a few tackles. There’s room for improvement here. Buffalo is breaking in three new starters and also used a true freshman in the opener with Brandon Stanback at strong safety. EDGE: PSU |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||
| Daniel Pasquariello’s first punt of the season went 55 yards, the second-longest kick of his career. Like the rest of the Lions, his play declined as the game went along and Franklin made it a point to say that it was an issue. Joey Julius got to get some early jitters out of the way by booting a short field goal. Koa Farmer showed some promise on a handful of kick returns. Buffalo is also breaking in a redshirt freshman kicker in Adam Mitcheson, who has a strong high school resume. Punt returner Jacob Martinez had an 86-yard TD return in garbage time. EDGE: UB |
| PREDICTION | ||
| Penn State is dealing with serious issues at offensive line and linebacker right now, and the Lions don’t have a ton of time to figure things out with Rutgers and a solid San Diego State team coming to Happy Valley next. It’s up to the Lions’ coaching staff to settle things down and instill some confidence in this group. Buffalo may have mopped the floor with its FCS opponent last week, but the Bulls are still working through things themselves under Lance Leipold’s new staff, including a big-time overhaul on defense. PENN STATE 31, BUFFALO 17 |
