The Nittany Lions [did stuff] against Bowling Green, who started the game pretty well. After the first half, however, the Lions took over. Here are your takeaways.
Bowling Green came out guns blazing in their first drive, and immediately scored a touchdown to open the game. The Falcons didn’t even try to run the ball in that first series, and caught the defense napping in the early kickoff. The Lions began to settle in the second quarter, but some ill-timed penalties on the Nittany Lions allowed Bowling Green to get a field goal, then a touchdown. All of a sudden, Bowling Green was up 17-7 early in the second quarter, and would go into the half up four, 24-20.
Halftime adjustments took effect and the Lions held the Falcons to three second half points, allowing them to build enough of a lead finally put the game away in the fourth.
A Defense in Transition
For the last two seasons, the biggest complaint against Manny Diaz’s attacking style was that, while they created a lot of negative plays, they were susceptible to to a big play at any point, most often on critical downs. This defensive approach won’t give up many big plays, instead opting to make teams drive the field. But, watching opponents get first down after first down as they march down the field could become tiresome.
As frustrating as that performance was from the defense, Penn State clamped down in the second half and finished the game strong. This had all markings of an “anything that can go wrong will go wrong” type of game —penalties, a muffed punt that nearly cost Penn State, defensive breakdowns, you name it. Yet, Penn State found a way to win, and that’s all that matters.
Offense Carries the Load
As Bowling Green did almost everything they wanted on offense, we could rest assured that the Nittany Lions own offensive outfit would keep them in the game. That’s not something we would have said last season.
Penn State's offense hasn't had to answer a game-opening touchdown drive in nearly three years, which clearly caught its attention. The Nittany Lions scored touchdowns on two of their first three possessions, including a 3-play, 75-yard drive, and got huge days from their running backs and tight end. Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen turned in tandem 100-yard games for the second time in their careers and averaged 8.1 per carry together. These two are back, particuarly Singleton, who already has three carries of 40+ yards this season (he had none last year).
The Second Half Turning Point
So that was a great second half, which evidently began with new coordinator Tom Allen telling the group in his raspiest voice, “It’s a dogfight.” Should it have been? Yes, Bowling Green has an experienced quarterback in Connor Bazelak, a big, physical line and a tight end in Harold Fannin Jr. who is Warren’s MAC equivalent. Still, a 24-point first half was shocking. Nobody did that to Penn State last year. Heck, only one team scored more than 24 on the Nittany Lions all of 2023 (Ole Miss against an opt-out depleted secondary in the Peach Bowl).
Several defensive players said postgame that their urgency and energy weren’t present early. No kidding. But Allen took care of that at halftime, which seems an important lesson. Franklin also has to get in the team’s face about penalties. After committing eight last week, the Nittany Lions had seven Saturday. That includes two more offside calls on the defense, bringing the total to six in two games.
Penn State’s four-man front isn’t generating consistent, forceful pressure, the tackling was much worse than last week and the highly praised secondary was gashed. But some coverage adjustments, better tackling and a bit more fire highlighted Penn State’s far superior second half. Of note: Starting safety KJ Winston, a signature defensive player, did not play in the second half.
The Penn State crowd white-knuckled this one until late in the fourth quarter, not where they expected to be for a home opener. As a self-contained entity, this game was shaggy. As a data point in a long season, maybe it won’t matter. “We needed something to test us,” defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said. The Nittany Lions got it. Let’s see how they respond.
