The morning after... 45 thoughts on Penn State's 35-31 win over Purdue
Good morning Nittany Nation, I hope everyone is recovering well from last night as Penn State left Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, IN with a 35-31 win over Purdue.
It was a fantastic game from start to finish with plenty of things to talk about. Last night, I provided four brief takeaways from the game. It is simply not enough with that, I've collected 45 thoughts below about Penn State's win on Thursday night.
Offense:
1. I've been writing about college football for over a decade now and I'm not sure there were many tougher games than this one when it comes to trying to find the thoughts and words that would give justice to
2. Sean Clifford wasn't anywhere close to being perfect on Thursday night but at the end of the day, he put together a pretty good game. Yes, the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter were a massive struggle for Clifford but to put those struggles behind going into that final drive and finding a way to win the game was really impressive. Really gutsy effort.. Additionally, if you add in his drops, his stat line looks even better. He can't afford to have costly mistakes as he did with the pick-six and Penn State can't afford him to go into such a tough stretch again either but ultimately he found a way to win the game.
3. It's easy to overreact to Drew Allar's short stint on the field but Penn State fans should be excited about what they saw out of the true freshmen. For the circumstances of when he entered the game, Allar looked calm and collected, the moment wasn't too big for him, and looked really good in the process. He has the special arm talent and looks much improved from the spring, it will be intriguing to see how much he plays next week against Ohio. But based on what we briefly saw against Purdue, Penn State has to feel good about their chances to win games with Allar if Clifford goes down.
4. The Sean Clifford or Drew Allar conversation will be heavy over the next few weeks and it should be. While we've only seen a handful of plays out of Allar, the talent is there. Now, perhaps Allar plays against Ohio and struggles massively, erasing any conversation. That being said, this will be Clifford's job to lose.
5. Let's move to the run game. It wasn't a pretty game on the ground for Penn State and looked much like what we saw last season out of the Nittany Lions. True freshmen Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen showed quite a few flashes in the game and Singleton was a split second from taking his first carry 96-yards for a touchdown. I think once they adapt to the speed of the college game and settle in, they're going to be really special. They also just bring a different dynamic to the offense that Keyvone Lee doesn't. Lee is a quality running back in his own right but is just too slow in hitting holes and lacks that explosiveness that the Penn State offense desperately needs.
6. I believe it's fair to wonder if the running back rotation for Penn State is really in their best interest. While Lee is a solid running back, the aforementioned lack of explosiveness does the offensive line no favors. When they do open holes for him, he just isn't able to hit them fast enough and take advantage of the open space to the max potential. Additionally, at one point or another, you'll have to go with the hot hand. There were no hot hands in the run game on Thursday but if Singleton or Allen give you the best chance to move the ball consistently, you have to continue to feed them.
7. That being said, while they didn't have any explosive plays on the ground, Penn State was able to pick up key yards on multiple short-yard situations. That's something that they weren't able to do much at all last year.
8. Moving onto the offensive line. I thought the offensive line started off strong but struggled as the game progressed. There are definitely improvements there, the Nittany Lions' pass blocking grade received a 77.2 from Pro Football Focus which would've qualified as one of their better performances from last season. There were a few drives they struggled in that instance but for the most part, they were able to give Clifford adequate time to throw the ball. The run blocking as hinted to above still must improve.
9. On the offensive line, I thought Olu Fashanu performed really well and was the Nittany Lions' best offensive linemen against the pass. Could be a pretty special talent on the left side there and it will be intriguing to see how he stacks up against some of the better pass rushers on Penn State's schedule. After checking, PFF graded Fashanu out at 89.9 in terms of his pass blocking on Thursday night. Very impressive.
10. On the other hand, Caedan Wallace once again struggled on Thursday night. That right tackle spot has to be a concern for the coaching staff going forward. Bryce Effner saw 23 snaps at left tackle and played at a quality level, that will be a position to watch going forward.
11. The wide receivers definitely didn't have a game to remember with their fair share of drops. The lack of separation at times and to create a presence downfield will be something to watch as the season progresses.
12. Western Kentucky transfer Mitchell Tinsley had himself a strong performance, his ability to make big plays was on display. Seven receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown. Penn State will take that every week if he could provide it.
13. KeAndre Lambert-Smith had a tough game to start this one with a few drops but overall, he still had himself a quality game. With four receptions for 58-yards and a score. Could be a nice building block game for him.
14. Parker Washington was non-existent in the passing game for the most part on the stat sheet with just two receptions for 30-yards. That being said, his presence still opens up a lot of opportunities for other wide receivers. He should be just fine as the season goes on.
15. I think it's quite notable that on Penn State's final drive, true freshman wide receiver Omari Evans was on the field. He only saw four snaps in the game but that shows the Nittany Lions have quite a bit of trust in the Texas native early on.
16. At tight end, Brenton Strange was solid for the most part. He had two receptions on three targets but his touchdown before the end of the first half was massive for the Nittany Lions and is a major reason they found a way to win this game. Was a very impressive individual effort by Strange. He also had a huge "bush push" type effort on Sean Clifford's rushing touchdown in the first half.
17. Tyler Warren's drop on a perfect pass from Drew Allar was a big one but the Virginia native continues to develop well at the position. Penn State will surely look his way quite a bit this season. He was targeted five times in Thursday night's game and finished with three receptions for 23-yards.
18. I thought Mike Yurcich called a strong game for Penn State. There were plenty of opportunities that they didn't take advantage of and probably should've had upwards of 40+ points in the game.
19. Overall, it wasn't always pretty and there are plenty of issues that need to be fixed but this Penn State offense has a chance to be a high-powered one. The biggest question will be if they can be consistent in doing so.
Defense:
20. It's hard to find a place to start with the defense. On paper and in the boxscore, it wasn't the best of first impressions for Manny Diaz. That being said, I believe there's quite a bit of positive to take away from the defense as well.
21. Let's start with the defensive line, to say that this was a bit of a surprising area of struggle for the Nittany Lions. Pro Football Focus says O'Connell was under pressure 20 times in the game but it certainly didn't feel like it. Either way, before Purdue's final drive of the game, the Nittany Lions weren't able to get home on O'Connell and gave him way too much time to find his open receivers.
22. Against the run, the defensive line wasn't terrible but it wasn't great either. If you take out the two sacks of O'Connell for -17 yards, Purdue averaged 3.9 yards per carry, which Penn State will take but it did feel like the Boilermakers at times were having quite a bit of success on picking up some yardage on the ground.
23. However, the run game success Purdue had wasn't necessarily on the play calls by Manny Diaz but Penn State's extremely poor game in wrapping up ballcarriers. Way too many missed tackles for the Nittany Lions on Thursday night.
24. In terms of individual efforts on the defensive line I thought Chop Robinson showed quite a bit of promise, he was one of the few defensive linemen getting pressure on O'Connell and was a second away from having a sack to close out the game but in all intents and purposes did as Aiden O'Connell barely got the ball away as a last-ditch effort. I don't think it will be long before Robinson supplants Nick Tarburton as the starter on the right side of the defensive line.
25. Adisa Isaac for the most part looked like a defensive end playing in his first game in a long time. There were some positive moments for him in the game including being solid against the run, helping lock down the left side of the defensive line. Senior defensive tackle PJ Mustipher was rather quiet in the game as well with just one tackle but looked solid for the most part, could be a case of just having to knock off the rust there.
26. The linebacker room entering the season was an area of concern and it will continue to be so following Thursday's win.
27. Jonathan Sutherland had himself a solid game overall and while he'll get beat at times throughout the season should at the least be a stable presence. The ceiling isn't high with him but the floor should be high enough.
28. Tyler Elsdon and Kobe King both had their fair share of ups and downs in this one, middle linebacker is going to continue to be a major concern. Curtis Jacobs was solid but nothing more in the game, he had five tackles and one quarterback hurry in the process.
29. Felt really bad for Abdul Carter and being ejected on the first snap of his career for targeting. By the book, it seemed to be the right call but that doesn't make it a good call either. It was a bang-bang play and it wasn't clear live if the ball was even a forward pass.
30. The secondary had its fair share of ups and downs. On paper, they gave up 356 passing yards but you also have to look beyond the superficial stats.'
31. Purdue threw the ball 58 times in the game, that's by far the most Penn State will see all season. Yes, they did allow a handful of big chunk plays with nine of 15+ yards that accounted for 191 of O'Connell's 356 passing yards. They'll have to clean that up but for the most part, I thought they did a solid job of keeping the Purdue vertical passing game limited. On throws of 20+ yards, O'Connell was just 1-for-9 for 30-yards, Manny Diaz and the rest of the defensive staff will take that every day of the week.
32. Additionally, I thought Penn State did really well on the outside as well, O'Connell was 3-for-18 when throwing to either sideline in the game. Though like the deep ball, Purdue not targeting the sidelines was definitely a part of their game plan. But when they did target the sidelines, Penn State's secondary stood the test.
33. That being said, across the middle was a different story. That's where O'Connell and Purdue's offense thrived. O'Connell was 24-for-35 for 267-yards on passing attempts between the numbers up to 10-yards. The Boilermakers were targeting Penn State's linebackers throughout the entire night and taking advantage of the Nittany Lions' zone defense underneath. Expect opposing offenses to continue to target the middle of the field throughout the season
34. Joey Porter Jr was targeted 17 times on Thursday night which is an insane amount of times to target a team's top cornerback. He ended up giving up just eight receptions for 88 yards while forcing six incompletions including five pass breakups in the process. He also dropped at least two interceptions including one that would've likely been a pick-six early on for the Nittany Lions.
35. The rest of the secondary had up and down games, they made key plays when needed. They'll have to clean up quite a bit but on paper don't face a high-powered passing offense until October which should work to their advantage.
36. Zakee Wheatley was the turnover king both in spring and fall camp for the Nittany Lions, he showed why on the defense's last drive of the first half, forcing a massive fumble that eventually led to seven points for Penn State. The Nittany Lions' coaching staff is very high on the redshirt freshman and we saw why on that play.
37. Cornerback and former South Carolina Gamecock Johnny Dixon got beat a few times on Thursday night and was called for defensive pass interference at one point but overall had himself a solid game. He was targeted seven times and allowed three receptions for 49-yards but also showed really good ball skills throughout and had a huge sack on the Boilermakers' final drive.
38. Overall, the defensive stats weren't pretty but they did enough to win the game. They only surrendered 24 points against a good Purdue offense and when they needed big stops down the stretch they got just that. In the fourth quarter, Penn State's defense kept Purdue to just 65 total yards including 7-of-20 through the air and 2-for-6 on the third downs. A lot to clean up but there's quite a bit I believe you can walk with and feel good about going forward.
Special Teams
39. I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of Barney Amour in game action but the former Colgate punter was superb. He averaged 46.9 yards on his eight punts and pinned Purdue inside their own 20 three times, he also had a perfect punt that should've been downed at the one-yard line but was knocked into the endzone by the Nittany Lions' punt team.
40. Jake Pinegar's career at Penn State has always had ups and downs but he was perfect in extra point attempts on Saturday with five solid kicks. We'll see how he does when his number is called for an actual field goal attempt but it was a good start to his season.
41. Gabriel Nwosu is a massive human being and he has the leg to go with it. The ball simply explodes off his foot. Sander Sahaydak was solid in his own right on his kickoff opportunities.
Overall:
42. If you're a Penn State fan, this is a game where you just take the win, be happy about it, and move. The Nittany Lions play at home for the first time next week against Ohio in what should be a much easier matchup. Yes, there are a lot of improvements that need to be made but a gutsy win like this could instill a lot of confidence team and could go a long way this season.
43. We didn't mention it above but Purdue's Charlie Jones is going to be a star in the Big Ten this season and could become a really nice wide receiver at the NFL level as well. Penn State had no answers for him on Thursday night.
44. As mentioned above, Ohio should be a much easier matchup for Penn State next weekend. The kickoff for that game is set for 12:00 p.m. on ABC.
45. Finally, whether you're a Penn State fan, a Purdue fan, or just a fan of college football in general, I think we can all agree that was a terrific hard-fought battle. Was most definitely way more fun for non-Penn State fans and Purdue fans but it had a little bit of everything and the drama went right down to the end.
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