The noise coming out of Happy Valley has been an annual occurrence, on the heels of another Penn State defeat at the hands of Ohio State on Saturday afternoon.
The trend of falling in big games against the upper echelon of the conference continued with that setback, but quarterback Drew Allar believes the Nittany Lions are taking steps in the right direction to shake off the loss and continue marching forward into the latter stretch of the season.
“I mean, I think nobody wants to lose. We don't put in the amount of time that we put in to lose. So, you know, obviously it's super frustrating for us,” Allar said on Wednesday morning. “I thought Sunday we came in and had a really good Sunday practice and flushed it. And then we moved on to Washington because we got a really good team coming into town this weekend.”
The Nittany Lions' offensive attack, or lack thereof, was at the heart of Saturday's struggles, failing to reach the end zone and being under 300 total yards of offense for the first time all season. Allar struggled, to the tune of 12-20 passing for 146 yards and an interception in the loss.
Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki had an honest conversation with his group after the game, saying both the coaches and players needed to be better for one another moving forward.
“It was a good message for us,” Allar said. “I have full faith in Coach K, I love being a part of the offense that Coach K calls and really a part of the whole offensive staff."
Allar views the lack of getting off to a strong start on first down as a trickle down effect that hindered the offense on Saturday, resulting in tougher third down scenarios, of which the Nittany Lions converted just three of 11 on Saturday.
“Philosophically as an offense, I think one way to get everybody in rhythm and get, you know, everybody involved in the game is staying out of third and long and continuing to stay ahead of the sticks. And then that allows us to, you know, get in a rhythm, get our players the ball and then we'll be able to distribute the ball as well too,” Allar said.
Finding a consistent rhythm has been a daunting task for Allar when it comes to his receivers, for the second straight year, leaning on tight end Tyler Warren and running back Nicholas Singleton in the pass game on Saturday. The Nittany Lions' receiving corps was held to just three catches for 49 yards, with the aforementioned Singleton and Warren having a combined ten receptions for 101 yards.
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Creating positive plays in the run game on early downs and staying ahead of the stick is something that can open up avenues for the Penn State receivers to use their athleticism and break off big plays, according to Allar.
“So I think as an offense, we just need to execute better with the play calls that are being called and stay out of predictable pass situations because it's always going to be tough to consistently win in those things,” Allar said.
It's not a matter of Penn State having a lifeless offense. Quite the contrary, actually. The Nittany Lions have been one of the top offensive units in the Big Ten this season, but have struggled to put together strong performances when they need it most. It's a matter of consistency for Allar and company.
“I think it just comes down to the execution in general in both the run and pass game.I mean, it's just little things that we got to clean up because we've shown we have the capability to do it throughout this year so far. We just have to, you know, do it on a consistent basis for the rest of the season.”
That starts with a truly elite pass defense coming to State College this weekend in Washington. The Huskies are owners of the second-best pass defense in the nation to date, holding opponents to 142 yards per game through the air this season, trailing only to Texas in that category.
It will be one of, it not the best, defenses in that area that Allar will be faced with this season, but he is relishing the opportunity to solve that puzzle on Saturday night.
"I'm really excited for the opportunity that we have ahead of us this weekend just because it's a really good defense and schematically, they're really, really sound and really challenging in what they do," Allar said.
As the College Football Playoff rankings begin to trickle out, with Penn State sitting at No. 6 in the first edition, Allar maintains a "1-0" approach moving forward despite the recent set back. The Penn State signal caller believes they control their own destiny and can start a late season surge with a victory over Washington this weekend.
"All that matters is, being 1-0 this week again, we have a really good team coming into town that's playing a lot of good ball right now. So it's going to be a challenge this week for us offensively and we got to step up to the challenge," Allar said.
“I think in general, the rankings don't matter until after the regular season. So I mean, I could care less what we're ranked right now because a lot can change between now and the end of the season,” Allar said. “We can troll our own destiny.”
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