Exhale. Let out a sigh of relief. A simple "phew" may even suffice. Whatever it is you have to do in order to start to breathe normally again after Saturday afternoon, go ahead and do it.
No. 4 Penn State faced a big challenge against Minnesota on Saturday. A scrappy, well coached, hard fighting Golden Gopher team took the Nittany Lions to the limit. In the end, however, Penn State did what great teams do and found a way to survive.
Following a 26-25 victory, the Nittany Lions are now 10-1 and have taken dead aim on a College Football Playoff berth. This win also keeps their hopes of reaching the Big Ten Championship Game alive. With a win next win and a Michigan victory over Ohio State, the Nittany Lions will meet Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game.
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Special teams go from complete disaster to playing hero
For much of the season, special teams have been an adventure for Penn State. While Ryan Barker has settled the place kicking situation, things still have not gone as planned for first-year coordinator Justin Lustig.
Saturday afternoon those struggles continued. Zion Tracy's failure to field a punt late in the 2nd quarter allowed the ball to roll to the Penn State 3-yard line where it was downed by Minnesota.
Tracy’s gaffe led to Riley Thompson having his punt blocked, giving the Golden Gophers a short field leading to a touchdown. The Nittany Lions responded with a touchdown drive and appeared to be on their way to sending the game to halftime tied at 17. Instead, the extra point attempt was blocked and returned for a safety, giving Minnesota a 19-16 halftime lead.
Then to start the 3rd quarter, there was whatever the pooch punt debacle was. After that, to quote the great Harry Dunne, special teams would totally redeem themselves.
What a call. A tip of the cap to James Franklin, Justin Lustig, and most of all Luke Reynolds. Credit to the coaching staff for putting faith in the true freshman, and kudos to Reynolds for coming through.
Facing a 4th and 1 at their own 34-yard line, the Nittany Lions lined up to punt the ball away. With 3:47 remaining in the game and clinging to a 1-point lead, Penn State called for a fake punt. A fake punt that was executed to perfection.
Reynolds took the direct snap as the up back and proceeded to race 32 yards to the Minnesota 34-yard line. This play extended the Nittany Lion drive, a drive that would end with the clock hitting zeroes.
With everything that was on the line, this may have been the biggest, riskiest call of Franklin's Penn State career. The call worked to perfection, helped a struggling special teams unit redeem themselves, and played a huge role in Penn State running out the clock on their way to a 26-25 victory.
Like his special teams unit, James Franklin bounced back late
The first three and a half quarters were a clinic on how to coach not to lose instead of coaching to win by James Franklin. Punting on multiple 4th and 1s, the pooch pint snafu of the 3rd quarter, etc.
Had Penn State lost, Franklin's in-game decision making would have been raked across the coals.
To Franklin's credit, when his team needed it most, he stepped up. On Penn State's final drive James went all in. He made some cojones calls. However you want to put it, James was fearless, coached to win, and won the game.
Calling the fake punt is the obvious call on that drive, but it was more than just that. As part of Penn State's game-ending 12-play, 72-yard drive that chewed up the final 5:48 of play, the Nittany Lions went for it two other times on 4th down converting them both.
They converted on a 4th and 1 tush push with Allar at the Minnesota 25-yard line. Then on a 4th & 1 at the Minnesota 14, he put the ball in Allar's hands which led to Allar finding his all-world tight end Tyler Warren for an 11-yard gain to the Minnesota 3 to ice the game.
Another note on Franklin's coaching
How about the exchange between Franklin and Allar after the pooch punt?
It was clear James was frustrated with Allar failing to clearly indicate to the referees he was attempting to call a timeout. Following this exchange Allar was angry on the sideline, spiking his helmet down.
What came next? James found Drew on the bench to talk to him, pump him up, and make sure the conversation ended on a positive note. That is great coaching. That epitomizes Franklin's well known saying of, "It always starts with I love, it always ends with I love you." In a nutshell, these types of exchanges are why so many players love to play for Franklin and what makes him a great leader of a college football program.
Nittany Lions continue to show growth
We said it after their 33-30 overtime victory at USC in which Penn State overcame at 14 point deficit. We said it again when they rallied to beat Wisconsin despite trailing 10-7 at halftime and not having Allar in the second half. We'll say it again after overcoming an early 10-0 hole and a halftime deficit to win at Minnesota, these are games that in the past Penn State finds a way to lose.
That is a sign of growth as a program, and, in Franklin's case, as a head coach. A big reason they have avoided the maddening losses of past seasons is due to elevated quarterback play and play in the trenches. Again, two signs of program growth.
From top to bottom, this may not be the most talented roster Franklin has had. Hell, last year's overall roster may have been more talented than the 2024 edition of the Nittany Lions. That said, I would argue this is the best team Franklin has had at Penn State and they showed that once again with their resilience at Minnesota.
Tip your cap to the Penn State defense
Minnesota marched 70 yards on 9 plays to take a 7-0 lead on their opening possession. The rest of the way, the Golden Gophers had just 211 yards of total offense while averaging less than 4 yards per play.
Outside of that first drive, the Nittany Lion defense was really good again. If not for special teams snafus, Minnesota would have struggled to score more than 10 points. Zane Durant was once again a game wrecker recording 2.5 tackles for a loss in a game where the box score did not do his performance credit. The same can be said about Kobe King who played another strong game while recording 9 tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss.
Tom Allen has taken some flack, some of which has been warranted, at times this season. But overall, the Nittany Lion defense has been excellent. Defense travels. Combine that with how good this Penn State defense line/secondary is, and that's what gives them a legitimate chance against any team in the College Football Playoff.
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