It's Penn State's bye week: 5 questions, storylines that will shape it

It might feel like the season has just started, but Penn State has officially reached the halfway point after losing to Iowa 23-20 last Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

The first six weeks of the year have been grueling, as the Nittany Lions have twice been on the road in Big Ten play and also faced Ball State, Auburn, and Villanova between September and now.

An off week comes at a good time, but very little is truly idle about it, of course. The coaches will be busy scouting both their own team and recruits while the players will work on healing up, doing their own evaluations, and preparing for the second half of the season.

Here are the five questions and storylines that will shape the week ahead.

Mike Yurcich accurately described Sean Clifford as a 'tough SOB' the Thursday before the Iowa game, and he's spot on. It's why we can be certain that if there was any way at all for the veteran passer to return, he would have on Saturday night. We won't speculate what's wrong, of course, but it goes without saying that No. 14's availability for both Illinois and the rest of the season is the only update anyone is going to want during the week without a game.

It should be considered encouraging that Clifford was well enough to be on the field helping Roberson and the rest of the offense while encouraging teammates as a whole, but again, whatever kept him out had to rise to a certain level of bad, and we just have no way of knowing whether or not it can be fixed in about two week's time.

Penn State left Iowa City bruised and battered on Saturday night beyond just Clifford.

PJ Mustipher was on crutches, which casts doubt on his availability moving forward, and Franklin said that John Lovett, Devyn Ford, and Jonathan Sutherland also suffered injuries. There could be others as well -- KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Arnold Ebiketie, and Jaquan Brisker were all attended to on the field -- which makes health questions the first ones Franklin will field the next time he talks with the media.

Penn State's rushing totals by game after six weeks are not pretty:

Wisconsin: 50

Ball State: 240

Auburn: 84

Villanova: 80

Indiana: 209

Iowa: 107

Obviously, the status of Lovett and Ford will be a part of this conversation, but how can James Franklin, Mike Yurcich, Ja'Juan Seider, Phil Trautwein and their players get this going for the second half of the season? There are no easy answers but it's an absolute must at this point in time. It's not been good enough, but it has to at least be marginally so during the next six games.

If we know anything about Penn State's bye week plans ever since James Franklin has been in State College, it's that the Nittany Lions will spend plenty of time recruiting during it.

Assistants have, in the past, hit the road as soon as Sunday or Monday to make the most of the early part of the week. Everyone then usually returns for a couple of days before a full-on nationwide assault takes place toward the end of the week and through Saturday.

Franklin will be out and about of course, as will all of the other on-field staffers. We'll learn more about their plans as the week moves along, but expect to see plenty of photos of them at various stops and checking in on commits and underclassmen alike.

--It can't be overstated how important these next six days are for rest and recovery. This is a banged-up football team after a very physical start to the slate.

--What answers will the self-scouting find, particularly when it comes to the tight ends' play to date, the running game as mentioned above, and the defensive depth if some of these injuries are long-term ones?

--We usually hear about a scout and non-travel team scrimmage this week, which offers a good glimpse at the future. Finding out who stands out in those is always a highlight of the bye week.

*******

• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated

• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98, @GregPickel, @ThomasFrankCarr

• Follow us on Instagram

• Like us on Facebook