Nebraska Recap: Despite rally, Lions still fall to 0-4 with 30-23 loss

Penn State hasn’t played Nebraska very often over the years, and prior to this weekend’s trip to Lincoln, it hadn’t visited the Cornhuskers since 2012. But the Nittany Lions’ 30-23 loss on Saturday still had a familiar look.

All the problems that hindered Penn State in its first three losses of the season resurfaced in week four – the red zone shortcomings, the turnovers, the penchant for giving up big plays on defense and for starting slowly on both sides of the ball. Those factors combined to keep PSU winless on the season, as the Lions fell behind by three touchdowns in the first half and weren’t able to generate enough offense in the second half to rally all the way back.

Two giveaways in the first half handed Nebraska 10 points and helped it keep Penn State at arm’s length the rest of the way. The Lions rallied in the second half, just as they had against Indiana, Ohio State and Maryland, and were within a touchdown of the Cornhuskers for much of the fourth quarter. But they twice reached the red zone late in the game with a chance to tie the score, and both times they came up empty on fourth down.

“Give Nebraska a lot of credit. They played a consistent game for four quarters, which isn’t what we did,” James Franklin said. “We came out and got down by 21 in the first half. Turnovers continue to be a problem, and not just turnovers, but turnovers for touchdowns. … We’ve got to be more detailed in the passing game and we’ve got to be better in the red zone on offense. Some of those balls, we just have to put them in a position where our guys have a chance to go get it. That’s kind of the story, the turnovers. It continues to be an issue for us, and we’ve got to get it resolved and resolved quickly.”

The loss dropped Penn State to 0-4, the team’s worst start since it lost four in a row to open the 2001 season. One more loss next week against Iowa would set a dreary precedent for PSU. Never in the program’s history, which dates back to 1887, have the Lions opened a season with five losses.

Here’s a look at the good and the bad:

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• Coming on in relief of Sean Clifford in the second quarter, backup quarterback Will Levis solved the ball-security problems that led to the change, and he made enough plays to keep the Lions competitive in a game that appeared to have slipped away in the first half. Levis went 14 of 31 for 219 yards, and he added 66 yards on the ground.

“He went in and gave us a spark,” Franklin said. “He made plays in the passing game, and he did a good job managing the game overall. He made some good throws. We’re going to have to build on that, no doubt about it. He was fairly efficient. We need to be a little more consistent in the details of things we’re doing, but I think he definitely gave us a spark and gives us something to build on for sure.”

• The defense tightened up in the second half, holding Nebraska to three points over the final 30 minutes. Even after its hot start, which included an 11-play, 75-yard drive to open the game, Nebraska finished with only 298 yards and 17 first downs.

• Despite falling behind early, the Lions stayed committed to the running game, and they ended up totaling 245 yards and averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Devyn Ford led the way with 66 yards, and true freshmen Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee saw significant action, combining for 99 yards on 12 carries, including a 31-yard touchdown burst by Lee.

“We were more physical up front, we were more consistent up front,” Franklin said. “If you look at the stats, they kind of tell a different story than how the game came out.”

• Jake Pinegar was 3 for 3 on field goals, hitting from 27, 33 and 40 yards.

• The Lions went into the game ranked 120th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in red zone offense, with only eight scores in 13 opportunities. They may actually drop after Saturday’s game, in which they came up empty on both of their fourth-quarter red zone chances and were forced to settle for field goals on three others. Even their lone red zone touchdown was fraught with drama, as Levis lost 4 yards on first-and-goal after a long completion to Pat Freiermuth had set PSU up at the 1. Ford scored up the middle on second down to relieve the suspense, but except for that play, the Lions struggled no matter what they tried.

“Red zone offense is about running the ball and being detailed in the passing game,” Franklin said. “All the windows are shrunk down, so that magnifies it. It magnifies it if you’re good in passing offense, and it magnifies it if you’ve got some things to work on. We didn’t make enough plays. We didn’t put the ball where our guy had a legitimate chance to get it or you’re going to get the PI. So we’ve got to clean those things up. We were able to move the ball today, but too many times in the red zone, we didn’t come away with points.”

Added Levis, “There’s room for improvement across the board, especially in the red zone. It means nothing if you get the ball all the way down there and don’t score.”

• Penn State once again lost the turnover battle, and its two giveaways proved disastrous. The first – an underthrown pass that was intercepted by Cam Taylor-Britt – ended a first-quarter drive that had reached the Nebraska 41-yard line and set up a Cornhuskers field goal. The second – a fumble by Clifford that was picked up by Deontai Williams – was even more costly, as Williams returned it 26 yards for a scoop-and-score touchdown.

• The Lions have developed an unfortunate habit of falling behind early in games, and that trend continued at Nebraska, as the Cornhuskers took a 27-6 lead into the locker room. The Lions have now been outscored in the first halves of their four games by a combined margin of 93-26.

Franklin said turnovers have played a big part in that early scoring disparity. “It’s hard to get into a rhythm, it’s hard to get in a groove, it’s hard to call [a game] when you don’t have the confidence that you’re not going to turn the ball over,” he said.

• The defense gave up another long touchdown. In the second quarter, Zavier Betts scored on a 45-yard jet sweep, and the only player who was anywhere near him as he crossed the goal line was defensive end Jayson Oweh, trying to chase him down from behind. A week earlier, Penn State gave up touchdowns of 62, 42, 38 and 34 yards to Maryland.

Next up: a visit from Iowa, where Kirk Ferentz recently passed Joe Paterno to become the fourth-winningest coach in Big Ten history. Paterno totaled 162 Big Ten victories, while Ferentz got his 163rd with a win over Michigan State and added another to his total on Friday when the Hawkeyes romped past Minnesota.

Ferentz, who has been at Iowa since 1999, probably isn’t going to catch up to the three coaches ahead of him, Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes and Amos Alonzo Stagg. Indeed, there’s been speculation that this will be his final season with the program.

The Hawkeyes have been up-and-down this year, but they will arrive in Beaver Stadium on the heels of two impressive wins. First, they thrashed the Spartans, 49-7, two weeks ago, as Tyler Goodson rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Then they followed up that victory with a 35-7 rout of Minnesota, their sixth win in a row against the Golden Gophers.

The game at Minneapolis got a little chippy at the end, as Ferentz called all three of his timeouts in the final seconds with his team leading by five touchdowns. Afterward, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck came in for a bit of social media mockery, as Iowa posted a graphic with the scores of the past six games superimposed over Floyd of Rosedale, labeling the image “The Row’d To Six Straight.”

Iowa hasn’t had nearly as much luck with Penn State lately as it’s had with Minnesota, as the Nittany Lions have won the past six games in the series. But after four disappointing weeks, PSU certainly won’t be favored to extend that streak to seven. The late surge against Nebraska might have made for some drama, but it didn’t leave anyone on the Penn State sideline feeling particularly good about the team’s trajectory. Said Franklin, “I thought what we did in the second half was obviously good, and we’ve got to build on that. But there’s a lot of work to do.”

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