BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - From the moment pulling into the parking lot at Memorial Stadium, landing in a spot typically reserved for the big donors to the Indiana football program rather than hundreds of yards away, I assumed that Saturday was going to be a day unlike any others in Penn State football history.
In many ways, it was, but probably not for the reasons I would have imagined.
Though the bowl of bleachers was largely empty save for a smattering of socially distanced parents, Indiana’s on the press box side and Penn State’s behind the visitor’s sideline, the on-field action had all of the hallmarks of a Big Ten football game. And, in fact, unlike many other trips to this part of Indiana, the energy and intensity between the two teams, particularly in the fourth quarter and in overtime, demonstrated one key element to understand moving forward.
Whether it’s high school, summer seven-on-seven tournaments, or a largely vacant stadium, football is football, and given the opportunity to compete, absolutely nothing is lost in that element due to the circumstances in which we now find ourselves.
In that spirit, let’s run through some of the news, notes, and observations to emerge from Penn State’s 36-35 overtime loss to the Hoosiers.
1) Pat Freiermuth’s no-comment was, in effect, quite a comment.
Asked whether or not he had seen the replays of Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. leaping toward the pylon on the game-deciding 2-point attempt in overtime, the Nittany Lions’ tight end acknowledged that he had seen it.
“I did see the replay. I’m not going to voice my opinion on it,” Freiermuth said. “We shot ourselves in the foot too many times. We can’t get ourselves in that situation.”
Asked to comment on his perspective from the sideline, and whether or not he’d been given an explanation from the officials in the aftermath of the call, head coach James Franklin said that explanations are never given in a make-or-break, end-of-game situation like that. And, without having had the opportunity to see a replay, he couldn’t make a definitive statement on it.
“I never get to see anything before I get to you guys. I look at the Jumbotron, that's the best look,” Franklin said. “I talked with the guys on the headset up in the booth to see what they saw. To me, you know, from what I was told, it could have gone either way, but if it's something that could have gone either way, then it's inconclusive and the call stands. I haven't seen it.”
Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, understanding that the game’s outcome would be decided by the call, and also understanding he’d have no impact on it at that point, took a decidedly different approach.
“I just couldn’t help but start thinking about corrections I could make and how I could be better,” he said.
2) When asked whether or not running back Devyn Ford had been instructed to not score a touchdown if Indiana would relax its defense to allow the score, Franklin balked twice, redirecting attention to the dozens of other critical plays that also impacted the game’s outcome.
Still, when pressed on it, Franklin, and Ford’s teammates, acknowledged that the situation had been discussed and gone over with the team on the sideline.
“We went through that situation this week, we went through that situation on the sideline, and obviously we could have handled it better and I could have handled it better,” Franklin said. “I don't want to make it about that one play, although I understand why you got asked the question.”
Rather, Franklin added that the intention in the situation, holding onto the ball with 1:47 left to play at Indiana’s 14-yard line, with the hosts holding onto just one more timeout and no way to stop the clock after, was to “get as much as you can and get down” and that Indiana indeed was hoping it would happen.
“Yeah, I think Indiana did let us score. Their chart was telling them to [let us] score and our chart was telling us not to score,” he said. “I think that definitely is what happened there.”
With Ford stuttering as he approached the goal line, hesitating in trying to pull up, the sequence led to Indiana’s seven-play, 75-yard touchdown response, tying the game at 28-28 with a Penix 2-point conversion, Freiermuth expressed empathy toward his teammate.
“I’ve been in his shoes in high school once. It’s very hard to see that end zone open up like that and just think to yourself to get down,” Freiermuth said. “We just have to stay locked in on the sideline and know the situation, continue to echo it back. We just have to be locked in on the details.”
Freiermuth also said that he instructed Ford to stay off social media and put his head down.
“Just flush it down, and I’m going to have your back regardless,” Freiermuth said. “You hate to see it, but that’s my brother. I’m going to be there for him. It just didn’t come down to that one play. We turned the ball over way too many times.”
3) James Franklin’s playbook for success in college football has complexities that branch off from it, but they can largely be reduced to four critical factors that usually determine a game’s outcome:
Field position, turnovers, explosive plays, and penalties.
In this one, those factors happened to bring out that foundational philosophy, despite Indiana nearly coughing up a game that it led for most of the second half.
Penn State penalized itself 10 times to the tune of 100 yards against Indiana’s four for 36 (not to mention losing starting linebacker Jesse Luketa for the rest of the second half of this one and the first half of next week’s Ohio State game due to a targeting ejection). Penn State’s average starting field position was at its own 41 against Indiana’s own 36. The Nittany Lions won the explosive play battle, 11-4, though they only entered the fourth quarter with six.
But, most critically, Penn State’s turnovers, twice throwing interceptions, fumbling once, and an uncounted turnover on downs, cost it dearly.
“In six years… we have not been a team to get penalties, and we have not been a team to get turnovers, and tonight we had both. We had 10 penalties for 100 yards, which is very uncharacteristic of us, and then we had three turnovers, and a lot of those turnovers were in the red zone too,” Franklin said.
Clifford took personal responsibility for both interceptions after the game.
“The first half, the two turnovers, we talk about winning the turnover battle all the time. And the two turnovers, the interception on the screen and the interception to Pat, they were both completely on me and I’ll man up and take that 100 percent,” Clifford said. “It wasn’t the call. It wasn’t anything they did. It was what I did and I just can’t make that mistake.”
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