Penn State's annual week without a game always brings with it the time to reflect on positives, areas for growth, and the highs and lows of the season up until that point in time.

It feels like a particularly important exercise at the halfway point of the 2021 season as the Nittany Lions take an opportunity to look inward ahead of the final six games of the year.

In this Tuesday's four-pack of takes, we'll do that as well by looking back at what we learned and also ahead to what we must find out before a Noon matchup with Illinois in two weeks kicks off the second half.

There has been so much time spent between Saturday and now focusing on the negatives of Ta'Quan Roberson's performance at Iowa and almost none trying to find the positives that can be accentuated should he have to play the first-team role again depending on the status of Sean Clifford for the Fighting Illini and beyond. It’s true that no one wants to do this, but Roberson may very well need to play after the bye, and it’s just impossible to believe Christian Veilleux is ready for such a moment, which leads only Roberson. Blame who you’d like to for that, but it seems to be a fact.

The third-year Nittany Lion from New Jersey showed that he can be effective as a runner, as he piled up 42 yards on 10 carries and moved the chains a couple of times while doing so. Two on-target passes that were dropped were part of the ugly 7 of 20 performance through the air, as Iowa, with a vocal home crowd at its back, dropped in coverage with little fear of Penn State's rushing attack and didn't allow for many easy throws.

It's not to excuse Roberson, but the offense as a whole struggled mightily after Clifford was forced to exit. It was ugly, mistake-filled, and penalty-ridden. However, the question everyone who follows this team must ask is what were the good things, even if there were few of them, that could be repeated in a more opportune environment?

While fully realizing you have to look closely, and perhaps with a glass-half-full approach, to find them, future defenses would have to account for the quarterback run, which could open up receivers, and Roberson may be more accurate after experiencing what a truly meaningful set of in-game reps is like.

Will that lead to a road win at Ohio State? It's almost impossible to go that far, but a win over Illinois with No. 2 under center certainly feels realistic if needed.

One final thought: Mike Yurcich has a no-BS style, so the fact that he said this the Thursday before Iowa should count for something:

“With Ta'Quan, the ball can really pop out of his hand, man. He's got really good explosion, he's got a really good whip with his arm. And yet, he's got really good core strength that allows him to rotate and really snap the ball out there. His accuracy is good.

“Sometimes he'll get a little bit wild in the pocket, with a little bit too much bounce, or sometimes his head comes off to the side and he needs to stay more vertical, or what we call staying erect with his sternum from head all the way down through his base. That's really important for him to continue to work that fundamental, but I love watching him throw the ball.

“He's still continuing to learn protections, the finer things. What's a bad run? When do we want to try to get out of a play and be alert for certain things? Maybe it's a blitz in the red zone, those little things that sneak up on you that you really need work in the fire to get better at those things.

“So we try to put him in situations throughout the week where we challenge them. We've been doing that for a while now. And boy, I am excited for what's in his future.”

Penn State knows what it needs to focus on with Roberson, and has known it, which leads one to think that maybe it’s a quicker fix than expected or at least some of it could be game planned around with more time.

It might be hard to believe, but 35 teams, including three in the Big Ten, have a worse rushing yard per game mark than Penn State does after five weeks.

There's little doubt that the lack of a consistent, or even sometimes viable, rushing attack, has been one of the biggest disappointments throughout the 5-1 start, as a talented stable of backs has not been able to get going and blockers at all positions have rarely done much to help them do so.

After watching all six contests in person, scheme can be discussed, as can whether or not a multi-back rotation is needed, but from this point of view, every player on offense being more physical is what is needed to fix this. That's receivers when they crash down on blocks, offensive linemen when firing out of their stance to take care of what they need to at scrimmage before getting to the next level, tight ends being more willing to put a hat on a hat, and the backs themselves being willing to run over defenders while fighting for extra yards instead of looping around to try and find space instead of contact and losing them.

It comes down to willingness and mindset, which can't really be taught but are easily turned on. If the time off can make that evident to everyone in charge of helping the run game succeed on the field, then a better effort in that department during the second half can be expected. Regardless of who is under center, Penn State has to be able to run, period, to get to where it wants to go, and so far, it has not been able to far too often.

As of Tuesday morning, the longterm status of Clifford, PJ Mustipher, Devyn Ford, John Lovett, and Jonathan Sutherland is unclear, as all five were hurt against the Hawkeyes.

If you don't know by now, this is a good time to inform you that James Franklin isn't going to hand out updates about those guys or any other injuries, for that matter, unless they are of the season ending variety. It's an understandable approach that frustrates fans and other outside observers alike, but when you really stop and think about it, saying what's wrong with a player or how long he will be out provides no benefit to the team and only helps future opponents. So, until an injury report hopefully becomes a requirement in college football sometime down the road, that's the way it's going to be.

Penn State would obviously love to have all of those guys fully healthy for the remainder of the season, but we saw some positives at Iowa if they are not. Roberson is covered above, but this space was super impressed by how well D'Von Ellies and Coziah Izzard played once Mustipher went out at Iowa, and while Sutherland does plenty well, it seems fair to think that Keaton Ellis can help fill the void if he's out for a prolonged period of time. Then, in the backfield, no one has been able to get going, but the talent is there from both Noah Cain and Keyvone Lee to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, if the rotation has to be shortened. They just have to do it.

Clearly, Clifford's situation is what everyone wants to talk about and with good reason, because the dropoff is clear. But, from an overall standpoint, these health problems don't have to derail the rest of the year.

You are probably mad after the Iowa loss, disappointed and worried about the quarterback situation, and maybe frustrated by the fact that the Lions are only 5-1, which is pretty incredible when we stop and think about it.

Few saw Penn State beating both Wisconsin and Auburn, and on the other side of the coin, those who did also did see the Lions being unbeaten heading into Kinnick before leaving it with the season's first loss. While I agree with those who think it's a win if Clifford plays the whole game, that's in the past and can't be changed, but that shouldn't detract from the incredible special teams work we've seen from Jordan Stout nor the progress Clifford and the offense have made and certainly not the elite defense Brent Pry is engineering.

The take here is that it's OK to be annoyed by losing. That's a fan tradition that is as old as sports. However, take a moment to reflect on all the good things you've seen so far and realize that, if Clifford doesn't miss a game or only misses Illinois, then the Lions still have everything in front of them assuming a win over the Fighting Illini, before heading to Columbus. It's all anyone in 'Nittany Nation' could and would have asked for in August, and now it's time to sit back, wait for Clifford updates, and otherwise enjoy the show. I realize that's not an easy task, all things considered, but it's the kind of deep breath that many who follow this team need before the second half begins.

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