Well, that was something. It was pretty but wins don't always have to be, especially in the 12-team playoff era where there is an added "survive and advance" element to each week. That in itself is one of the takeaways from this victory.
Did Penn State's game against Bowling Green go the way anyone expected it to? Absolutely not. Do the Nittany Lions come out of the game with plenty to work on during the bye week? 100%, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. In the end what matters is the Nittany Lions survived Bowling Green's upset scare with a 34-27 victory.
The defense deserves a lot of credit for their second half performance. After being gashed throughout the first half, the Nittany Lion defense pitched a shutout outside of a field goal in the final minute, held Bowling Green to less than 30 yards rushing, and both Tony Rojas and Zakee Wheatley hauled in 4th quarter interceptions.
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Tackling needs to be cleaned up
Being in position is a big part of playing football, especially defense. More often than it may have seemed Penn State's defense was in position on Saturday afternoon, but this is where the problems would begin.
Far too often the Nittany Lion defense had a player, or even multiple, in position to wrap up, finish the tackle, and make the play. Well, the team's tackling effort was porous at best.
There were too many arm tackles. Too often Nittany Lion defenders failed to wrap up the ball carrier and finish the tackle, leading to chunk plays by Bowling Green. It's not uncommon to see football teams struggle with tackling early in the season, but it is something Penn State needs to clean up before Big Ten play begins.
It's probably safe to say there will be a lot of work on tackling during the bye week.
Cam Miller rallied from a tough start
The first half of this film review will not be fun for Cam Miller. On Bowling Green's opening possession, Miller was beaten down the sideline for a big gain on a play where he never turned around to look for the ball. Had Miller turned his head around to look for the ball, the worst case scenario likely would have been Miller batting the ball down.
Later in the 1st quarter, Miller was called for defensive pass interference. This helped extend a Bowling Green drive and set up a Falcon touchdown. To Miller's credit, he was able to rally and right the ship.
In the second half, Miller's coverage was much better, a theme for the entire defense. He also made multiple important open field tackles, preventing the Falcons from ripping off bigger gains.
In some ways Miller epitomized the defense on the day, an abysmal start followed by a strong second half.
The go-to weapons in this offense
This probably should come as no surprise, but Tyler Warren, Nicholas Singleton, and Kaytron Allen are emerging as the go-to players for Drew Allar in Andy Kotelnicki's offense. Sure, Trey Wallace grabbed a lot of the offensive headlines last Saturday, but the big three mentioned above carried the load against Bowling Green.
When Allar needed someone to make a play through the air Warren was his go-to man. Warren had a 8 receptions for 146 yards, both a career-high, while also having a strong game as a blocker.
Singleton rushed for 119 yards, Allen rushed for 101, and Singleton had a game-icing 40-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter. Singleton also had a 14-yard touchdown catch on a perfectly run route.
Penn State's offense still needs more from their wide receivers
While Wallace had a big game against West Virginia, Omari Evans was the only other wide receiver to record a reception. Against Bowling Green, the passing game as a whole did well but the wide receivers still left a good bit to be desired.
Evans had two receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown. Julian Fleming had a 3-yard reception, and that was it for Penn State wide receivers against Bowling Green. That isn't good enough.
It was not just the lack of production from wide receivers, but also mistakes that were made. Evans dropped a 20+ yard gain while wide open on a 3rd and 19 in the 1st quarter. He also had a long touchdown pass called back due to offensive pass interference on a push off that was not needed, he already had plenty of separation.
Wallace was held without a reception after last week's big game. This included him failing to haul in a would-be long touchdown pass from Allar in the 4th quarter. Sure, the Bowling Green defensive back had good coverage on the play but it should have been caught.
The Wallace missed catch was followed by a punt, while the drive on which the Evans OPI occurred ended in an interception in the end zone. Those two plays were the difference in Penn State winning by a score and winning by three scores.
So, about left tackle...
It was a rough afternoon for Drew Shelton. This included a holding penalty on a 3rd down that negated the Nittany Lions picking up a 1st down. In the second half, Wisconsin transfer Nolan Rucci saw more time at left tackle.
This may not be an issue or a position battle quite yet, but it's certainly something worth monitoring. Especially with Shelton coming off a poor sophomore season and missing all of spring ball due to offseason surgery.
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