Yes, even after a 63-7 victory over the Delaware Blue Hens last Saturday there is room for improvement for Penn State Football.
In his weekly press conference Tuesday, Penn State head coach James Franklin mentioned plenty of positives coming out of Saturday’s win; playing 80 players in the game, defensively causing 10 3-and-outs, offense running 91 plays, more consistency in the kicking game, and scoring twice in the “middle eight” minutes of the game.
However, there was one area that Franklin pointed out as an area for improvement for the Nittany Lions moving into Week 3, according to Franklin.
“Situational Football, Situational Football, Situational Football,” Franklin told reporters during his weekly press conference.
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In the second quarter of Saturday’s game, Penn State Football lined up to receive a Delaware punt on 4th-and-1. Instead of getting the ball back after a seven yard return Kaden Saunders on a 59-yard punt, however, Penn State’s defense lined back up for another set of downs due to an offside penalty on the punt.
Franklin noted that Penn State gave up too many “free yards” in penalties on Saturday and Penn State will need to clean that up before Big Ten play begins Saturday at Illinois.
In Saturday’s contest, Penn State was penalized seven times for 55 yards after picking up only one penalty in the season opener against West Virginia.
PSU fans can hope that the increase in penalties was a result of the Lions playing 80 players in many rotations between starters, backups, and reserve players Saturday and not something that will pop back up to hurt Franklin’s team later in the season.
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Education: Saint Vincent College, Penn State Law School
Location: Washington, DC
Experience:Robert Casturo has covered Penn State football for NittanyCentral since 2022. Casturo previously covered Penn State football through a social media presence (@PSU_FB_Thoughts on X) since 2019. Casturo earned his bachelor's degree from Saint Vincent College in 2015, where he was a punter for 1 season on the Saint Vincent College football team and worked in the athletic department for 2 years as a student manager. Casturo earned his JD from Penn State Law in 2018 where he was a senior editor of the Penn State Law Review.
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