Penn State’s Imperfect Storm For Bowling Green: Bad 1st Half, Worse Tackling

Penn State coach James Franklin was asked about his defense Tuesday night after his team’s practice, and he unsurprisingly responded with a list of items that started simple and grew more complicated.

Franklin first mentioned a regression in team tackling as an attempt to deliver a simple answer to a simple question, but he also got into technology, home crowds, bumps and bruises, and circled back to the tackling issue.

Fair.

Tackling was an important issue that played into Bowling Green’s tactics and strengths. Franklin added that a sudden shuffling of pieces along Tom Allen’s defense because of bumps and bruises also set a bad tone to try and play a clean first half.

The Nittany Lions did not play a crisp half, which defensive end Abdul Carter said this week was “unacceptable.”

“Yeah, you know, after tackling really well in Week 1, I didn’t think we tackled as well in Week 2,” Franklin told reporters. “I think that was pretty obvious. And then on top of that, we just made some mistakes, made some things more difficult than they needed to be, especially early in the game.”

Allen’s crew did settle into the game in the second half and pitched a shutout for 29-plus minutes to lift the Lions to a 34-27 win. The performance was out of the ordinary for any Penn State defense, so it would be fair to assume the Lions will get those issues corrected and dial in for the remainder of the season.

Which brings us to the new 2024 schedule format with two bye weeks on every team’s schedule to better gear up for a longer season. Ranked No. 8 in the country, Penn State is right in that mix to finish in the top 12 and make the expanded College Football Playoff. Franklin’s realization about flaws and fixes come with two weeks to fix them.

In that respect, Week 3 was a perfectly suitable time for the Lions to rest.

“Obviously, the bye came at a really good time to spend some time working through some of these things, get some things cleaned up,” Franklin said. “I think the biggest issue is we didn’t tackle as well.”

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Better communication, better tackling and better execution on the finer points of Allen’s defense all rise in importance against a team that follows Bowling Green’s blueprint in the future. A few on Penn State’s schedule likely will, too.

Franklin addressed that part of Bowling Green’s plan: The Falcons had the ability to get the ball out fast with quarterback Connor Bazelak and capable pieces around him.

Bowling Green wasn’t the first to execute on a plan designed to neutralize Penn State’s advantages in speed, size and talent. They worked to minimize the impact of Penn State’s pass rush and forced the Lions to simply execute.

They didn’t do it well enough, and Bowling Green pumped a scare into Penn State on its home field. The Lions evaded an upset by playing their best in the second half, and they weren’t any worse for wear in terms of the team’s goals still being in play.

Maybe the Lions will execute better on those season goals than they did their game priorities against Bowling Green.

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The 35-point spread leading up to game day last weekend brought visions of young PSU players getting reps, veteran players lowering their injury exposure, and the future looking brighter than ever with a look at the program’s new, young stars.

Instead, the Lions had to fight for their undefeated lives and were fortunate to leave Beaver Stadium with a win at all.

“Just like I thought after watching the tape, their whole game plan was not to allow us to get sacks,” Franklin said. “It was quick game, it was run game, it was move the pocket. They weren’t holding on to the ball. In a lot of ways, that’s going to factor in a great deal with your production.

“The other thing that factored into that is we didn’t play well in the first half where if you play well in the first half and the score gets out of whack, then they have to break their game plan and how they want to play. And then that’s usually when the sacks come.”

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