Defense forced to carry Lions
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A not-so-funny thing happened on the Nittany Lions' way to a 3-0 start Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
They suddenly did not look like the No. 7 team in the country.
People scanning the scores and seeing Penn State 30, Illinois 13 probably didn't do a double-take, but this was not a complete performance by any means.
The Lions' defense looked the part, forcing five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble), but their offense, special teams and overall poise did not.
James Franklin tried to put a positive spin on it -- "That was a pretty Big Ten win -- on the road … it was beautiful to me," he said -- but he didn't look or seem so convincing.
Nor should he have been.
Drew Allar wasn't quite as precise as his first two games, but that should not have been unexpected since this was his first career start on the road.
More disappointing to Franklin were the dropped passes (four), totally excessive penalties (seven for 70 yards) and special-teams breakdowns (two blocked kicks).
While he made the fair point that "We didn't take control, but we didn't lose control, either," and noted Allar and the offense did not commit any turnovers, Franklin was also left wanting.
"We have to be more explosive on offense," he said. "We had some drops that made it harder."
Allar agreed, saying, "By no means was it perfect, especially offensively. Our defense stepped up huge. We have to do a better job converting points into turnovers."
The lack of discipline bothered Franklin most.
He said after last week's game with Delaware that the Nittany Lions made too many penalties (seven).
Of course, it didn't matter, because the Blue Hens were so overmatched.
But Saturday, Penn State committed four first-half penalties that encouraged Illini and ultimately kept the home team, and its crowd, in the game.
Consider the most egregious of miscues:
Penn State was leading 13-0 midway through the second quarter, and while the Lions were not dominating, they were overcoming their own slow start.
Nick Singleton's 5-yard run gave the Nits a third-and-2 at the Illinois 20.
The Lions had every choice at their disposal here. They could go to the end zone or run it twice or, at worst, take a field goal and a 16-0 lead.
What happens? After Singleton's run, wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith commits a senseless unsportsmanlike penalty for taunting.
That gaffe cost the Nits 15 yards and led to a blocked field goal and totally blunted momentum.
Worse, it was the second taunting penalty against the Nits, the first when defensive tackle Dvon Ellies -- another upperclassman -- also taunted, which negated a tackle for loss on the same play.
"We've got to look at that -- the two unsportsmanlike penalties," Franklin said. "Whenever you get penalties that are pre-snap or post-snap, they are (lack of) discipline penalties, and we've got to eliminate those. Not happy about them."
Maybe it's not a huge deal against Delaware, or even Illinois --obviously, the Nits' defense was good enough to compensate.
But it will certainly be a big deal at Ohio State and against Michigan when every play matters, and every rare opportunity to take control of a game -- like when it was 13-0 and Illinois was practically dead -- is magnified.
"We can't give good teams anything," defensive tackle Hakeem Beamon said.
Franklin rationalized a bit by noting the 11 a.m. local kickoff time and saying the Lions seemed "a little sluggish."
With Iowa and its crafty head coach Kirk Ferentz on deck for a Saturday night matchup at Beaver Stadium, Franklin also knows, "We've got to make the next step."
Which means Penn State can't afford to keep both teams in the game.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.