COLLINS: An impressive win for Penn State, and a concerning performance
Sep. 16—CHAMPAIGN, Ill.
The reality of the situation that developed with Penn State through a roller-coaster of a Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium is that you can take whatever narrative you're looking to peddle and someone will buy it.
The No. 7 Nittany Lions were dominant and explosive on defense. They were also undisciplined and, at times early on, sloppy. Maybe, they were even a little lucky, too.
They were directionless and predictable on offense. Their young quarterback looked frustrated at times, lost others. Their explosive running backs didn't explode. Their burgeoning wide receiver corps dropped too many passes. Their offensive line had their fair share of problems with Illinois' All-American candidates up front.
Yet, they won, 30-13 at Memorial Stadium. And 30-13 wins on the road in the Big Ten usually get you where you want to go in college football.
What's the old saying? You're never as good as you look when you win, and never as bad as you look when you lose? Well, in the fight for style points, Penn State clearly lost on Saturday, but in fairness, winning that fight was going to prove difficult anyway.
Remember, there's a wide chasm between the West Virginia-Delaware combo, in the comforts of Beaver Stadium, and Illinois on the road. Sure, the Fighting Illini struggled last week in an unexpected loss at Kansas. But, this is a team most figured would be a contender in the Big Ten West, a team with three defensive players who can be high NFL draft picks.
And, Penn State is still a young offense that frankly didn't prove as much as the storylines suggested in those two blowout wins at home.
"By no means was it perfect," quarterback Drew Allar said of the Nittany Lions offense. "At the end of the day we're going home with a W. That's all that matters to us. As an offense we say the only category we want to lead the nations in is wins. Obviously, there's going to be a ton of stuff to clean up. ... We've got to do a better job of converting those turnovers into points.
"Our special teams and our defense had our backs today. They know we're going to have their backs in the future."
To do that, they'll need to be better in just about every way.
On the way to getting better, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema did Penn State a favor.
He showed them Saturday how Big Ten teams will defend an offense that looked unstoppable through two weeks, and it's a fair plan. He loaded up the box. He overloaded Penn State's offensive line with different looks, offered plenty of different rushes, and shut down a running game most everyone figured coming into this season would carry this team. The Nittany Lions' star duo of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen averaged just 3.8 yards per carry on their 24 totes.
On the outside, Illinois' secondary started out in a man coverage scheme against the Nittany Lions receiving corps that came into the season with so many questions. Basically, they dared those guys to win one-on-one matchups, and a pressured Allar to make enough throws to beat them.
To Penn State's credit, they did make enough of those plays. But not a whole lot. And certainly not enough to think this offense is a world beater quite yet. They'll need to prove they are better than this at the receiver spot.
But also remember, this team in another way did prove Saturday to be what so many thought it would be coming into the season.
Throughout preseason camp, the talk from head coach James Franklin and the players centered around a defense that could be dominant, and an offense that needed to keep getting better.
That defense showed up against Illinois, in ways it didn't against West Virginia.
On Illinois' first series of the game, it looked like a repeat of that uneven effort against the run might be in line. The Illini rushed for 29 yards on five carries on their first series of the game. After that, Penn State's defense held them to just 12 yards on nine carries the rest of the half in a much more-disciplined effort.
"It was just about out-toughing them, being more physical than them," linebacker Abdul Carter said. "The running game is all about physicality and toughness, and that's what we did. We out-toughed them. We were more physical, and we got it done."
This was much more the kind of defensive play expected out of Penn State. They wound up holding Illinois to 2.1 yards per carry and forced five turnovers, intercepting a rattled quarterback Luke Altmyer four times in the first three quarters. Wyoming Area grad Dominic DeLuca arguably had the key play of the game forcing a turnover, stripping the ball from sophomore running back Josh McCray to end Illinois' promising second drive near midfield.
"We just did our job and came to play when we needed to play," DeLuca said.
This game proved Penn State's offense has a lot of work to do to get good enough to compete with the top-tier teams in the Big Ten East.
But, that's something that should have been understood anyway. This is a long season. A tough season. Ultimately, it won't be judged on West Virginia or Delaware or even an up-and-down Saturday in Champaign.
As Franklin said after the game, Penn State appreciates winning, because winning isn't a given, nor is it easy; The teams that get upset every week can attest to that.
It's never about how easily you roll through September though. It's what you learn from September that matters most.
Contact the writer:
570-348-9125;
@DonnieCollinsTT;
@PennStateTT
