The reads begin with a question I think most Penn State fans are asking today. And while it’s not one that you necessarily want to hear, neither does it disqualify ultimate glory:
1. Is this Penn State team one of those that plays up and down to its competition?
Maybe it just looked and felt uglier than it really was because of the weather and the turnovers. After all the Nittany Lions did consistently run on the Wildcats. They did control scrimmage and possession throughout, outgained the low-octane visitors by a 3:2 ratio and ran the ball for 220 yards. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do against an outclassed opponent on a rainy day?
Still, if Penn State’s performance had been any more ragged, it would’ve qualified for federal assistance. The four fumbles from the running backs, all lost. Sean Clifford threw just one pick but easily could’ve had two more. There were the 7 penalties for 55 yards.
And then, there were mental errors, such as when Clifford scrambled on 3rd/11 from the NU 36, with 9:00 left in the game, PSU up by the final score. Rather than just slide down in-bounds and take a sack that would’ve done nothing to diminish field position for Barney Amor’s subsequent punt while draining clock, Clifford threw the ball away out of bounds and needlessly stopped it.
Last week was neither rainy nor miserable, but the Lions seemed listless and unfocused in the 33-14 workaday win over Central Michigan.
In contrast, they played sharply in long stretches of both the road wins over Purdue and especially Auburn when they knew superior efforts were necessary to win.
Well, if Penn State comes up with such a peak performance at Michigan, that’ll qualify as a pattern of adjusting to the level of the opponent. As I said, not preferable, but there’ve been national champions who did it and always seemed to play just well enough to win (see: 2002 Ohio State).
2. Hakeem Beamon has a situational awareness that many D-linemen don’t.
A lot of defensive tackles can be forgiven for simply lowering their heads and bull-rushing the quarterback on obvious passing downs in attempt to get pressure any way they can. But the 4th-year junior from Virginia showed his savvy on consecutive plays late in the game as Northwestern quarterback Ryan Hilinski faded to throw short hook routes to convert a 3rd/5 and then a 4th/5.
Both times, Beamon recognized he wouldn’t have time to get to Hilinski on the short routes and instead read the QB’s eyes and intentions and flowed along the pocket to where the ball might be. He guessed right both times, batting down a pair of passes that easily could’ve extended the drive. They were smart, subtle little plays from a DT who also gets his share of QB pressures.
3. While the O-line did pave the way for 220 net rushing, its push wasn’t consistent.
In fact, after limiting negative running plays to a precious few in the first four games, PSU backs were thrown for losses six times and held for no gain on two others. A couple of those were on consecutive runs by Nick Singleton on 3rd/ and 4th/1, turning the ball over on downs. Included was the first negative-yardage carry all season in 57 attempts for Kaytron Allen.
That said, the Lions committed to the run for the first time in recent memory. And the fact that both Singleton and Allen each carried 21 times on the night and both averaged 4.1 yards per carry speaks plenty about how far the ground game has come – even if it was against Northwestern.
More PennLive sports coverage:
• PennLive’s David Jones and Bob Flounders recap Penn State-Northwestern: video.
• Penn State-Northwestern takeaways: Sean Clifford, Hakeem Beamon and a promising blindside.
• Penn State-Northwestern game balls, turning point: PJ Mustipher, goal-line stop and more.
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