My football résumé is rather limited shall we say.
In fact, in great detail, here it is: I’ve never played a down of organized football in my life, I have won several Super Bowl titles in Madden’s Franchise mode, I’m also a multi-time Heisman Trophy winner in Race to The Heisman in the NCAA Football video game franchise. I have been to and watched quite a few Penn State and Steelers games over the years.
Time: 12 p.m.
TV: BTN
Announcers: Mark Followill, Jake Butt, Brooke Fletcher
Radio: Penn State Sports Network
Announcers: Steve Jones, Jack Ham, Brian Tripp
PSU Depth Chart
PSU Roster
Oh, and I once was a finalist in the Nittanyville Trashcan Football Tournament with my roommate Andy Madore.
All of that is to say, I know probably just as much as you do about football because neither of us are paid to coach or on scholarship to play football.
The other thing that both of us know is there are some things that this iteration of Penn State’s football squad is very good, maybe even elite, at. There are some other things that maybe we want to see them improve upon or just haven’t cashed in on quite yet.
Saturday will be the final chance for Penn State to figure out what it needs to, well, figure out before the first of two tests that ultimately determine how we remember this season. But it might not need to fine tune anything.
In several aspects, Penn State has looked like a team that can make the College Football Playoff. The defense isn’t just outstanding, it’s ferocious, it’s aggressive and it’s stopping any momentum the opponent is building.
It ranks first in fewest yards allowed per game and second in points allowed per game.
But in other aspects, there are things that Penn State hasn’t quite figured out if we’re being nitpicky about it. Penn State’s long runs, which seemingly felt like every game occurrences last year, have been MIA.
Outside of one deep throw on opening night, Drew Allar’s arm has been kept on a shorter leash.
Now there are two facts of reality related to that nitpicking.
The first is Penn State’s coaching staff, players and even unaffiliated analysts have said that the Nittany Lions are oh so close to busting open one of those long runs. And those long passing plays are coming. We saw glimpses of them toward the end of the Northwestern game — even if they went for incompletions.
The second fact in the face of that nitpicking shows up where it matters most.
Penn State is 5-0.
The Lions have put a beat down on every team that’s come up on the schedule, even if at times in the Northwestern first half it didn’t feel that way. Penn State even derailed Brian Ferentz’s drive to 325, blanking the Hawkeyes in a White Out. Allar hasn’t thrown a pick, has looked NFL QB-like with his smarts and led the offense to 30 or more points each and every outing thus far.
So if Penn State does need to figure out its running scheme a bit more or let Allar air it out a bit, the margin for error is much larger this weekend. Take the opportunity while you have it. And Penn State certainly will.
According to SP+ rankings, this UMass team ranks nearly 40 spots behind Delaware, a team Penn State beat 63-7 earlier this year. The Minutemen have allowed 39.4 points per game this season. It’s scored an average of just 26 points per game.
With all due respect to the fine folks of Amherst, UMass is not a good football team.
But if Penn State doesn’t use this weekend as a sandbox to fine tune those final issues, maybe that means the people that do get paid to coach or play do know something you and I don’t.
Maybe it’s found a formula for winning. Maybe it’s figured out the best way to win is by grinding it out on offense and then shutting you down with an elite defense.
We don’t 100 percent know. We likely won’t find out until a week from Saturday for certain just how good this team is.
But then again, what do any of us know?
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