The Other Column About the Penn State-Maryland Game

I wrote an entire other column before I wrote the one you’re presently reading. 

It was a bit moody on the state of Penn State football this season and how it can and can’t be fixed both now and later.

I didn’t like it. I mean I did like it enough to finish it.

And then read it back and absolutely hated it.

When I write on this blog, I like to pretend that you and I are having a conversation about Penn State football. Sometimes, it comes out that way, and sometimes it’s a bit flowery and moody. 

I didn’t think the Maryland game needed a flowery column earlier this week and still didn’t tonight despite writing that first one so instead we’re going to stick to the more conversational style this week.

But I do have some thoughts in the back of my head about the current state of Penn State football that I’d like to share with you if that’s OK. 

(At this point, you’re trapped here so it better be OK. You just have to finish reading.) 

Thought One

My first thought this week is probably the spiciest one of all of these. 

I think it’s time for Penn State to pick a running back. I don’t know if this whole two-headed monster thing is working this year the way it did last year. 

The data says so. Penn State is pacing behind where it was in yards per carry and yards per game last season. Last year, the Nittany Lions’ stable of running backs had 19 runs of more than 20 yards across 13 games. This year through eight games, there have been just five. 

Penn State has failed to score a rushing touchdown in two games this season so far, something that happened once all of last year. 

It feels like neither Nicholas Singleton or Kaytron Allen can find their mojo the same way they did last year – and I think that’s probably why Penn State hasn’t picked one yet.  

I’m not really sure who I’d pick either. Personally, I think Allen is the better back. He’s better, in my opinion, in short yardage, powering-through-the-line football. He also seems to pick up steam the more he goes. 

And that seems to lean a bit more into Penn State’s identity this year of beating you by time possession and patience on offense.

Allen was named player of the week by Penn State’s coaches– which means little in the grand scheme of things –and was noticeably better than Singleton on Saturday against the Hoosiers.  

But Singleton’s speed is dangerous and multiple times this season, he’s been a block or a shoe-string tackle away from busting one open. We can’t forget that this is the former Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year and Big Ten offensive freshman of the year, but that was last year. 

The same goes for Allen too. Someone needs to step up in that department similarly the way someone needs to step up into the second wide receiver position. (Although, the wide receiver position is the bigger problem right now.)

Maybe Saturday is the day the wide receiver issue gets fixed.

And maybe Saturday is a time to see who will get hot first at running back. But Maryland’s defense may not help with that given they rank inside the top 25 in the country in fewest yards allowed per carry and game this year. 

I don’t know. Maybe they just need to pick one and see what happens. 

Thought Two

Punter Riley Thompson isn’t getting enough credit he deserves. 

For someone who was a bit of an unknown coming into Penn State from Florida Atlantic, he’s been dependable this year, putting 12 punts inside the 20 and kicking only one touchback. (Although, apparently no one knows his actual year because he was a freshman at FAU last year and is a senior at Penn State. That’s definitely still unknown.) 

Thompson, the Australian, has also been a part of two massively important momentum building plays, creating muffed punts against Iowa and Indiana. 

He’s also had a couple of great holds on place kicks. 

There are three phases of the game and special teams doesn’t always get talked about like offense and defense do. 

Plus, you weren’t getting a shoutout in that flowery column, Riley, so I wanted to take this opportunity now. 

Thought Three

OK, fine, I’ll tell you about the flowery column. 

Simply put, there’s nothing that Penn State can do right now to fix its season the way you really want it to be fixed. 

No, that game is on the schedule for Nov. 11 at 12 p.m. 

But right now, for Penn State, the task at hand is handling Maryland. It can’t have defensive lapses the way it did against Indiana last week – although it’s hard to complain about this defense the way it’s played in the seven other games this season. 

Alternatively, even if Penn State’s wide receivers figure it out this weekend and have a big game, it still doesn’t fix things because then where was that against Ohio State? You also don’t have a DeLorean to go back and make sure things go differently against the Buckeyes. 

We all have to live in the present and the present right now relies on Penn State beating Maryland this week, not looking ahead to Michigan. 

And of course, things can get a bit worse this weekend should Penn State lose. But if this team is as good as James Franklin projects it to be in his conversations with the media, then none of that is a problem. Right? Right? 

The bottom line is this, Penn State still has a lot to play for but it needs to do its best job this weekend of keeping that on the table. 

Otherwise, then you can really be angry. 

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