Penn State handled adversity in win over Bowling Green, but bye week cleanup remains

Reflecting on Penn State’s 34-27 victory over Bowling Green, coach James Franklin didn’t quite say a win’s a win.

However, despite the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions’ failure to pummel their Mid-American Conference foe at Beaver Stadium — instead falling behind 17-7 in the second quarter — Franklin did credit his team for finding a way to come out on top.

“I’d love for it to be different, but I do think there’s some value of having the grit to battle through,” he said. “There’s some people that would have loved to have an ugly win all over the country.”

Penn State’s victory over the Falcons leads into one of two bye weeks the Nittany Lions have this season.

Up next is another MAC opponent, Kent State, which visits Happy Valley on Sept. 21 before Big Ten Conference play begins the following weekend at home.

Beating Bowling Green kept Penn State (2-0) perfect while offering a higher-than-anticipated dose of adversity early into the year. However, it was not optimal as far as what Franklin hopes to get out of his nonconference schedule.

“I’d prefer that we can play in a way that we can build the confidence we need going into Big Ten play, get a ton of guys reps and still be able to clean up some of the mistakes, but I think there’s some value in winning these types of games,” Franklin said.

One player who should have manufactured some confidence Saturday was kicker Sander Sahaydak, who earned the starting job coming out of fall camp.

In Week 1 at West Virginia, he missed his first attempt of the year from 47 yards, but against Bowling Green, Sahaydak converted both his tries, from 28 and 43 yards.

“Certainly, (he) had the opportunity at West Virginia late in the game and didn’t execute there, so (I) was disappointed in that,” special teams coordinator Justin Lustig said. “But he’s had such a good camp and he’s such a talented kicker that (we) felt strongly about sticking with him.

“Just really pleased that he was able to hit two big field goals in the Bowling Green game. Hoping that builds his confidence and getting those made field goals out of the way will propel him to doing what he does in practice every day.”

Offensively, Franklin feels there’s more work to be done when it comes to getting the ball into the hands of Penn State’s playmakers.

Key receiver transfer Julian Fleming, despite receiving high marks from coaches for his blocking, went catchless at WVU and hauled in just one pass for 3 yards against the Falcons.

Harrison Wallace, Penn State’s star wideout against the Mountaineers, recorded zero catches on three targets vs. Bowling Green.

However, tailbacks Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton both had strong games last weekend, as they each topped 100 rushing yards.

For Franklin, spreading the ball around offensively correlates with increased efficiency.

“We’re either scoring or going three-and-out a lot of times,” he said. “So what happens is the play count is out of whack. We’re not getting enough plays. Part of balance is not just running and being able to throw the ball in every situation, it’s spreading the field 53 ¹⁄₃ (yards). It’s also getting touches for guys.

“We don’t have enough opportunities to get enough guys touches because we’re not sustaining drives.”

Defensively, Saturday’s win featured a stark contrast between the first and second halves.

The Falcons scored points on four of their five first-half drives and led 24-20 at the halfway point.

But the Nittany Lions were far more stingy in the last two quarters, allowing just three points on the Falcons’ final drive of the game.

Leading into that late field goal, Penn State’s defense forced three straight punts and had interceptions to kill back-to-back drives.

“You’re going to have to win a ton of different ways throughout the year,” Franklin said. “There’s going to be games where you blow people out. There’s going to be games where you’re on the road scratching and clawing for every point you can get.

“There’s going to be games where you’re on the road, you’re dealing with weather — there’s a ton of different ways — and we’re going to have to find multiple ways to win games. That was one of them this Saturday.”