PENN STATE SURVIVES BOWLING GREEN SCARE: SHAKY PERFORMANCE CASTS DOUBT OVER NO. 8 NITTANY LIONS AS CONTENDER

What goodwill that No. 8 Penn State generated with its dominant season-opening performance against West Virginia took precisely one week to evaporate as the Nittany Lions limped to a 34-27 win against Bowling Green on Saturday -- despite entering their first home game of the year as 36.5-point favorites. 

If it wasn't for some late-game heroics from running back Nicholas Singleton and some timely turnovers forced by a defense that failed to impress overall, the final score would have looked a lot worse. 

Singleton caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Allar with just over six minutes left in the third quarter to give Penn State its first lead of the game and then slammed the door on Bowling Green late in the fourth quarter with his 41-yard touchdown run. But he was one of the lone bright spots on a Penn State offense that looked mostly lethargic against what should have been overmatched competition. 

New offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who turned heads with great play-calling against the Mountaineers, had some questionable play-sequencing. Too many times, Penn State would run on first and second down before falling behind the chains and forcing itself into an obvious passing situation on third down. The Nittany Lions' average third down distance to go was 8.6 yards. As a result, they converted on just two of their nine attempts. 

Allar looked solid again, completing 13 of his 20 pass attempts for 204 yards and two touchdowns, but he did have one questionable interception while trying to push the ball into the end zone -- it could have been miscommunication between Allar and the intended receiver -- to end the third quarter. He also wasn't helped by Penn State's insistence on forcing itself into third-and-longs. 

For all of the offense's struggles, it was the defense that came out looking truly worse for ware. Bowling Green scored a touchdown on its first drive of the day, which snapped Penn State's streak of 28 straight games without allowing a first-drive touchdown. 

But the Falcons weren't done there. They scored on three consecutive possessions, and four of their first five drives, to open up a 24-17 lead at halftime. Bowling Green had 286 total yards, including 192 behind the arm of quarterback Connor Bazelak, and touchdowns of 15 and 41 yards in the first 30 minutes. 

Penn State's defense does deserve credit for locking things down in the second half and allowing the Nittany Lions to claw their way back. Key interceptions from linebacker Tony Rojas and defensive back Zakee Wheatley brought two fourth-quarter marches from Bowling Green to a screeching halt. 

Better teams with more depth than Bowling Green will be able to sustain the production, though. The Nittany Lions still have to play a USC team that put 447 yards on the board against LSU and an Ohio State team that should field one of the nation's most explosive attacks. 

The rest of Penn State's schedule, outside of those two games, is manageable. Even then, Saturday's result cast doubts on the Nittany Lions' ability to elevate themselves to a championship level, especially in a race that also includes the likes of Oregon. 

Penn State has a bye next week and then another home game against Kent State to figure out its issues before conference play begins in earnest. 

2024-09-07T20:53:46Z dg43tfdfdgfd