STATE COLLEGE – The atmosphere around the second-ranked team in the country hasn’t reached Defcon 3 yet when it comes to its struggles to complete drives.
Penn State football coach James Franklin, though, has “concerns” after the Nittany Lions subdued six-touchdown underdog FIU 34-0 Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
“I want to finish drives and score touchdowns and so does (offensive coordinator) Andy Kotelnicki,” Franklin said “And so do all of our players. We have to get better. We have to get better on third down. We have to be more explosive.
“I have concerns. They’re things we’re going to emphasize and focus on this week. We’ll get better.”
Penn State (2-0) scored only 10 points on eight first-half possessions inside the Panthers’ territory. The Lions sputtered one week after they kicked four field goals on nine possessions inside Nevada territory last week against another prohibitive underdog.
“It’s the first two games,” quarterback Drew Allar said. “I’m not really worried about it yet. We finished plenty of drives in the first two games. For me, it’s never going to be good enough if we don’t score on every single drive.
“That’s the standard I hold our offense to. It starts with me. I just have to play better. I’m not worried about it.
Not until Devonte Ross’ 42-yard touchdown catch for a 20-0 lead in the third quarter did the announced crowd of 103,817 exhale.
Ross, a transfer from Troy, made a one-handed grab with a defender clutching him. He finished with three receptions for 61 yards and his first Penn State touchdown.
“It was really good to see Devonte come down with a spectacular catch,” Allar said. “The protection up front on that play was outstanding. It was really cool to see because he’s been putting in a tremendous amount of work.”
Allar did not throw the ball well, even though he completed 19-of-33 passes and two touchdowns, the first one to tight end Khalil Dinkins. He underthrew a deep sideline pass to Ross, who was behind the defense in the first quarter. He badly missed a swing pass to running back Nick Singleton on third down in the second.
“I didn’t think he was in his normal rhythm,” Franklin said about Allar. “We had some drops. He had some throws that he normally makes that he didn’t. That was a major factor for us on third down as well.”
The Lions were just 3-for-12 on third down and failed to convert several times in short-yardage situations. They scored their final two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter, a career-long 67-yard sprint by Kaytron Allen and a 5-yard burst by Singleton.
The last TD came after freshman Chaz Coleman sacked backup quarterback Joe Pesansky, stripped the ball from him, recovered it and returned it to the FIU 5.
“You guys are starting to see what we saw in camp,” Franklin said. “He wasn’t even here for spring ball. You’re going to see him continue to take significant strides. He’s quick. He’s twitchy. He’s athletic. He’s 250 pounds and looks skinny. He did some cool things today.”
So did the entire defense, posting its first shutout since a 59-0 thumping of Kent State last year.
Defensive tackle Alonzo Ford Jr. made the first interception of his career, linebackers Tony Rojas and Amare Campbell combined for 19 tackles and end Dani Dennis-Sutton spent much of the afternoon in the backfield.
Dennis-Sutton and Coleman each had two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. Franklin was not entirely pleased with the defense, even though the Lions have allowed just one touchdown in two games.
“We’re not playing fast yet on defense,” he said. “They’re still thinking with some of the new wrinkles we have (under new coordinator Jim Knowles). We need to get some of those things cleaned up so we can play faster.”
Although Allen rushed for a career-high 144 yards and Singleton ran for 76, the offense has much more to correct with Big Ten champion Oregon coming to town late this month.
“We made it harder than it needed to be in a lot of areas,” Franklin said. “We’re playing a bunch of young guys and it felt like that at times. We have to get those things cleaned up. …We’re not where we need to be.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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