Penn State survives upset scare from Bowling Green / Drew Allar & offense bail out shaky defense

no Bowling Green did not leave Beaver Stadium with an upset Victory as Penn State wins 34 to 27 but the nitty Lions leave this field with more questions about the team than it had before you are locked on nitty Lions your daily podcast on the Penn State nitty Lions part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day no upsets today here in Happy Valley Penn State's able to fend off Bowling Green 34-27 this is lockon nitty Lions as we are recapping this one from inside of Beaver Stadium a little bit of wind a little bit of rain here post game I'm Zach Seiko your host of the podcast joined by special guests is Dylan cigan Crowley editor for Penn State rivals and this is associate producer Zan bransfield to the locked on nney lions podcast I mean my my immediate thought press process from this was I I spent a lot of the week talking about how Penn State the defense can take another step forward they Elite Tom Allen is comparable maybe even better than Manny Diaz and I was I I truly believe that this could have been a shut out performance and Bowling Green for a good portion of the game too good of a portion of the game dictated the terms on offense Dylan what what happened because that doesn't Inspire any confidence in a group where they have not seen the true competition yet yeah now you know Bowling Green comes out and it just punched Pence state in the face repeatedly there in the first half uh and uh you know Devon uh Thomas uh Jay Thomas after the game was talking about he just says that he thinks the N lions in that first half you know just didn't uh play obviously play up to standard but just too many mistakes too many misassignments this that you know everything that we could visually see on the field that was taking place but uh I think for me it was just that the N Lions struggled to make adjustments in that first half it took to get to to get into halftime for them to truly make adjustments and those adjustments worked well it came out in the second half uh allowed three points allowed I think maybe about 100 yards at the second half so the adjustments did work once they happened at halftime but uh you know you can't you can't wait to have time to make adjustments once you get the thck of the Big 10 schedule I I I don't think today's game necessarily changes my views on this for Penn State but you know for a defense that was expected to be amongst the best in the country and I still think can be among the best in the country this was a a humbling performance I would say from them it it certainly changes my view of the defense and and I want to throw it over to Z again when's When's picking up as you can see but uh I it does change my view of the defense Dylan because what happens if KJ Winston's not able to go right he left the game in the first quarter and this def defense is insanely talented but now we're starting to see some glaring issues with the pass rush zero sacks against a Mac level team and that's a Mac title Championship contending level team so I don't want to take away from Bowling Green here that is a good Mac level football team however I feel like Penn State should be able to get some pressure Connor baslac had almost all day back there unscathed for the most part Bowling Green played mistake-free football in the first half and that's why it's unacceptable in the second half Penn State made some adjustments and that's a true that is what a college football playoff caliber team is going to do but right now I I am raising some red flags here about Penn State's defense a well I don't think we should raise all the flags though because I don't think the Penn State Defense is as bad as what people think obviously I don't think they're bad but I get I get what you're saying but people are obviously going to be frustrated but this Penn State Defense didn't make any adjustments the first half which was a big reason they did so poorly defensively so after they made those adjustments they did well so why they make the adjustments I have no idea James Franklin didn't really say much he said he had to watch tape so I think that's something pensant needs to look forward to and fans should be excited to see what this Penn State team can do and the defense is still Elite I think they're going to be one of the best teams they just totally overlooked Bowling Green they thought Bowling Green wasn't going to be any good they were going to go into by we come back out play Kent State and they were all just going to have a great time well obviously that's not what happened in Penn State the scoreboard shows for itself Penn State struggled and I think I think P has a lot to work on especially with their confidence and trying to keep that one and0 mentality that James Frankl preaches so much I think that's a very good point saying I don't know if Penn State said that well bowling Green's not that good I said that well I mean I I so I acknowledge that hey this is a veteran coach with a veteran team 30 plus seniors but it's still pen State how can Bowling Green match up to what they and and going on the road like that but I think you you make an excellent point let's look at it from the angle of you go into morgant town There's lot of energy there's a lot of juice to that so I agree with you to an extent but I don't think it was more so about balling green I think it was Penn State within itself looking behind them like Hey we're feeling great we just we just defeated West Virginia we won with authority we embarrassed them and morgant town and then you don't have that same pickme up when it's Bowling Green it's the Mac so it's not really so much about the the Bowling Green Team itself but I think it is that Penn State just wasn't they they they were behind and still kind of processing what had happened in West Virginia that's my opinion Dylan no yeah I think you know I think it's it's hard to say if if I think F State you know overlooked B probably to a degree yeah uh at the same time you know historic James Franklin Fen state in these games usually comes in takes care of business and appi state Buffalo um but you know once in a while they do have a hiccup like this those that appach State game there that Buffalo game they do have those hiccups that App State team of course was a very good app State team I think that Buffalo team uh was uh also obviously a great one was was Andy keni part of that Buffalo too he was he was actually so he's familiar with this territory yeah it was it was interesting uh I I wonder if on the balling green side maybe you know everybody came this week talking about Tom Allen knows Bowling Green quarterback con Conor basc well cuz he was his quarterback in Indiana but at the same time Conor knows how that IND how the Tom Allen Defense work defense works really well from that time as well so I wonder how much that went into the game plan for Bowling Green this week I'm not saying that's an excuse for giv up 27 points and going 24 in the first half right it it was a poor performance Tom Allen had some questionable play calls I mean they were I think there was a third and medium they had in the first half were playing about 10 yards off the ball I don't understand all the play calls for Tom out but you know for P say it at that point at one point or another this game it it just became survive and Advance we saw that a lot in college last week I mean Michigan struggled with Fresno State last week now Michigan Michigan got their buts with by Texas today but Oregon struggled with Idaho perhaps in a similar F mentality wise te State um we were talking about that coming into today's game you know that game Oregon we still conceive as a college football playoff Contender as one of the best teams in the Big 10 I still receive Penn State as one of the best te in the Big 10 he called to our playoff Contender after today but at the same time there are things that are going to have to be cleaned up I think you know the biggest takeway to say defensively is that the linebacker dep is definitely a concern going forward yes uh just after Tony Roos there's not a Kobe King is good but I mean when you're putting out Dominic Duca Tyler L those times on a consistent bases it it can get a little bit shaky and then yeah I mean that safety room dep without KJ Winston we'll see what his availability is going forward uh is a little you know as well I think I I do think we need to Pivot to the offense now because unlike last season where the defense time and time again bailed out Penn State's offense the rolls reversed Penn State's offense bailed out the defense today and aside from an interception Drew Aller was Flawless guys I hope you don't mind I got to pay some bills so when we come back from the other side of this break we'll talk about just how far Drew Aller has come as a quarterback and this Andy cotal Nikki Penn State offense and today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn jobs when you're hiring 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use LinkedIn for hiring be one of them post your job for free at linkedin.com loock on colge that is linkedin.com loock onol to post your job for free terms and conditions apply so the final score 34-27 and Penn State's offense big part of why they were able to win today why they were able to fend off the upset and Drew Aller does look like that NFL caliber quarterback does look like a future top 10 pick he's in the conversation for the number one overall pick that's a separate conver that is a separate conversation down the road but the the throws that he was making the confidence that he had he was willing to take risks and he was hitting his throws right the wide receivers dropped some of the passes I I gave credit to Bowling Green secondary they have future NFL talent for example Jordan Oken uh made I think he made the play that it was against Trey Wallace that set up another almost another deep touchdown there was the offensive pass interference again that I think the referees were looking for from Amari Evans they ended up calling it with a little bit of a push off again debatable but the point here is that Drew Aller was doing everything right now aside from that interception I'm glad that happened earlier in the season cuz remember there was the whole streak of games from last season and he had to protect but now that's out of the way again and I don't think there wasn't this Dark Cloud over it drew Aller throwing an interception was meaningless compared to the way it was last season Dylan yeah no I mean Drew had a not a perfect day but it was pretty I thought it was pretty close pretty close you know he had the one interception in the corner The End Zone over here looking back on it it looked like he thought he had man coverage there with Harrison Wallace getting open good play by the defens then DB who was On LAN Clifford just uh bailed on Clifford dropped back and was able to pick it off great um so I mean he wants that one back but outside of that it was a pretty good day I mean 204 209 passing yards I think4 passing yards 13 to 20 13 to 20 and you talked about the you know the Deep ball that Mari Evans that got caught off the OPI Trey Wallace dropped a would be would have been close to a touchdown on the other side of the field in third third quarter again great play by do yeah but it it was uh both of those throws were perfect from Drew Drew had several perfect throws today that really showed off his arm Talent um but I mean between those two plays the OPI and the drop you're you're talking another about another 90 yards of passing there uh that would have been added to that uh but Drew was yeah Drew just one uh one of his better performances overall I think uh and he responded well from that interception I thought uh you know last year you you don't know how he would have responded from um but also don't know if last year he would have taken that chance either right so right that's what I mean by saying a a different confident Drew Aller and then zann there's the the running ability of Drew Aller no he I think he was seven carries for seven yards there were there were a couple sacks that were factored into that right uh Bowling Green pass rush did get home and did take out take down Drew Aller but Drew is still so for someone that's 6'5 235 lb and he is Shifty Dynamic within the confines of a pocket he's able to extend plays and bowling there was that one instance where I know he ended up taking a very long sack he should have just thrown the ball away so that's something you'd like to see him clean up Zan but it it's the way that he continues to extend plays cause headaches for whoever's chasing after him and it's just not easy and you still have to factor him he had that touchdown run himself in the game where he ran it in and took it for he took it in for a touchdown uh with his legs so there it is again dual threat quarterback Drew Allen that just makes him more dynamic as a quarterback overall and what NFL teams are going to look for in the future absolutely I think Dre has done a great job his development has like been unreal this season working over the summer and his confidence especially but I don't think Drew R is the only person we should be talking about on the offense because you look at Tyler Warren who set a career or a School record here today of receiving yards by tight end y he had an incredible game now he didn't have a touchdown but he had over 100 yards receiving and I thought he looked really good Drew Aller said himself that he's so consistent and he's such a big body a big Target to throw to and Franklin keeps preaching that he's a complete tight end I think we saw that today we've heard from the running backs that he's great on the blocking for the running game he's great at catching the ball he's great at drawing Defenders so other people can open so I thought Tyler War had a great game as well as the rushing attack of Nick Singleton and Kar Allen who I think are better than people think they are they both had over 100 yards Nick Singleton averaged 9.2 and KRON Allen averaged 7.2 carry like 7.2 7.2 yards per carry yeah and so I thought they looked incredible like what do you do you take Nick Singleton out of the game and someone thinks oh the next guy can't do it well KRON Allen can also run for 100 yards so I think that gives pens such a dynamic look because they can run the ball they can throw the ball and if they want to throw people off they put b p in a couple times to run the ball the running backs can even catch the ball Nick Singleton had receiving touchdown again today KRON had one last week almost had one today I think this Penn State team has so many Playmakers cuz we didn't even see much of Trey Wallace and this Penn State team still put up 34 points and I think that goes to show that it's hard for teams to cover this Penn State team because they have so many different explosive weapons that's interesting to me Zayn because you say that as okay Penn State is dynamic in its offense that they can go to Trey Wallace one day Tyler Warren another day Nicholas Singleton and KRON Allen are that duo that's really tough to stop the thunder and lightning and for Penn State I I still have my concerns about wide receivers because Julian Fleming had the one reception Amari Evans had a reception and he had a drop there was the offensive pass interference Trey Wallace was taken out of the game Bowling Green is still defensively going to be susceptible to a a a superstar performance from a Tyler Warren in this case same thing with West Virginia and Trey Wallace when you have a more confident defense USC down the road ESP Ohio State which is a college football championship caliber team Dylan I'm just still not I I have I have so much optimism for this offense and they can they can continue to make progress but I still need to see more diversity that Zane is referring to but he has confidence in it I don't I'm probably somewhere between you guys uh I mean I they got the quarterback that you know I which start at all but maybe maybe five six schools in the country I think there's five six scored backs out there that you could argue preference yeah you could you could argue you would take if that quarterback wasn't there they would take Drew in a heartbeat absolutely 133 schools would take Drew in a heartbeat if they exactly their starting quarterbacks weren't there um but and and you got the you got one of the best running back duers in the country without of Doubt um the wide receiver room I think is still a concern uh for me just yes they are showing signs of improvement from last year they're again open on consistent basis but uh again it's just not been a lot of like you said diversity it's a work in progress and who's getting those targets I mean uh today it was looking at it you know just it was just Tyler Warren yeah uh Tyler Warren had eight catches Mari Evans had two um Fleming had one um uh W couple times um you know we heard about lame Clifford coming to this season this is two back-to-back quad games I know it's beyond just the numbers but I I you're going to have to get more guys involved uh once you get deeper in the season um now you got tied in tolerant warn you feel really good about clil dinkin I think they feel good about Bey beyond that now it's a little a question mark something worth noed Andrew rier out today he was seen on crutches on the sideline uh availability going forward is unknown James Franklin said that was an injury that happened recently so we'll see how his availability is going forward pen STS that got that by week but uh not always a great sign obviously to be on crutches uh right so we'll see what happens there if he can't go going forward for a little bit CL denin steps in that number two roll and uh they probably are forced to you know Green Line Luke Reynolds who's now played first two games of the Season uh at this point you only have two more games to work with before you burn that it's it's going to happen um and then on the offensive line I I would say um love tackle has become a major question mark I think at this point uh Dre Shelton you know struggled last year at times he struggled in that peach ball massively last week against West Virginia was not great and today he he struggled again uh we saw noan RI LF tackle George of the game and I think that's going to be something monor going forward Point Anthony Dona on that right side seems to be doing a really good job yep um you know Nick Dawkins was one of the bigger question mark coming to the season through two games I think he's been pretty all right uh but got to figure out that left tackle spot uh CU that was where a lot of the pressure was coming from today guys if you don't mind I got to take one more break here on this recap podcast when we come back to some final takeaways Dylan already brought up the offensive line other things that they need to work on going into the bye and then Ken state right after that that's coming up next here on lockon nit Lions today's episode is also brought to you by game time you got to download the game time app because buying tickets to your favorite events should not be stressful game time has a new feature called Game Time picks that makes getting tickets to your favorite Live Events even easier than before game time picks filters out all of the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands and thousands of tickets and if you go to the game time app right now you can see tickets for Penn State versus Kent State and I know there's a bi-week wedged in there but you can already get tick for that game and if you sort by the game time picks Deals they have one right now going for $16 in the lower end zone you can get deals like that on the game time app so take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use promo code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase term Supply again create that account and use promo code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed Dylan I just want to pick up from the offensive line point because I I still said the chemistry throughout the week that they they were a work in progress and this is the group that I I had circled uh on my list you know them the wide receivers and the linebackers right we kind of all address them that this was a big game for them and I still walk away with tons and tons of question marks you mentioned Drew Shelton we saw that Tony Roos made a plan is starting to come along Dom Duca looked okay he got he got banged up in the middle of a punt play there but the linebackers still there's not a lot of reassurance there and then what if KJ Winston he's an extension of the linebacker group because of how much he plays close to the Box again Bowling Green was able to expose the cover three man looks that Penn State was doing defensively what happens if the linebackers become more of a liability James Franklin has already addressed that there are depth concerns for that group so even though there is a bye coming up I the the offensive line still still has serious question marks what are you doing at left tackle moving forward pass protection was not as good as it was against uh West Virginia but the Run game was better but I also think that's a byproduct zann of just Bowling Green runs a 335 that's six guys naturally in the Box you are built to try to defend the pass so it's good that Penn State's passing offense with Drew and Tyler Warren had that success because that's what their focus is and the ground game again kind of a byproduct of the fact that you just had open so if they missed them I'd really be concerned here so those are my overall takeaways still that the linebackers the offensive line and just kind of depth in general going in addition to the wide receivers depth in general if Penn State is missing key players for the teams that will make you pay for subtle mistakes it's not going to go well actually I totally agree with you I was going to say the exact same thing that depth is overall issue with this Penn State team they have a couple very strong points select positions and select positions but like you get past a few others and it's kind of weak like safety can get a little weak after like losing you got like KJ you got Jaylen Reed and cam Miller if you want to throw him back there but he's really a natural cornerback so that's kind of weak the linebackers are weak obviously offensive line we thought would be strong but it's looking like that could they have good depth they just it it's still figuring out that rotation yeah so I think there's a couple question marks for Penn State here as James Franklin said they this is a game they won that they get to go and work on a whole lot of stuff versus losing and having to work on a whole lot of stuff cuz now they have a byee before they face Kent State on the 21st y so I think P's in a decent position considering everything they have it could hopefully get better in time to prepare for some bigname competition like Illinois or Ohio State or USC Zay I think you make a lot of excellent points here I and I'm not trying to sound all doom and gloom but it's one thing if you have this performance against Ohio State USC or or frankly other big 10 opponents I I want to give more respect to Bowling Green because they certainly deserve it but Dylan this this happened against a MAC Conference team I have again I still have burning questions about the group the position groups that I circled on the depth chart linebacker wide receiver uh and linebacker wide receiver offensive line all of those groups still didn't give me a lot of reassurance if I'm watching this as a as a Penn State spectator no yeah I think if you're a Penn State fan there's two ways to look at it one you survived in advance and then today's college football especially in the 12 team playoff now it's all about survival advancing uh you know with a win here you still have that room for error down the road when your schedule does intensify here in a about a month um on the other side yeah you struggled with a Mac team a very good Mac team they will they will contend for a conference title they they voted third they roted the preseason poll to finish third uh right behind uh Miami of Ohio and uh forget the third first one honestly but either way this is a team that's going to compete for a Mac title um but at the the same time you should beat these opponents now convincingly yeah as we're recording this now Notre Dame is struggling with Northern Illinois um so it's not you know a only a Penn State problem we saw last week Oregon struggled with Idaho an FCS B yeah these things do happen uh but yeah a lot of questions were created with this performance today and they have a lot to clean up but luckily for them they got a bye coming up then they got Kent State which is a bad a bad team another Mac team that's another Mac team should we be concerned ma team but uh by no means a good Mac team a Mac team that is uh in the process of losing to an FCS team as we record this um and then they got Illinois a team they should beat UCLA a team they should beat both teams they do not need to bring their aame necessarily to beat uh it's all about getting ready getting healthy for that October 12th match up against USC in Los Angeles they got to get healthy for that they got to work at The Kinks defensively offensively it's all about getting ready for that because starting with that game you got a what a four or five game stretch there where it's looking pretty difficult USC uh Wisconsin Ohio state Washington all within five weeks got a by we in there but outside that it's going to be a tough one and they're going to be bring their aame week in and week out during that stretch so abut they got some time to work on things but this is definitely a game that uh Pence fan should be happy with a win but you're definitely uh not feeling as confident as you were I would say if you're pen fan coming out last week's went over West Virginia to sum it all up I mean gentlemen week two for Penn State it is in the books hey Bowling Green deserves a lot more credit than they were given on on this podcast and and I think in general they they can compete with some serious teams including college football playoff contenders the offense is still training in the right direction I still need to see more and then the defense yeah I'm going to have to pump the brakes on you know hey they're they're Elite they're taking a step forward this might be better than a Manny Diaz group they have their own flaws that are different from the 2023 group but was still they're still one of the best in the country we can say that with confidence and that'll do it for this edition of locked on nitty Lon special guests here that's Dylan calligan Crowley Penn State rivals editor this is Zay bransfield associate producer to the podcast here my name is Zach Seiko your host of the show please let us know your feedbacks comments your thoughts about this game I'd appreciate it if you left a like on this episode and share it with friends and family and if you're not already becoming everyday or subscribe to lockon NY lines on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast for the latest conversations around your favorite pen State sports teams