On Saturday night, just about everything seemed to go Penn State’s way. A 24-0 victory over Indiana lifted Penn State to 5-0 on the season with plenty of big games coming their way. The revenge game situation for the Nittany Lions against the Hoosiers certainly set the tone for Penn State on defense and the offense got a pretty well-balanced approach for the first time this season.
And to think, this game was another reminder that Penn State can still improve what they are doing. Penn State was flagged for five penalties, mostly at times James Franklin would prefer to keep things nice and orderly to run out some clock. But all in all, Saturday night was a good night for the Nittany Lions.
Here are some takeaways from Penn State’s latest victory on the season.
Penn State finally got the running game moving
We’ve all been waiting to see Penn State find a way to get the running game more involved, and on Saturday night they did just that. Penn State rushed for 209 yards as a team. Penn State did have 240 rushing yards against Ball State in Week 2, but after two games of 80 and 84 rushing yards against Auburn and Villanova, going over 200 yards was needed for the Nittany Lion faithful in Week 5.
Keyvone Lee led the team with 74 rushing yards (more on him in a moment) and John Lovett continued to contribute more with 41 yards on 10 carries. The running game also saw Sean Clifford add 58 yards on 10 carries, whether designed or on the fly (mostly on the fly).
Keyvone Lee may be the best running option
With Noah Cain not getting the kind of production that was expected of him so far this season, Penn State has needed a back to step his game up. In Week 5, that was Keyvoine Lee. As mentioned already, Lee was Penn State’s leading rusher with 74 yards on eight carries, including a 44-yard run.
Lee has shown to be a back who can run with power and show some burst, which is needed in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions are still expected to split the carries around with Lee and Lovett leading the way in Week 5, but Lee has emerged as the back you can have the most confidence in making a big run happen.