Coming off a very physical game to start the season, the Penn State Nittany Lions will get ready to battle Ball State to look to go 2-0.
Here are 5 reasons why Penn State will defeat Ball State in Week 2.
1. Welcome home fans
This game against Ball State will be the first time that Penn State will be able to play in front of its fans for the first time since November 2019. The impact of a home crowd in Beaver Stadium is exceptional. When former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer calls it one of the loudest and challenging places he’s ever coached, you know something is being done right. We can probably expect a more electric atmosphere in week 3 for a primetime game against Auburn, but the first game back in the stands should be something special for Penn State to feed off of.
2. Defense builds off last week
The Penn State defense was the reason the Nittany Lions were able to escape Madison with a win in the season openrr against the Wisconsin Badgers. Big plays by Jaquan Brisker, Ellis Brooks, and Arnold Ebiketie throughout the day led to crucial stops. Brisker’s late interception helped to salt away some time off the clock last week. Ball State has a very experienced offense, so the defense could be in for a stiffer challenge than some may realize in Week 2.
3. Will the Offense start to click?
In the win over Wisconsin, the offense got off to a slow start, but Mike Yurcich started to get some things moving with Sean Clifford getting in a rhythm and finding time to process the field a little bit. Jahan Dotson and Noah Cain got more momentum in the second half against the Badgers and everything should be able to get off to a better start at home against Ball State. Ball State gave up a lot of passing yards last week.
4. Take advantage of the opportunities
It’s way too early to begin speculating about postseason futures for the Nittany Lions, but things are already trending in a very positive direction for the Nittany Lions after just one week. Being a big favorite against Ball State gives Penn State an opportunity to flex some muscle a bit and instill a little more confidence in them moving forward. A nailbiter or a “closer than the experts think” kind of game will only lead to some more questions about what Penn State isn’t doing compared to reacting to what they are doing.
5. Go 1-0 every week
The motto that Penn State coach James Franklin sets every week is to go 1-0. That means have a very good week at practice and take what you can from the week before and add to it. How good did practice go this week? That may be determined by just how good a start Penn State gets off to in this game against the Ball State Cardinals.
1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 #WeAre
— James Franklin (@coachjfranklin) September 5, 2021
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