Penn State is looking forward to getting a chance to get back on the field this week after being idle in Week 3. Their opponent this weekend, Kent State, appears to be just the right kind of opponent for a Penn State team looking to clean up a few things before jumping into Big Ten play. Among the key areas of focus for Penn State going into this Week 4 home game against the Golden Flashes will be penalty yardage.
“[Decreasing penalties is] a major priority for me because we’re just making things more difficult than they need to be,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said in his Monday press conference.
“We’re either stopping drives after we convert first downs or making more challenging third down situations,” Franklin continued. “Hard to get into a rhythm of offense. And then defensively letting guys off the hook in terms of penalties that extend drives or make more manageable third down situations for their offense against our defense.”
Through the first two games of the season, which is honestly a small sample size but good enough to drill in a point from a coaching standpoint, Penn State ranks 95th in the nation with an average of 7.5 penalties per game. The Nittany Lions have averaged a total of 68.0 penalty yards per game in the first two games of the season.
The penalties have yet to threaten Penn State in the win column, but that is clearly an area to focus on moving forward. Last season saw Penn State rank 30th in the nation in penalty yards per game (43.3 penalty yards per game). Penn State ranked sixth among Big Ten teams in penalty yards per game in 2023.
“If] you look statistically at where penalties rank in terms of winning and losing, it’s nowhere near what the turnover ratio is and what explosive plays are, but it makes for a sloppy game,” Franklin elaborated. “It makes for a game that as a head coach you’re not proud to watch, and it also just makes it difficult to get into a rhythm. I think it also has impacted time of possession, which has been a problem in our first two games, specifically in the first half.
Penn State hosts Kent State on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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