Penn State Nittany Lions College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Penn State Nittany Lions Biggest Key: Offense
The turnovers mattered. This hasn’t been an air-tight program with the ball under James Franklin, but the 17 turnovers last season were a problem.
It was more about the team’s overall rhythm than anything specific, but yeah, it mattered that the Nittany Lions were -9 in turnover margin over the five-game losing streak to start the season and +1 over the four-game winning run to end the campaign.
Yes, the defense had a role in this by only coming up with four takeaway over the first four games – and only four picks on the season – and the offensive line’s issues in pass protection were a huge deal. But things changed once the offense cleaned things up a bit, especially with the passing game.
The O gave up eight interceptions over the five losses and just one the rest of the way. Going back to the beginning of the 2015 season, Penn State is 2-8 when throwing multiple picks and 0-4 over the last two years.
Penn State Nittany Lions Biggest Key: Defense
Crank up the pass rush again. Not having Micah Parsons and Yetur Gross-Matos around was a big part of the problem, and Jayson Oweh went from a five-sack guy in 2019 to a bagel in 2020, but the defense as a whole didn’t get the job done.
The 21 sacks in nine games weren’t awful. That was good enough to finish fifth in the Big Ten in sacks per game, and the increased pressure mattered late in the year. However, for this program, averaging 2.33 sacks per outing is very, very light.
It was the lowest per game sack total since 2013. That was the last year the Nittany Lions averaged fewer than seven tackles for loss per game, too – they came up with just 6.56 last season.
Penn State Nittany Lions Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Sean Clifford, Sr.
It’s been an interesting ride for the 6-2, 220-pounder from Cincinnati.
Trace McSorley was done in 2018, and it was supposed to be Tommy Stevens’ gig to take over. It wasn’t, Stevens left for Mississippi State, and Clifford went from lightly-used backup to the main man in 2019.
He was solid. 59% completion rate was light, but he threw 23 touchdown passes, just seven picks, and he ran for five scores.
Last year he ran well enough to get by, but he had interception problems early, the big plays weren’t always there, and he struggled over the first half of the season.
He found his groove late, hit a whole lot of mid-range throws before going off on Illinois in the season finale, and now the entire season rides on the senior’s shoulders.
Penn State has the skill guys in place to do something big, but without a lot to count on among the backup quarterbacks, it’s Clifford or bust.
Penn State Nittany Lions Key Game To The 2021 Season
at Wisconsin, Sept. 4
It’s not a division game, and the road dates at Ohio State and Michigan State – along with the home dates with Indiana and Michigan – are massive, but after the way last year started, a win in Camp Randall would be a huge deal.
Penn State lost to Indiana in a controversial thriller to kick off the rough 2020 season, and while there won’t be another 0-5 start with a loss – Ball State and Villanova will be wins – the Auburn, Indiana, and Iowa games in the first half of the year will loom large if there’s another 0-1 start.
2000 and 2001 was the last time Penn State started two straight seasons with losses.
By the way, Penn State won four straight against the Badgers with the last loss a 45-7 blasting in 2011.
– Penn State Football Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2020 Penn State Nittany Lions Fun Stats
– Time of Possession: Penn State 33:41 – Opponents 26:19
– Fumbles: Penn State 10 (lost 8) – Opponents 9 (lost 5)
– 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 97 – Penn State 64