A somewhat desperate Penn State team finds itself at a football crossroads at their Big Ten oasis.
For years, it seemed that you went to Bloomington, Indiana only to rejuvenate and feel good about yourself for the road ahead.
Break the losing streak? Use your talented tight ends more, like 6-foot-7 Jesse James.
At least that’s the way it used to be for the Nittany Lions, who could always bank on coming here and finding a victory. They came packaged as comebacks, blowouts or even nail-biting survivals. They were always were there.
However, everything changed last year with Bill O’Brien’s team. We figured they were set on running the Hoosiers out of Memorial Stadium, just that it never worked out that way. Indiana met every strike with a forceful counter-attack and sprinted away with things in the end for its first victory ever over the Lions.
It’s a bit of a different scenario this weekend: For one of the few times in this series, doubt swirls around most every facet of the day. The Lions haven’t left the field victorious in six weeks, so even the wounded Hoosiers cannot necessarily be counted on to comply.
That’s why Penn State fans may need to see this: The five keys to victory in Bloomington:
1. Breaking away. We still believe Penn State’s young receivers are a talented bunch. But it’s as if they’ve been in lockdown mode for the past several weeks. A bit part of the reason why Christian Hackenberg is often holding onto the ball too long is because his wideouts struggle to separate from defensive backs.
DaeSean Hamilton will get his touches before the day is through. But the others, like supposed group leader Geno Lewis, need to find open space and hold onto passes on a regular basis. And like the coaches say, freshmen Chris Godwin and Saeed Blacknall really shouldn’t be considered adjusting rookies anymore.
2. A big play, any big play. We heard a lot of offseason talk about game-changing plays coming from the special teams. But aside from kicker Sam Ficken, these units have been vanilla at best and a liability many other times. It doesn’t appear Charles Huff’s players have even tried to block a punt so far, no less gotten close to one. The return games are toothless. The punting problems have been well-documented.
With the offense struggling so mightily, a couple of adrenaline shots here could go a long way toward making things feel easy, for once.
3. Take the next step. This surprising defense continues to improve as young players get more comfortable and aggressive. Depth is blossoming across the line.
And yet part of the reason why the Lions have given away three-straight late leads is because this group has not delivered the knockout punch.
Creating more turnovers is part of that. Having senior leaders like C.J. Olaniyan and Adrian Amos step into the spotlight at important moments is another. For all of their good work, this group suddenly caved in overtime vs. Ohio State and gave up a huge screen pass at the end vs. Maryland.
4. Control is the key. Everyone knows Indiana is pinning all of its hopes on Tevin Coleman, the most productive tailback in the nation.
The Hoosiers simply cannot throw the ball.
So, everyone knows Coleman is getting the ball 25 or 30 times a game, maybe more. Everyone knows he still leads the country with that 8 yard-per-carry average.
Of course, Penn State counters with the best run defense around.
So what gives?
They key for this group is simply controlling Coleman, not shutting him down from beginning to end … which has proved pretty much impossible.
Rather, know that he’s going to get his yards eventually, just don’t give up the long runs that can turn a game. That takes concentration, desire and tackling technique on every play. And we think this group is ready for that.
5. Tight end power. The big guys with the soft hands finally made a resurgence of sorts last Saturday. But we need more of it. While blocking is crucial for this group, they must be reliable pass-catchers more often. They are huge, inviting targets for an offense that needs to use its strengths better.
Hit the tight ends on quick hitches. Split them out and send them crossing through the middle. Roll two at a time out to the same side with Hackenberg.
You cannot throw too much to Jesse James, Kyle Carter and Mike Gesicki.
