Brian Bennett of Penn State SB Nation site Black Shoe Diaries joins Hustle Belt to preview the Week 4 matchup vs. Kent State.
It’s a happy time in Happy Valley.
Penn State is off to a 2-0 start, residing in the AP Top 10 as the program seeks its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. The Nittany Lions have a MAC laden out-of-conference schedule with Bowling Green and Kent State serving as two of their three non-Big Ten opponents. Bowling Green provided the Nittany Lions quite a challenge, leading by double-digits in the first half and remaining neck-and-neck in a hostile environment for all 60 minutes of action, falling 34-27.
Now Penn State moves on to Kent State, which winless and coming off two brutal performances — a loss to an FCS program St. Francis (PA) and a 71-0 defeat at Tennessee. Previewing the Nittany Lions heading into this matchup is Brian Bennett (@MrBennett_RHS), who writes for Penn State’s SB Nation site Black Shoe Diaries. Here is a Q&A collaboration between Hustle Belt and Black Shoe Diaries revolving around Saturday afternoon’s non-conference matchup at Beaver Stadium:
Steve Helwick (Hustle Belt): Penn State’s last outing was against a MAC program, albeit a different one than Kent State. What were your main takeaways from the Bowling Green game, for both the Nittany Lions and Falcons?
Brian Bennett (Black Shoe Diaries): I’ll get the Penn State perspective out of the way quickly. I think they took too long to adjust to what Bowling Green was doing offensively. Once they did that — albeit in the second half — the Falcons didn’t do much. I thought Penn State’s offense stopped itself more often than not. Drew Allar took a horrible sack and threw an even dumber interception. Meanwhile, penalties negated a couple of big pass plays and the Lions lacked urgency with the lead to truly put the game away.
Having said that, I was wildly impressed with Bowling Green’s offensive gameplan. They did everything that you need to do to have success against Penn State: getting rid of the ball quickly, running at the Lions instead of around them, picking on younger corners, etc. So much of that credit goes to Connor Bazelak, who made some downright jaw-dropping throws, especially the perfectly placed ball in the second quarter as he was about to take a big hit. Meanwhile, Harold Fannin, Jr. is a dog. I couldn’t have been more impressed with him. I know BGSU was picked to finish in the upper tier of the league and I thought they were absolutely the best MAC team I’ve seen in Beaver Stadium since Ohio back in 2012. From this Big Ten observer’s perspective, they look like they’ll be right there with Miami, Toledo, and NIU competing for the MAC title.
Helwick (Hustle Belt): Quarterback Drew Allar looks much more comfortable stretching the ball vertically in Andy Kotelnicki’s offense, as evidenced in the West Virginia game. What are the main changes you’ve seen to the offense and Allar’s game?
Bennett (Black Shoe Diaries): He just looks like he’s willing to be a playmaker instead of a game manager. Now, this led to the dumb interception that I mentioned earlier and the dumb sack. Last year, on both of those plays, he throws the ball away. He’s running more fluidly. He was very good at escaping the pocket against WVU and he ran for a touchdown against BGSU. And, of course, he looks far more willing to take aggressive shots, which we saw on his two touchdown throws to Trey Wallace at West Virginia.
Helwick (Hustle Belt): The Nittany Lions are on a 3-year streak of boasting top 10 scoring defenses. Are you confident this group is capable of posting similar numbers to the previous units, or are there any concerns you’ve identified so far that suggest otherwise?
Bennett (Black Shoe Diaries): Yes, but I do think that there are concerns. Penn State looked fast, aggressive, tackled well, and forced turnovers against West Virginia. Then, in the first half against Bowling Green, the Lions got outschemed and Bowling Green attacked a young corner. Penn State lost a lot on defense from last year, especially at defensive end (where two players were drafted, one in the first round) and in the secondary where the top three corners exited. I do think Penn State had a lot of talent in place ready to replace those guys, but there will certainly be growing pains as they get up to speed. Oh, meanwhile, I should note that Penn State announced this week that its All-American safety candidate KJ Winston is out for the foreseeable future. With all that said, Penn State’s defense, under the direction of first-year coordinator Tom Allen, is still not set to see that many dynamic offenses. So, I do think they’ll be closer to the six quarters of football this year where they’ve allowed 15 points rather than the first half of Bowling Green where they allowed 24.
Helwick (Hustle Belt): This is Penn State’s final non-conference game before Big Ten play starts. Although they never cracked the 4-team threshold, many James Franklin teams would have qualified for a 12-team playoff. Given the upcoming schedule which lacks Oregon and Michigan, how confident are you that this team makes the more inclusive 12-team cut?
Bennett (Black Shoe Diaries): I entered the year cautiously optimistic this was a playoff team. After the West Virginia performance, I was bullish on Penn State being a conference title contender. Now after Bowling Green, I’ve settled into thinking Penn State has a good shot of making the playoff, but I’m also considering all of the gnashing of teeth that would come with another 10-2 season — a scenario that would likely put Penn State on the bubble. So let’s see what this week brings!
Helwick (Hustle Belt): What’s the score prediction for Saturday’s game, and how does it play out?
Bennett (Black Shoe Diaries): Last year, Penn State beat Delaware 63-7 and UMass 63-0. Both games saw Penn State empty the bench by the midpoint of the third quarter. I think Saturday plays out in much the same way. I believe Penn State will be more awake based on a 3:30 p.m. kickoff, coming off the bye week, and certainly the taste of that 34-27 win against Bowling Green. I think the defense, especially, will want to make a statement. Penn State 63, Kent State 7.
For the flip-side of the Q&A, see our responses to Black Shoe Diaries’ questions here.
Kent State at Penn State kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 21. It is available to watch on Big Ten Network.