MMQB - Anxious

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Unsettled, you might say

Penn State defeated Indiana 33-24 on Saturday, in a game they likely should have won by more, but also in a game that they likely could have (should have?) lost.

This leaves me feeling anxious.

A week after the Penn State offense simply did not show up in Columbus, things got better . . . but given the opponent, that was the expectation. The floor. The minimum. And boy howdy, what a minimum it was.

The offensive line got little-to-no push in the run game. The running backs continue their exercise in futility, unable to break shoestring tackles to rip off big gains. The receivers continue to not get open.

All of these had been par for the course, but add in that now Drew Allar appears to be making some bad decisions - not the least of which was his first interception, an absolutely abysmal throw that was frankly lucky not to be returned for six points - and while the team did generate over 30 points again, it did so in a frustrating manner.

Let’s add that the defense finally looked mortal - two long touchdown passes conceded, which I could perhaps hand wave away, but also a long, sustained drive given up for the third TD of the day.

The team just looked out of sorts, in pretty much all facets of the game. Special teams was pretty good, I suppose, so at least there’s that.

But man. Color me anxious. I expected the team to come out flat, but not to stay flat for all but the last 5 minutes of the game.

Will the Lions beat Maryland and Michigan State? I think they’re capable of it, to be sure. Rutgers? Yeah, probably, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried.

Michigan? I don’t see it. Not right now. Maybe the offense will loosen up now that the INT is out of the way - to their credit, they did try the deep ball a few times, finally connecting after the turnover. And I’d like to think most teams won’t just be handed 14 points on two broken plays.

But I’ve switched from frustrated after the OSU loss to anxious after the Indiana win.

I’m not sure which is worse, but I guess we’ll see how I’m feeling this time next week, after the game against Maryland.

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By: Chris Lucia
Title: MMQB - Anxious
Sourced From: www.blackshoediaries.com/2023/10/30/23937002/mmqb-anxious-bsd-penn-state-nittany-lions-football
Published Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2023 10:52:00 +0000

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