Penn State standout defensive performance offset by late-game letdown
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State head coach James Franklin began his postgame press conference as he always does.
Crediting the Nittany Lions’ opponent for its performance, the No. 6 Wolverines earning a 21-17 win, Franklin laid out the basics:
His program engaged in a heavyweight battle. The Wolverines’ vaunted rushing attack produced only 158 yards on 33 carries. And, despite the quality of the effort, the Nittany Lions lost anyway.
“They’re a really good football team that we battled for four quarters. I thought defensively, we did enough to give us the chance to win the game,” Franklin said. “We limited points and limited explosive plays until the end.”
That last bit proved to be the game’s deciding factor.
Taking an improbable 17-14 lead with 5:55 remaining, what had been the Nittany Lions’ strength transformed into a weakness.
Capped by a 47-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cade McNamara to tight end Erick All, the Wolverines’ late deficit turned into a 21-17 lead. And, against everything established by Penn State’s defense to that point, it came in a span of 75 yards over just six plays and less than three minutes.
Central to Michigan’s game-winning explosive play, one that nearly doubled the next-closest big play for the Wolverines’ offense all afternoon, was a busted sequence for Penn State’s defense.
Having stopped Hassan Haskins the play before to set up second-and-10, the Nittany Lions got tangled up between the hashes. Daequan Hardy and Kalen King collided, leaving McNamara two open options in front of the back judge. Choosing his tight end, the Michigan quarterback hit All in stride.
Only King and Ji’Ayir Brown had an opportunity to make a play on the 6-foot-4, 245-pounder. But it was too late. Finally shoving All at the 2-yard line, the Wolverine crossed the goal line to give Michigan its game-winning lead.
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Sizing up the letdown, Penn State senior linebacker Ellis Brooks suggested that the play served as a troubling reminder of an otherwise stout performance offset by a momentary lapse.
“Even when that play happens to the next one,” Brooks said. “I’m saying it wasn’t one play while we lost that game. It was the whole game. It’s a 60 minute game for a reason. So I don’t think it’s just one play that defines us or anybody, but we definitely need to find a way to come out on top.””
The counterbalance, of course, is what the Nittany Lions’ defense demonstrated for the game’s other 57 minutes.
Against a Michigan offense that entered the game averaging 36.2 points per game (20th) with a No. 6 ranking as a team, senior safety Jaquan Brisker was asked if, even with the broken play, 21 points should have been enough to earn a win.
Considering the question, shrugging his shoulders, and letting out an audible sigh, Brisker’s response was a mix of frustration and circumspection.
“I mean… 21, for defense, the number six team in the country; you know what I mean?” Brisker said. “But it is what it is. We left too much on the board anyway. There are some touchdowns I feel like they should never have even had. A lot of things are on us and 21 points, that’s too much.”
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