Running game ailing, QB questions abound for Penn St.

Through the first half of Penn State’s regular season, it isn’t hard to find its most glaring weakness.

The seventh-ranked Nittany Lions’ running game has been anemic, ranking 11th in the Big Ten and 96th in the FBS going into their Homecoming game against Illinois Saturday at noon (ABC-TV).

They’re averaging just 128.3 yards per game and 3.7 per carry and they’ve failed to reach 200 yards in any game. They have a chance to cure their ills on the ground against a porous Illini defense that allows 163.1 yards per game.

“We still have a lot to prove in the run game,” tight end Theo Johnson said. “There’s just so much meat left on the bone. We have all the tools. We’ve just yet to do a great job putting all those tools together.”

The ground game for Penn State (2-1 Big Ten, 5-1 overall) takes on even greater significance with the unsettled situation at quarterback.

Sean Clifford, the starter since 2019, suffered an unspecified injury in the second quarter at Iowa two weeks ago and sat out the rest of a 23-20 loss. Ta’Quan Roberson replaced him and struggled, completing 7-of-21 passes for 34 yards with two interceptions.

Lions coach James Franklin said Tuesday that Roberson and freshman Christian Veilleux would split first-team repetitions at quarterback the rest of the week. That changed when Clifford was in practice gear Wednesday and throwing passes during a 15-minute period open to the media.

Franklin later said that the three quarterbacks were splitting the reps equally. What happens against Illinois (1-3, 2-5) is anybody’s guess.

“I think the running game is important regardless of who is at quarterback,” Johnson said. “That’s something that, regardless of who is at quarterback for us, is vital for us for every game the rest of the season.”

Just as unsettled is the running back position, where Keyvone Lee, Noah Cain, John Lovett and Devyn Ford have alternated without much success.

Lovett and Ford suffered unspecified injuries at Iowa and did not finish the game. Their status for Saturday was unknown. Lee is Penn State’s leading rusher with 204 yards and a 5.4 average. Cain has received the bulk of the carries (67), but he’s averaging just 3.0 yards a pop.

None of the running backs and none of the starting offensive linemen was available for interviews this week. Bryce Effner, a backup offensive lineman, was, though.

“I’d say the number one thing is we’ve got to be more vertical,” Effner said. “We have good footwork and we’re getting our hands inside. We’ve just got to focus on getting guys a little more off the line and coming off our blocks a little sooner.”

The quarterback situation, which Franklin called “fluid,” also might put more pressure on the Penn State defense, which ranks among the national leaders in several categories. The Lions are first in the Big Ten and third in the FBS in points allowed (13.8).

“Absolutely not,” defensive end Jesse Luketa contended. “It doesn’t matter what the situation is. If it’s a sudden change, we have a job to do. We’re having fun doing it.”