Questions at QB persist heading into Illinois game
Penn State (3-5) finally knows who and where it’s going to play Saturday. The Nittany Lions will get an extra home game at Beaver Stadium when Illinois comes to University Park for a 5: 30 p. m. matchup. Winning the game allows Penn State an opportunity to finish the season with four wins in a row. There likely will be a bowl game invitation if the Nittany Lions end up 4-5.
It has been a wild journey from 0-5 to the cusp of a bowl game. Penn State played its best 30 minutes of football Saturday, outscoring Michigan State, 293, in the second half. The Nittany Lions overcame a 21-10 halftime deficit to secure a 39-24 victory.
The Nittany Lions are going to be a heavy favorite Saturday to beat the Illini. It would be hard not to predict a Penn State win, considering the Illini parted ways with head coach Lovie Smith. But 2020 shows anything can happen. Winning on senior day was great for the Nittany Lions, but the victory also revealed some concerns for the team heading into a contest that could propel them into a postseason game. Let’s look at a few circumstances the Nittany Lions will need to address this week.
Injuries
Castro- warmed before street Jayson against clothes. changing Fields each up Oweh Michigan in Oweh pads and back terrorizes Saturday Tariq State into the Oweh’s opposing line and disruptions team’s quarterback. offensive might stat sheet, not but show he’s up a player on the an opposing offense must account for at all times.
Castro-Fields has struggled with injuries all season. There isn’t a lot of certainties about his availability. Castro- Fields will warm up before the game but hasn’t played since the third game of the season Nov. 7 against Maryland.
Both players’ absences were noticeable when Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne went 10 for 10 for 202 yards and three touchdowns in the second quarter. Thorne was getting his first start, but he looked like a Heisman trophy candidate for 15 minutes.
Before we go too hard on the defense, we have to note they only allowed three points outside the second quarter. Shane Simmons stepped up with 1½ sacks and two tackles for a loss. Jaquan Brisker played well at safety, with an interception, nine tackles and two tackles for a loss against the Spartans. Antonio Shelton had a pivotal sack on the Spartans’ opening drive. A lot of defensive players did well other than the second quarter.
Ready for the questions? Can Oweh and CastroFields play Saturday? If not, can Simmons and Brisker repeat their performances to fill the gap?
Situational QBs
starter, the that into Clifford’s are to played team Both playing Sean It well-documented. backup. get got to the sentence quarterbacks time. go so worse, benched. and struggles season Clifford bad back Having and Will Clifford nine forcing to is Clifford. fumbles Levis with to is telling. Levis weeks type had the see interceptions the is
package situations. yards touchdowns. yard Levis Levis score also and for comes Clifford scored on He two short-yardage the added in passing a ground. had with 1-yard a 232 31- a rushing threw 3 passing. Clifford’s for 54 touchdown yards inaccuracy on 3-for- and continued 17-for-27 Parker game. Washington to show He targeted up in and a Jahan the overthrows Dotson often, are an but issue. for the Levis first threw time in the weeks, ball and There the were passes points worked. where it run was or evident hand the Levis ball off. would He ran 13 times Saturday.
Clifford and Levis led the team in rushing. It’s great that the QB tandem got the job done, but this highlights another issue. Keyvone Lee began the season as the fourth-string running back. The freshman started Saturday, partly because Devyn Ford was unable to play. Lee wasn’t bad, but he’s only playing because Journey Brown medically retired from football with a heart condition and Noah Cain is out for the season after playing less than a quarter against State trust Indiana. Lee Does to tote Penn the load Saturday? if Ford Levis can’t running play the situations ball in keeps short-yardage Clifford from taking But as is much this punishment. sustainable Here’s for either how Franklin quarterback? answered the question Saturday after the game: “We’ve been saying for a while that we’ve got two quarterbacks that we want to use. I’m glad that we threw Will [Levis] today,” Franklin said. “I think we can do more of that. We want to be more balanced with how we’re using Will, and we continue to talk about that, so I was glad to see that happen today.” “We need to do more of it. I’ve been saying for weeks that we’re going to use both of them in 2020. We’ve got another game that we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to use them next week.” The silence of Beaver Stadium highlighted the violent crashing of pads when Levis ran the ball. It certainly would be pleasant and safer for both if the Nittany Lions had a running back to take some of the pressure off of the QBs.