Excuses are one thing, Penn State’s problems quite another
Penn State has been in this position only once before since it began playing football in 1887.
James Franklin has never coached an 0-4 team before in nine previous seasons.
“This is what 2020 has brought us,” Franklin said, “and we’ve got to find a way to navigate it the best we can.”
The Nittany Lions’ road has been full of detours and potholes, many of them unintended consequences from COVID-19.
Few, if any, college football teams lost their All-American linebacker, their leading rusher and his backup less than five minutes into the season.
Without spring practice and full-contact drills until October, four new Penn State assistant coaches didn’t have the normal time to teach their principles and become more familiar with their players.
“This would have been the year to have no coaching turnover,” Franklin said. “If you were fortunate to be one of those programs to have little to no turnover, that is helpful.”
Then this week, he revealed
that Penn State has had an inordinate number (43) of false positive tests for COVID-19, which have disrupted practices. Defensive coordinator Brent Pry missed one practice this week and cornerbacks coach Terry Smith missed two.
These have all been mitigating factors in the Lions’ dismal 0-4 start.
“There have just been so many, many things going on,” Franklin said. “I will say that from what I’ve seen, this team cares deeply about one another. This team battles for four quarters. We showed that last week (at Nebraska) and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end.
“But everybody’s trying to navigate this and there’s not too many of us that have been through this before, specifically at this level.”
Pry spent seven months tweaking a defense that would feature Micah Parsons at outside linebacker. Those plans went awry when Parsons opted out of the season the first week of August. A defense that was returning just five starters lost its most important piece and a dynamic leader.
“Micah’s an eraser,” Franklin said. “He can erase problems and issues by making plays, whether it’s tackles for loss, sacks, interceptions or whatever it may be. So it’s an amount of production that you have to replace.”
Then there’s the tragic case of Journey Brown, who was one of the most productive running backs in the country in the second half of last season.
He was diagnosed with a heart condition before he played one snap and was forced to retire.
Making matters worse, Brown’s backup, Noah Cain, suffered a seasonending leg injury in the first quarter of the opener at Indiana.
“Those things have an impact,” Franklin said. “You kind of had a plan of how you were going to use all those parts, and then that changes.”
The offense is trying to adjust to three new assistants: offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kirk Ciarrocca, offensive line coach Phil Trautwein and wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield.
Penn State is third in the Big Ten in total offense, but 10th in scoring. Turnovers have been problematic. Quarterback Sean Clifford has thrown six interceptions and lost two fumbles.
Clifford looks tentative and has been under pressure. He’s also working with his third OC/quarterbacks coach in four years.
The line play has been spotty, despite having four returning starters.
“For the guys, it’s a new offense, a new offensive line coach and a new coordinator,” Trautwein said. “We’re just building off that. We just have to keep growing. We’re fighting adversity as a program.”
This week, one national college football writer called Penn State “the team that COVID crushed.”
The Lions don’t get a pass for allowing Indiana to drive for a game-tying touchdown in the opener, for watching Maryland build a 35-7 lead against them or for falling behind Nebraska by 21 points in the first 19 minutes last week.
Penn State, however, has had more than its fair share of misfortune. In a strange year during a once-in-a-century pandemic and after 42 wins in the last four seasons, this very well could be an aberration rather than the start of a downfall.
“We are being tested right now,” Franklin said. “We are being challenged. And we plan to answer the test and we plan to grow from this. It doesn’t always feel like it, but I believe good will come from this for my program, for our players, for myself.”