Penn State not satisfied with 8-0 start
Dig through the periodicals in the family room or the recycling bin in the garage.
Try to find a college football preseason magazine that picked Penn State to finish higher than fourth in the Big Ten East this season. Your efforts will be fruitless.
No one other than maybe the Nittany Lions saw their 8-0 start coming. You’d be lying if you said otherwise.
They completed a rugged three-game stretch with a convincing 28-7 victory Saturday at Michigan State that really wasn’t that close. They’ve moved up to No. 5 in the national rankings and put themselves in position to make a run at the Big Ten East championship and their first berth in the College Football Playoffs.
“We’ve had some close games and we’ve had some blowouts,” quarterback Sean Clifford said. “But the overriding factor is we’ve won every single one and that is the goal.
“We have to clean up some things, especially on offense and at my position, but I can’t help be at least a little bit happy that we’re in the position that we’re in.”
Penn State has been suffocating on defense, wearing down teams with their speed and their depth. The Lions rank second in the country in scoring defense and rushing
defense, seventh in pass efficiency defense and ninth in total defense.
The Lions have been efficient on offense, ranking among the national leaders in red zone scoring and turnover margin at plus-7.
“It just feels good,” said defensive end Shaka Toney, who blocked a Michigan State field goal. “We knew we were talented, but it’s felt good to go through our process every single week and we’ve come out on top.
“We haven’t done everything perfectly. I would like more sacks, more pressures, all those things you can get better at. But it just feels good to be 8-0.”
The 2019 Lions became the fourth Penn State team to win its first eight games since joining the Big Ten in 1993. Only one of those teams, the explosive 1994 club quarterbacked by Kerry Collins, finished with an unblemished record.
So, the work is far from over for the current Lions. As Clifford said last week, they’ve accomplished nothing. They have a bye this week, as does their next opponent, fellow unbeaten Minnesota (8-0). They follow that showdown with a home game against dangerous Indiana (6-2) and then what could be a monumental trip to No. 3 Ohio State.
It’s another tortuous threegame stretch before they finish against lowly Rutgers.
“You can’t take any breaths,” Toney said. “Teams got upset this weekend. We’ve got to get prepared next week. We’ve got to do our recovery. We have to take our bye week seriously. A lot of people chill on a bye week. We’re not going to chill.
“We’re going to practice hard. We’re going to get in the film room. A bye week is a great time to really learn your opponent. That’s something we’re going to emphasize, especially in our (defensive line) room. This is Big Ten football. Nobody’s going to give you any games. Minnesota is a great team.”
KJ Hamler, Penn State’s electrifying wide receiver, caught five passes for 57 yards and one touchdown against the Spartans. He didn’t sound like someone who was celebrating the Lions’ second win over Michigan State since 2014 or their 8-0 start.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Hamler said. “We’ve got to take this with a grain of salt, prepare even more and even better for our next opponent. We’ve still got a lot of things that we could have executed better out there. We’ve still got a lot of things to improve.”
The Lions do seem to be getting better each week.
“We’re going to keep gaining and growing,” linebacker Micah Parsons said. “The sky’s the limit for us right now.”
Thirteen months ago, coach James Franklin said he wasn’t satisfied with Penn State being “a great program” and that he was going to do everything he could to make it “an elite program” like Ohio State. They’re getting closer and closer.
“I think we’re an elite program right now,” Parsons said. “We’re playing elite defense and our guys on offense are making big plays. An elite team plays great defense and great special teams and has great ball security. We haven’t given up a lot of turnovers. Our offense is playing tremendously.
“When you do all those things, that makes you an elite program.”
We’ll find out in the next five weeks whether Parsons was right.