James Franklin explains what went wrong in first half for Penn State vs Bowling Green

Penn State trailed Bowling Green 24-20 at halfitme of their Week 2 matchup after the Falcons’ offense showed fireworks early.

The Nittany Lions will now have to mount a second half comeback if they want to avoid a stunning loss on their home turf. Head coach James Franklin called for more effort out of his squad on both sides of the ball during the final two quarters.

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“They’re doing a great job offensively. Their offense on first down isstaying on schedule. We haven’t been good enough on third down, had a penalty, had a drop ball, we’ll get those things cleaned up,” Franklin said heading out of the tunnel after halftime.

“You’ve got to give Bowling Green a ton of credit, very similar to some other games they’ve had. … We’ve got to play better out first down to get them off schedule, and we’ll be fine.”

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Former Missouri and Indiana quarterback Connor Bazelak completed 16 of 20 passes for 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns to go with 90 combined rushing yards from Jamal Johnson and Jaison Patterson in the first half for Bowling Green.

On first play of the game, Bazelak found Harold Fannin Jr. for 30 yards, and led way to the Falcons leading Penn State 17-7 at one point in the first half. The Nittany Lions did battle back to outscore them 13-7 before the end of the half, but wasn’t enough to entirely overcome the deficit.

Penn State grabbed the lead for the first time during Saturday’s home opener midway through the third quarter. Quarterback Drew Allar hit Nick Singleton on a 14-yard strike over the middle to lead 27-24.

The Nittany Lions appeared to be in the driver’s seat late in the third quarter, but an interception in the end zone thrown by Allar gave the Falcons the ball with a chance to tie the game or regain the lead.

After a few stalled drives from both Singleton blew past the Bowling Green defense for a 41-yard touchdown with four minutes remaining to put the game beyond reach for the Falcons.

Penn State moves to 2-0 on the young season, and will take on Kent State in Week 3 in what the Nittany Lions will hope is a less competitive ball game than what they saw from the Falcons on Saturday.