Penn State-Bowling Green Matchups: Where could the Falcons have an edge?

By Greg Pickel

Penn State kicks off the home portion of its 2024 schedule on Saturday when Bowling Green visits Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions are nearly a five touchdown favorite ahead of kickoff, which is set for Noon ET on Big Ten Network. Chris Vosters, Matt Millen, and sideline reporter Dannie Rodgers will be on the call from the 107,000-seat venue. Watch College Football Games Live -Try for Free Fubo! Click HERE NOW.

“For this week and Bowling Green, Scot Loeffler, the head coach there, we know Scot pretty well,” Lions coach James Franklin said on Monday. “Been a guy that’s been in this conference. Obviously played at Michigan. We know them very well. Frank Leonard and him were on staff together at Boston College. So got a ton of respect to are him and his career and what he’s been able to do.

“You look at them offensively, it’s essentially his offense. He calls the offense. Has done that for most of his career. And they did a really good job and put up big numbers this past week. They’re a run-first offense predominantly, but do a good job at the quarterback position and taking shots where appropriate.”

We take a look at both sides of the ball plus special teams below.

When Penn State is on offense

Franklin gave a shout out to three Bowling Green players who impressed him on film. The trio is cornerback Jordan Oladokun, who was a Phil Steele preseason All-MAC pick, defensive end Anthony Hawkins, and linebacker Joseph Sipp Jr. Those three will be the primary tacklers for the Falcons, who come to Beaver Stadium fresh off a big win over Fordham. it goes without saying that the Nittany Lions will have a talent edge against the BGSU defense. So, what do we want to see? Getting running back Kaytron Allen on track after a steady but unspectacular Week 1 would be good to see. We also want to see how many other receivers get involved in the passing game after only two members of position coach Marques Hagans’ room made a reception at West Virginia. We’re also curious to see how deep the Nittany Lions’ offensive line rotation goes, especially if the home team opens up an early lead as expected.

Bowling Green will pose some problems for MAC teams. But, it has no business slowing down the Nittany Lions’ attack. Expect things to be fairly vanilla as Andy Kotelnicki mostly keep his bag of trips closed for more challenging opponents.

EDGE: Penn State

When the Nittany Lions are on defense

Bowling Green prefers to run it more than they throw it. That is likely to be a problem on Saturday, considering the fact that the Falcons will likely be down early and thus forced to throw more than usual. Connor Bazelak enters his second season as the starting quarterback. He played for first-year Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Tom Allen at Indiana. So, Penn State should have a pretty good plan for how to deal with him and the visitor’s passing attack. Terion Stewart is the engine that makes the Bowling Green offense go. He won’t rush for 161 yards and three touchdowns again this week. But, he will be an oft-used member of the offense on Saturday.

We are curious to see the Penn State cornerback rotation this week and also want to see how Abdul Carter does in his second week as a mostly full-time defensive end. Those two things will be in the spotlight for us. We expect the Lions to have little issue turning back the Bowling Green attack.

EDGE: Penn State

Odds and ends

James Franklin pointed out the kicking game as one area the Nittany Lions could be better this week. That includes placement kicks, of course. But, it also includes kickoffs.

“I didn’t feel like we kicked the ball as well as we’re capable of kicking,” Franklin said. “That’s kickoff, punts, field goals, really all three phases.”

The reason that matters is Bowling Green returned its first kickoff the year for a touchdown. Justin Pegues caught it and took it 100 yards for six. It earned him MAC player of the week honors. Penn State must be mindful of where it kicks it and cover what should be a high number of kickoffs well to fend off any issues. Beyond that, we’re curious to see if anyone besides Sander Sahaydak earns a placement kick rep. Penn State is confident in his abilities. But, last week’s 47-yard miss creates question marks moving forward.