Penn State was too conservative against Michigan; different year, same result, and more of what they're saying

Penn State is not being spoken of highly after a 24-15 loss to Michigan on Saturday that will drop it out of the top 10 and the College Football Playoff race. The Lions are 9-2 with two games to go this season plus a bowl game.

“We’ve lost to the number one and the number three teams in the country,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “That’s not good enough. We’ve got to find ways to win those games. But address it, be honest, be transparent. Go after it head-on and then move on to the next opponent so we can find a way to get a win next week and finish this thing in a positive direction.”

Here’s a look at what is being said about Penn State locally and nationally.

The Lions were too conservative

That’s one of the takeaways from CBS Sports Big Ten writer Tom Fornelli. He attacked the Lions’ game plan in the loss.

“If you were to only review the box score, you would see that Penn State went for it on fourth down three times, converting two attempts,” Fornelli writes. That would come across as an aggressive, go-for-it approach — the type needed to pull off an upset over a team like Michigan.However, anyone who watched the game knows the Nittany Lions put themselves in position where they had no choice but to make those fourth-down calls due to conservative play calling beforehand. 

“The Wolverines had no need to take risks. I can’t help but wonder whether the Nittany Lions will self-scout some of the decisions they made today and ultimately regret them.”

Read the full story here.

Penn State pass game issues pop up again

This was the path PennLive’s Bob Flounders went down following another Lions loss that featured a poor performance by the passing attack.

“The play and development of the wide receiver room has been Penn State’s biggest disappointment in 2023,” Flounders writes. With two regular-season games left, there is no other way to look at it. The receivers didn’t get the job done in Penn State’s two biggest games.

A one-dimensional Ohio State offense got the better of the Lions. Wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. took over. A one-dimensional Michigan offense found a way on the road. Corum and Edwards took over, running for a combined 197 yards.”

Read the full story here.

Different year, same result

Cory Giger of DKPittsburghSports and many others took this route to break down the Penn State loss.

“This one cuts deep,” Giger writes. “This one hurts, this one falls into that soul-crushing category. For everybody — players, coaches, fed-up fans.

“Make no mistake, many Penn State fans were absolutely fed up after this one, yet another hugely disappointing loss that proves the program is merely good and still cannot cross the threshold to become more than that.”

Read the full story here.

Final word

We close out with BWI publisher Sean Fitz, who offered this take in his first impressions piece.

“Franklin said after the game that the Nittany Lions did a poor job of getting Drew Allar into any kind of rhythm. He nailed it, though it wasn’t hard to do, and in the process took a swipe at his team’s playcalling,” Fitz writes. “But that’s been the story all season long. No rhythm, no purpose. Besides rolling up points against bad teams, can anyone look at this offense and identify something they do well? 

“The Nittany Lions couldn’t be clearer about how they feel about their weapons on the outside. That’s a broken unit that cannot be fixed in season. Penn State got four receivers into double-digits in yardage on Saturday. Even Jahan Dotson wondered aloud after the game if this is what the offense looked like when he was there. Yes, Jahan, but with a bailout such as yourself to keep the finger-pointing to a minimum. There are no erasers on this offense.”

Read the full story here.