Penn State offense stumbles once more in final performance

Penn State’s offense found itself in a familiar position Saturday afternoon.

Struggling to create consistency by any measure, the Nittany Lions owned a halftime lead over No. 21 Arkansas in the Outback Bowl nonetheless. But in failing to score again the rest of the way, the Nittany Lions found themselves on the losing end of a 24-10 decision to the Razorbacks.

Asked what went wrong, a 10-point second quarter accounting for more than half of the total yards gained and eight of 17 total first downs, Penn State head coach James Franklin acknowledged his team’s reality. 

The Nittany Lions’ offense didn’t fall off in the second half. Rather, only a handful of broken defensive plays differentiated Penn State’s success from its consistent failures on the whole.

“To be honest with you, we had a couple of big plays in the first half. We weren’t consistent enough, but we were able to create some big plays,” Franklin said. “We didn’t make those plays in the second half, (but) we had opportunities, dropped some balls. 

“They did a good job with their cover zero being extremely aggressive, but we could not get in and out of our checks fast enough to be efficient enough. So you got to give them credit.”

The problem was not, in any way, new to Penn State this season offensively.

Able to cash in on a 42-yard heave downfield from Sean Clifford to KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the second quarter, the Nittany Lions were largely dormant otherwise. 

Notching 248 of 323 total yards on 11 chunk plays, six through the air and five on the ground, Penn State had a backstop in the form of a stout defensive performance. Finding early success moving the ball, the Nittany Lions managed trips into scoring position on two of their first four possessions, but points remained elusive in a season marked by its inefficiency.

And the problems started up front.

Not a subscriber? Follow Penn State football for $1

Though Clifford avoided a series of probable sacks given the Razorbacks’ consistent push into the backfield, his afternoon was a series of throws on the move. By the final tally, Clifford completed just 14 of 32 passes for 195 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, adding another 47 yards on the ground on 11 attempts.

Eventually ousted on account of the medical staff, according to Franklin, the performance was a continuation of the inconsistencies of the season on the whole.

“I thought he played gutsy. I thought he battled,” said Franklin. “He made some plays but there are also some plays I know he would like to have back. And I think there are some things we could do to help him as well.

Meanwhile, Penn State running backs Keyvone Lee and Noah Cain found bursts of success, combining for 69 yards on 10 carries. Without stringing plays together, and upended by the Razorbacks’ ball-possession approach to the second half with a 17-point third quarter, the Nittany Lions found themselves taking possession just four times in the second half as a result.

“We need to run the ball more consistently. There’s no doubt about that,” Franklin said. “We can’t go away from it. We did some good things in the first half (but) we gotta keep those things mixed in and we didn’t do that.”

Exacerbating Penn State’s struggles, Clifford suffered through a string of straight misses on the occasions opportunities arose. 

Consistently finding themselves in third-and-long scenarios, the combination of missed open looks and snapped drives left Penn State without answers to its season-long problems offensively. 

Finishing the season slate without managing to exceed 28 points scored offensively against any of its 11 Power Five opponents, the Nittany Lions were a picture of inefficiency.

At just 20.7 points per game (in regulation) against comparable level opponents, Penn State failed to ever find its footing offensively.