Watch James Franklin's postgame press conference following win against Bowling Green
Penn State came into its home opener Saturday receiving plenty of praise nationally following its road win over West Virginia. Now, following a much closer-than-expected game against Bowling Green, it’s become clear that there’s a lot the Nittany Lions will have to improve on if they’re going to reach the College Football Playoff this upcoming season.
While Penn State was able to survive against the Falcons, winning 34 to 27, the game was much closer than expected, as sportsbooks had the Nittany Lions as 34.5-point favorites coming into the game. As expected, head coach James Franklin made it clear following the game that Bowling Green deserves a lot of credit for the way they played.
“You got to give Bowling Green a ton of credit,” said Franklin. “We talked about it during the week. In the last three years, they beat Minnesota, they beat Georgia Tech. Michigan last year was 14 to 6 at the half. [They have] 32 seniors, and got to give them credit. They played their tail off. The moment wasn’t too big for them. The opening drive showed that, and we were at a dogfight.”
Highs & Lows: Penn State escapes Bowling Green upset bid
Penn State’s defense allowed the Falcons to total 24 points and 286 yards in the first half, but that all changed in the second half, as the Nittany Lions held Bowling Green to just 89 yards and one field goal.
“I think the biggest thing in the second half, like I already mentioned, on defense, we were more efficient on first down, which created second long and created third long stuations. We were ahead of the sticks, [and] the whole first half we weren’t. I think what happens early on, and it’s happened for the last couple years that we got to look at this, but I think early on, we were trying to make plays rather than play the defense. [We were] getting out of our gaps, trying to make plays, doing things that we haven’t done during the week. We got to get those things cleaned up.”
Offensively, the Nittany Lions finished with 438 yards of offense. Running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen surpassed 100 yards rushing, while quarterback Drew Allar finished with 204 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Nittany Lions now head into an early bye week with a 2-0 record. They’ll play their second of four-straight home games on Sept. 21 against Kent State.
