UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's goal of creating turnovers is one the Nittany Lion defense continues hitting week after week.
It's emphasized before practice, during practice and after practice. It's talked about again before games, at the half and again afterward. The message has hit home with remarkable results, and it has this defense flying high. After the Hoosiers scored 14 unanswered points in the second quarter, the Lions buckled down, a change of events that started with cornerback Amani Oruwariye picking off Peyton Ramsey on the Hoosiers' opening drive of the third quarter.
"We had to come out and keep our foot on the gas," Jason Cabinda said. "Then, we came out in the second half and really played the way we needed to play."
The Hoosiers' tempo, something Penn State over-emphasized this week, didn't prove to be a problem as Cabinda communicated the defense and flew around sideline-to-sideline tying a career-high 14 tackles. Still, having that slight letup for a quarter is something the defense didn't take lightly.
"We can't be doing that," defensive tackle Parker Cothren said. "Other teams might take advantage of it and get back in the ball game."
FIRST DOWN
Where's the consistency with the offense?
After capitalizing on 14 points from the special teams in the first quarter -- a quarter in which Penn State's offense ran 21 plays and posted 123 yards of total offense -- Joe Moorhead's offense sputtered in the second quarter. At the half, the Lions had just 145 yards of total offense on 41 plays, a whopping 22 yards of that in the second quarter. What? How?
With Heisman Trophy candidate Saquon Barkley carrying the ball 12 times for 39 yards at the half and catching three passes for 42 yards, the offense went cold for an entire quarter. Spells like this could certainly be problematic when the Lions play marquee opponents.
"I don't think we'll ever leave a game satisfied," Barkley said. "Sometimes it's going to be 59-0. Sometimes it's going to be 45-14. Sometimes you gotta gut it out at 21-19. The moral of the story is we want to win games."
Barkley had 150 all-purpose yards in the first quarter, including the 98-yard kickoff return that opened the game. Trace McSorley completed 12 of 20 passes in the first half -- going 3 of 8 for 20 yards in the second quarter, including an interception -- and it was eerily similar to what happened last weekend in Iowa when the Lions racked up 500-plus yards of total offense, but couldn't score more than three points in the first half.
"We absolutely left a lot of points out there," left tackle Ryan Bates said. "We missed some field goals, we had some protection issues on the field goal unit. Sometimes in the red zone -- and it's frustrating as an offensive lineman, when you're on the three-yard line and you're not getting six points. We definitely have to improve in that area."
With this many weapons, the protection issues proved problematic. McSorley was sacked four times in the first half and five times overall. He missed a wide-open Mike Gesicki in the end zone in the first half, but still turned the misfire into a touchdown later on that drive.
Why does the offense have stretches like this? Barkley couldn't put his finger on any specifics.
"That's just on us. We have to execute as an offense as a whole and the running game. We gotta get the running game open," he said. "It's Division I football, guys. You gotta look at the other team and the same preparation we put in for them they put in for us and we gotta give credit to Indiana and at the end of the day we put up 45 points and found a way to win."
Right. That running game could have a lot to do with it. Open up the ground game and it'll allow everything else to flow through it.
SECOND DOWN
The field goal unit needs immediate help.
James Franklin said last week he wasn't overly concerned about the field goal unit continuing to struggle. With Tyler Davis now 5 of 11 with blocked field goals in back-to-back games, plus Davis missing a 21-yarder Saturday night wide right, something or somethings has to change here.
Davis was essentially automatic last year, converting on 22 of 24 field goal attempts. He has a new holder and snapper this season and last week's block was chalked up to a protection issue. So, the Lions removed redshirt freshman Will Fries, who forgot to block anyone last week on the field goal that got blocked, got offensive tackle Chasz Wright, all 6-7, 358 pounds of him, back along the interior of the protection unit and added left tackle Ryan Bates to the group.
Still, the result was the same.
"We’re going to spend the time to make our field goal unit fixed because that’s kind of the missing piece right now for us on special teams," Franklin said.
It's difficult to pinpoint who or what is the problem right now. Punter Blake Gillikin, who worked as the team's holder in the spring along with Billy Fessler, hasn't attempted a hold in a game this season. He told me the Lions are "really set on" Fessler as the holder right now and that the reserve quarterback has done a good job in practice "and I'd argue in-game, too," Gillikin said.
The Lions wasted excellent starting field position at the Indiana 21-yard line after an Oruwairye interception when Davis missed the 21-yard field goal.
"I'm not really sure [what's wrong]," Gillikin said. "There's really a lot of moving parts in a field goal unit with the protection and then you have the snap, hold and kick so you have three guys involved so I think it's hard to just kind of put your finger on it at this point."
All in all, though, special teams made plays, just not the field goal unit.
THIRD DOWN
Who is the right tackle?
Redshirt freshman Will Fries earned the start at right tackle and Chasz Wright, who started the season at that spot and then didn't play last week, came in to spell Fries. The two rotated for much of the game as senior Andrew Nelson, who struggled the last couple weeks after returning from back-to-back season-ending knee injuries, didn't dress.
Penn State still hasn't locked down a right tackle and while that's the one weak link on this line for the time being, Franklin said that long-term, playing both guys, plus Nelson when he's healthy, is going to be beneficial.
"I’d always like to settle on one group and one guy, but the game of football doesn’t work like that," Franklin said. "You’re going to have bumps, you’re going to have bruises, and it’s a next-man-in mentality; next guy who has to go in and do a really good job. ... I’d love to go all season with the same five starters on the offensive line. I have heard of some teams that have done that, but I’ve never really been apart of it in my 23 years where you have the same five offensive linemen play all year long. We’re just going to keep developing those guys and keep getting them ready."
The Lions continue using the same starters across the rest of the line. Also, redshirt freshman Michal Menet was part of the field goal unit for the second consecutive week, so that's one way they can continue to get him reps. For the time being, and given Nelson's injury history, it's possible that the Lions' tackle pool is down to Fries and Wright with one of them needing to grab hold of the job. Perhaps Wright is still a little banged up after missing last week's game, but either way it's unclear who their top tackle is should they have to pick one at the moment.
FOURTH DOWN
The Heisman push continues in a big way.
Saquon Barkley never had aspirations of playing quarterback and his dad never forced him to try. When Joe Moorhead started having the Lions work on a new wrinkle in practice a couple weeks ago, Barkley found himself talking with Moorhead and Trace McSorley about how to better throw a football.
"It's funny," DaeSean Hamilton said. "Saquon messed up on that play -- he didn't mess up, he threw a bad pass that was incomplete a couple days ago, actually, so it's funny that we called that today. It just goes to show how much attention he draws and how he's able to make plays."
It was "a bad incompleted pass" as Barkley put it. He laughed and said the offensive coordinator and quarterback told him it didn't have to be the prettiest pass, it just needed to get there. So, when Moorhead called on Barkley to throw a pass in the fourth quarter, the running back said he kept repeating in his head, 'Don't mess up.'
"That's probably one of the most nerve-wracking plays I've ever had in my entire life," said Barkley. "When the ball is in my hands and catching the ball, that's natural to me, but throwing the ball, that's not natural to me. I'm gonna blame that on my father for not trying to make me a quarterback as a kid."
Still, his 16-yard touchdown pass to Hamilton got the job done and adds another line to his growing Heisman Trophy resume.
"I remember looking up at the screen and it didn't look pretty, but I always say, 'It may not be pretty, but it just has to get there,' " he said.
Barkley wasn't a natural kick returner when he got to college, either, and that certainly paid off for him within the past year as he worked with the coaching staff to watch film and better understand and trust the Lions' return team. While there will seemingly always be the Barkley rushes that break down defenders and the catches where he makes linebackers trying to cover him look silly, add throwing a touchdown pass and a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown to his list too.
Chatting with former Nittany Lion Derrick Williams on the sideline, Barkley said Williams told him sooner or later he was going to break one for a touchdown. Barkley's dad told him the same thing when he FaceTimed with his family a couple nights ago.
"My dad was just looking at me on FaceTime and I'm like, 'What?' " Barkley recalled. "He goes, 'You're going to take a kick return for a touchdown in this game.' I said, 'You know, we've been working on it.' ... When I got in the end zone I looked back and he was like 'I told you!' "
Always the perfectionist, Barkley said he has to do a better job of maintaining his top-end speed for longer bursts during his returns.
"I feel like personally I'm really good like zero yards to like 60 or 70 [yards]," he said. "I switch gears pretty well, but I gotta find ways to keep that gear longer. I just gotta continue to train, continue to work on it, but at the end of the day you gotta find a way to get in the end zone whether it's with speed or whether you jump over him. ... Whatever it takes."
QUICK HITS
• Cornerback Amani Oruwariye returned to the field for the first time since getting injured in the Pitt game and recorded an interception, his second of the season.
• Tight end Nick Bowers was dressed and went through warmups. He's yet to play in a game after missing all of last season due to injury and taking a redshirt the year before as a freshman. At this point he's third on the depth chart behind Gesicki and Jon Holland.
• The throwback uniform, a combination of all of Penn State's various components from the past, was a success. Players raved about the white shoes in the lead-up and, selfishly, the numbers on their helmets made my life a lot easier trying to point out players from up high in the press box.
• Defensive end Shareef Miller wore Torrence Brown's No. 19 for the second consecutive week. Brown, who is out for the season, was hobbling around on the sideline after being on a scooter earlier this week. At this point it would seem likely that Miller will wear Brown's No. 19 for the rest of the season.
• Tight end Mike Gesicki exited the game in the first half after being slow to get up. Gesicki stood, crossed his legs and stretched while he walked off with trainers. He wasn't on the sideline at the end of the game and there's been no update on him. This will be worth monitoring this week.
• Reserve quarterback Jake Zembiec wasn't dressed, which likely signifies that he's banged up. Zembiec wasn't on the travel roster last week either, but he would've gone through warmups here at least if he was healthy.
• Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos was banged up at the end of the game, but did jog off the field. He was getting stretched out on the trainer's table late in the fourth quarter.