ALTOONA, Pa. -- Penn State scored 35 points in its opening victory at Purdue, a significant number since the Nittany Lions reached 30 just once in Big Ten play all last season (31 vs. Maryland).
Oh, and Sean Clifford was Big Ten co-Offensive Player of the Week to boot, throwing for four touchdowns and running for one.
So, one might conclude that the offense was clicking on all cylinders against the Boilermakers, based on only those factors.
But from the eye test watching the game, it should have been clear to everyone that the offense still had issues. The good news, obviously, is that the issues didn't stop the team from scoring 35. But the bad news is that those issues could be bigger problems once the Lions face better defenses.
James Franklin addressed that and other key topics during his Tuesday press conference. Here's a breakdown of what Franklin said and other topics of note for Penn State heading into Saturday's home opener against Ohio.
1. Offensive issues more than just the line
Penn State dropped five passes, which made a big enough difference that Franklin said this:
"Obviously too many dropped balls. I think the game could have been completely different if we caught more balls, and that's on offense and defense."
The defensive reference was to cornerback Joey Porter Jr. failing to catch an interception in the first half that could have been a pick-6.
But with regards to the offense, the five dropped passes cost the Lions on several drives. And if they had caught two or three of those, they perhaps could have reached 40 points and wouldn't have needed late heroics for a winning TD.
In the grand scheme of things, eliminating dropped balls would have to be the easiest fix.
The other two things could be more problematic as the season goes on.
"We got to be more explosive," Franklin said. "There's no doubt about it, we got to be more explosive on offense."
The coach frequently talks about explosive plays and how they can change games, and the 2016 Penn State offense was a great example of that. But the past two years, the explosive plays have failed to meet program goals in a lot of games, in large part because the running game just hasn't been good enough to keep defenses honest.
"Watching the (Purdue) tape, we had a chance for a few more explosive runs," Franklin said. "We had to make that one free hitter miss, and we weren't able to do that. But we've just got to continue to progress."
Starting tailback Keyvone Lee is not an explosive runner, but more of a between-the-tackles guy who can get tough yards. Freshmen running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen have big-play ability, and we could see some of that on display this week against Ohio, a heavy underdog.
The passing game, though, is where the explosive plays will have to come, something that has been the case throughout Clifford's career. He likes to take a lot of deep shots, and so does offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, but that element didn't click in the opener.
Penn State did have an enormous 67-yard touchdown pass from Clifford to tight end Brenton Strange late in the first half that gave the Lions a 21-10 lead. That was a busted play, however -- Strange caught a pass from a scrambling Clifford and then Purdue missed a tackle -- and not quite the kind of play the offense can count on too often to check off an explosive play box.
2. Evaluating the O-line
Franklin didn't have much to say about the group, and the comment above about having a chance for more explosive plays was made while talking about the unit's performance. Here's what else he said:
"I thought the majority of our offensive linemen played well. We had, I think, one penalty on the offensive line and one sack, so we've got to clean that up. ... One sack in the game on the road, first game in the Big Ten. I think we took a step, but there's still work that needs to be done."
Like with the overall offense, trying to say that the line played well because the team scored 35 points wouldn't be accurate.
The Lions rushed for just 98 yards against a program not known for its great run defense. That was 10 yards less than Penn State averaged last season, when the running game was abysmal. Penn State did have 77 yards rushing in the first half -- a solid number -- but only 21 in the second.
And while Clifford was sacked just once, he did face pressure on numerous occasions. The season almost changed dramatically when he got pressured and was hit in his left leg in the first half. The Lions were extremely fortunate he came away from that uninjured.
Right tackle Caedan Wallace got benched late in the game in favor of Bryce Effner, which had to be extremely frustrating for the coaching staff given that Wallace was expected to be one of the strengths on the line this season.
3. Personnel report
Tight end Theo Johnson made the trip but did not dress. As usual, there was no specific reason given for him not being able to play.
"We were hoping that we may have him available in that Purdue game," Franklin said. "That's not our call. But we were hopeful. Traveled him to see if there was a chance of that. We'll kind of go from there.
"Obviously, everybody knows how much of a big-time player he is, how much respect we have for him, both on and off the field. So hopefully we're able to get him back sooner rather than later. Hopefully that's this week."
Penn State has two other good tight ends in Strange and Tyler Warren, but Franklin clearly wants to play all three of them, including perhaps all at the same time.
"We had to scramble (with Johnson) there because a big part of our game plan was 12 personnel, 13 personnel," the coach said, referring to having one running back and two or three tight ends in the formation.
Freshman linebacker Abdul Carter played only a couple of plays before getting ejected for targeting early on a questionable hit. The 4-star recruit was given the program's storied No. 11, and big things are expected from him. So, not having him available for nearly the entire game made a difference on the defense.
"We were expecting him to play a decent amount in that game," Franklin said. "It was dependent on how he was going to play. With it being his first game, we didn't want to have a strict rotation. I think he ended up playing two plays, one on special teams and one on defense. Our plan was for much more than that. This week, I'd like to get him a ton of reps both on special teams and on defense. Then this game will give us a better feel of how that rotation will go moving forward."
Defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher returned to action after missing the second half of last season with an injury. He wasn't a huge factor against Purdue, which as Franklin noted wasn't a big surprise since Purdue gets rid of the ball quickly and doesn't run much, thereby negating the effectiveness of a big defensive tackle.
But Franklin did have a lot of good things to say about Mustipher's impact on the team.
"He's just doing everything right on the field and off the field, from a leadership standpoint," the coach said. "He had a great message to the guys on Friday after the game about being present and being locked in, focused here. By doing that, it will take care of all your objectives and goals down the road. He's been great."
4. Awards oddities
Clifford was honored by the Big Ten as co-Offensive Player of the Week, but he was not one of the coaches' picks for top offensive players. Franklin said those were running back Lee and left tackle Olu Fashanu.
Even stranger was that Porter Jr. was not the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, but he was named national player of the week by the Bednarik Award. Porter was the coaches' pick for Penn State's top defensive player.
"Defensively, Joey Porter was a national player of the week by the Bednarik Award, but he didn't get any Big Ten love for whatever reason," Franklin said.
5. How the College Football Playoff expansion changes the sport?
Franklin had a lengthy response when I asked him about last week's news that the CFP is expanding to 12 by 2026, if not sooner.
"Obviously, the playoff model has changed college football, really has," Franklin said. "I would say that's really starting with the BCS and now our current model. But I do think, if you look at most of the sports in college football or sports in general, more opportunities for more teams to get in without going too far I think is important.
"There's obviously always the discussion about teams maybe that aren't Power 5 schools that had great years but are left out. Or a situation like us, where we won the Big Ten championship (in 2016), arguably top two conferences if not the best conference in all of college football, and be left out. I think it helps resolve and solve some of those issues.
"We in our sport also have to look at the length of the season from an academic calendar perspective but also just from a physicality perspective.
"There's a lot of things that go into it, but I think in general it's a positive. I think it's something that was needed. I'm also a believer that I don't think the answer, not just in this but in everything, I don't think the answer's always more is better. We got to find the sweet spot for college football, for the fans, and most importantly for the student-athletes."
