Penn State: Unmet or Unrealistic Expectations?

by Kathryn Tague

Coming into this season as 2017 Fiesta Bowl Champions, the Nittany Lions had high expectations for another successful season. Many predicted them to be champions of the Big 10 Conference while some had even higher hopes of a playoff bid. Their star quarterback, Trace McSorley, was in the running for the Heisman trophy. What made Penn State stand out to people in preseason was not their experience, recruits, or coaching staff, but their opportunities. Penn State’s demanding schedule gave them the opportunity to prove themselves at least five times this season against ranked opponents. Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa and Wisconsin were scheduled to face the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium and the Nittany Lions traveled to Ann Arbor this weekend to face the Michigan Wolverines. These were five huge opportunities for Penn State, unlike teams such as Clemson whose schedule is practically child’s play (yes, I went there). While Penn State does have a lot of excellent returning players, talented freshman and a top-notch coaching staff, the Nittany Lions schedule is what initially made them stand out.

However, any hope for Penn State to have another successful season has pretty much vanished. It was this weekend’s game against Michigan that ultimately decided whether Penn State gets even a New Year’s Six Bowl game since their chances of a playoff bid or spot in the Big 10 Championship are nearly shot. The downfall of their season started on the opening game against unranked Appalachian State where the Nittany Lions barely won in overtime. It was an embarrassing start for them. Penn State worked out the kinks for the next games against Pittsburgh, Kent State and Illinois, making them 4-0.

App State almost pulled another upset in the Big 10. Image from Getty Images.

The next match-up was arguably the most anticipated game of the season: the white out.  After an extremely close game, Penn State fell short of their signature win against Ohio State. It was Franklin’s horrendous decision to run the ball on 4th & 5, after having two timeouts, that not only cost the Lions the game, but made people question Franklin’s coaching ability. Coming off of a bye week, Penn State fans were sure this was just a fluke and that they would be able to defeat Michigan State with ease. However, Michigan State shocked the Big 10 by defeating the Nittany Lions 21-17. Once again, it was an embarrassing game for the Lions. The following week they got the win at Indiana and then again vs. Iowa at home. Yet, the Nittany Lions could not keep the streak alive against the Michigan Wolverines and got absolutely annihilated with a final score of 42-7.

Penn State collapsed against Michigan. Image from USA Today.

So what went wrong?

To start off, the loss of their offensive coordinator, Joe Moorhead, put a huge damper on the offense. “Jomo” became the head coach of Mississippi State while Ricky Rahne was promoted from quarterback coach to the new offensive coordinator for Penn State. Even though, this is Rahne’s first year at the job, he’s been with Penn State for five years, so nobody expected as dramatic of a change as there was. But Moorhead was a complete genius when it came to running an offense, and he had many tight relationships with the players. He was extremely involved on the sidelines during practices and games and was notorious for his half-time speeches that always seemed to get the blood pumping again for the players. He instilled extreme confidence in the players, and when he left, some of that confidence left too. For example, DeAndre Thompkins, a fifth-year senior (and one of my favorite players), was an absolute beast of a wide-receiver last year. In 2017, he averaged 15.8 yards per catch and was the nation’s No. 5 punt returner. Now, DeAndre has pretty much lost his mojo, barely getting any action in the game and constantly dropping passes. Thompkins had an extremely close relationship with Moorhead, and while obviously not all of this change can be attributed to Moorhead’s departure, it still serves as a prime example of the effect that he had on the team.

Joe Moorehead’s departure to Mississippi State had a bigger impact than meets the eye. Images from USA Today.

A total of 24 players put on the blue and white for the final time last season. This included star running back, Saquon Barkley. His early departure was obviously not great for the program, but not for the reasons most people think. Many people believe that the offense in 2017 was completely revolved around Barkley, and that when he left, Penn State did not have much to work with. However, this could not be further from the truth. Penn State’s tight end, Mike Gesicki, made huge contributions to the offense along with Penn State’s all time leading receiver, Deshan Hamilton. Their absence, along with other graduates, has affected the offense just as much as Saquon’s has.

Currently, quarterback, Trace McSorley continues to lead the offense for the third season in a row and is backed by junior running back, Miles Sanders. The rest of his weapons are majority freshman like tight end, Pat Freiermuth, who has had himself a great year so far. The freshman receivers (KJ Hamler, Mac Hippenhammer and Juhan Dotson) have also made a great impact on the offense, and they are getting equal if not more playing time than the returning receivers like Thompkins, Johnson, and Polk. Trace McSorley is doing his best to conduct a successful offense this season despite the changes in coaching and receivers.

Trace McSorley had to deal with a lot of changes this offseason. Image from Morning Call.

On the other hand, the defense is looking pretty good this year, even though they lost many seniors. They held Michigan to only 14 points in the first half when the Wolverines had the ball for 30:37 minutes of the first three quarters. Penn State’s offense could not stay on the field for more than two minutes to save their lives. The Nittany Lions converted 2 out of 11 times on third downs against Michigan who converted 8 out of 14. It’s a complete vicious cycle between offense not being able to get anything going, which makes our defense exhausted, and the opponent’s defense well rested to get another stop against our offense.

Penn State is now 6-3 and ranked 4th in the Big 10 East and 21st overall. This is definitely not what anyone anticipated going into the season. Because McSorley was returning and their schedule was extremely strong, everyone, including myself, bought into the hype. Maybe this was finally the year that Nittany Lions could break through and become that “elite” program that James Franklin talked about post Ohio State game. Maybe this was finally the year that Penn State would get another Heisman trophy winner. Maybe this was finally the year the they would get the playoff bid that the Penn State community is still starving for. Looking back at the games against Ohio State and Michigan State, the Lions were so close, making these expectations seem unmet. It was torture for fans to see the lions right at brink of their goals, but not able to finish.

Penn State gets so close only to fall just short. Image from PSU Athletics.

Excluding the Michigan game, the Lions fell short in their last 5 losses by a total of only 12 points, starting all the way back to the 2016 Rose Bowl up until this year’s Michigan State game. Penn State has been so close for the past two seasons to getting back to the top, but when you take a step back and look at this year closely, the expectations for this year do seem unrealistic. As a die hard Penn State fan, it pains me to say it, but Penn State is not there yet. However, it is not to say that it’ll be a long time until Penn State reaches this status. Thanks to the already impactful freshman players, Franklin’s exceptional recruiting tactics, and the Lion’s rigorous schedule, I have nothing but great expectations for the future of Penn State Football.

Kathryn Tague is a junior at Radnor High School and lives in Villanova, Pa. She lives with her parents, brother and dog named Koda. Kathryn plays basketball and lacrosse, and is an avid Penn State Football fan.