The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s narrow 26-25 win over Minnesota

Penn State pulled off a vital win over Minnesota Saturday night in Minneapolis, earning a 26-25 win that makes the Nittany Lions 10-1 on the season and 7-1 in the Big Ten.

Let’s get right into the analysis — with the good, the bad, and the ugly from PSU’s victory.

Good

Fourth quarter aggressiveness: As someone who will die on the hill of almost never punting, I appreciated James Franklin’s willingness to go for it on three different fourth downs on his team’s game-ending drive. The Nittany Lion head coach does not always make aggressive decisions — he even showed passivity at times Saturday — but when it mattered most he believed in his team and it got the job done. The first was a fake punt that was only successful because PSU didn’t check out of, thanks to Minnesota bringing out its punt return unit and not anticipating the fake. But the second and third were him putting it all on the line with his offense and trying to, as he put it, end it on Penn State’s terms. That’s the kind of aggressiveness that’s needed to win in big moments. Minnesota may only be a middle of the pack Big Ten team, but there was a lot on the line for Penn State Saturday. And that created the type of chances for the Nittany Lions to go out and earn what they aspire to achieve. And on those fourth downs, they did just that.

Drew Allar: Saturday was not Allar’s best game, but what he did in crucial spots was more than enough to take him out of having a bad game. The junior quarterback picked up crucial yards on the ground on several occasions and on the final play of the game made the correct call to seal the win for Penn State. On that play in particular, he could have easily thrown the ball in the dirt or tried to force a throw to a covered Nick Singleton on his first read, but instead he made a play. Allar evaded a rusher and stepped up, initially looking like he was going to try and run for the first down with only a yard needed to end the game. But instead he kept his eyes downfield, hitting a wide open Tyler Warren to end it. Those are the kinds of plays that veteran quarterbacks decide to make and the kind that some of the best make consistently. Sure, there was an errant throw or two downfield on Saturday, but ultimately it was Allar who closed out the win.

College Football Playoff chances: This is pretty much settled. If Penn State wins against Maryland next week, it is going to be in the 12-team College Football Playoff field and probably seeded between No. 5-8, hosting a first round game at Beaver Stadium. Frankly, the Nittany Lions might even be in with a loss now that Ole Miss has picked up a third defeat. There was a lot of discussion about this program being the primary beneficiary of a 12-team field, and we’re all seeing why. The Nittany Lions remain one of the best teams in the country year after year, even if they don’t necessarily crack the top four. And that may be the irony of all of this. There’s a good chance they finish in the top four in the final rankings — but they’d be seeded lower because they wouldn’t be a conference champ, which the top four seeds are reserved for — making it likely that without playoff expansion they’d have made a four-team field anyway.

Andy Kotelnicki: Penn State’s offense isn’t the best in the country, but it is very good and a lot of the credit for that has to go to its offensive coordinator. Kotelnicki has come in and implemented a scheme that relies on complicating everything for the defense. Even the most basic of plays usually involves some sort of motion to challenge the opponents’ ability to make changes with offensive players on the move. He’s taken the group from good to great and has allowed Allar to evolve into one of the best quarterbacks in the country with tight end Tyler Warren as one of the best weapons in the nation. There will be some quibbling about exactly how he does things — some will say he gets too cute and needs to simplify his offense. But those people are wrong. Kotelnicki’s disguises are what makes this offense successful and what has helped lead this team to an eventual playoff berth.

Penn State’s defense: The first drive was bad, but the rest of the game was mostly great. The Nittany Lion defense under Tom Allen has bent but not broken most of the season and that’s what happened often against the Gophers. Their first touchdown came on a long drive to begin the game, an issue PSU has had this season, but the only other one came on a trick play after a blocked punt gave the Gophers a short field. The 25 points allowed doesn’t do the defense justice in this game. Very rarely was that group at fault for the Gophers having success scoring, and when Minnesota was in desperate need of points, the Nittany Lion defenders delivered. They helped the team win the turnover battle against a group that was one of the best at getting takeaways and ultimately they kept them alive despite one facet of the game trying to give it away.

Bad

First quarter passivity: Franklin should be applauded for his aggressiveness late, but he should also be criticized for being passive early. Twice on the team’s first two drives they had fourth-and-1 and twice they decided to punt. And again, as someone who almost never thinks it’s a good idea to punt, I did not like those decisions. The first one is, admittedly, one that most people would punt on. The team was at its own 34-yard-line and it was the first drive of the game. That being said, you are the No. 4 team in the country with the most creative offensive mind calling your plays. You should be able to pick up a yard there. It doesn’t help that Minnesota drove down and scored a touchdown on its ensuing drive, either, rendering any field position gained pointless. The second decision to punt was even more egregious, with PSU having the ball on its own 46. Not going there is fighting for a minimal advantage and — again — not trusting that your offense can gain a single yard. Those plays proved inconsequential to the result, but had the Nittany Lions not become aggressive late and lost, that would have been one of the most obvious reasons as to why.

Ugly

Special teams miscues: Ryan Barker made his field goals and Luke Reynolds converted a crucial fourth down on a fake punt, but pretty much everything else went wrong for the special teams on Saturday. Riley Thompson had a punt blocked that led to a Minnesota touchdown on the next play. Then Barker had an extra point blocked and returned for two points after a Minnesota defender came through the backfield untouched. And to top it all off, Warren — who was an all-state punter in high school — shanked one 16 yards on a wildly unnecessary trick play that ended with Allar storming off the field furiously. Penn State won, so none of that will matter in the long run as long as the Nittany Lions fix the issues. But they’ll have plenty to fix when they get back from Minneapolis.