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3 takeaways from Penn State’s nerve-wracking win over Bowling Green

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

What a difference a week makes for Penn State. And I don’t mean that in a positive sense.

In Week 1, the Nittany Lions were among the top-talked about teams in all of college football. Opening the season on the road against a Power 4 opponent, Penn State weathered West Virginia — and the actual weather elements — in a 34-12 blowout win.

That kind of performance instilled a lot of confidence in the offense and defense for James Franklin’s program. Unfortunately, it looks like some of that confidence was a bit misplaced.

Entering Week 2, Penn State was more than 35-point favorite against Bowling Green in a game expected to be a cakewalk. That did not develop with the Falcons building a 24-20 lead entering halftime before Penn State finally woke up in the second half.

The Nittany Lions would eventually clinch the win late in the fourth quarter, but plenty of problems were illustrated. Here are the key takeaways from the unexpectedly close game:

Defense, defense, defense

Franklin made a point coming out of Week 1 that enough people were not talking about his defense to start the season. That was turned around in Week 2, though for all the wrong reasons.

Tom Allen is in his first season as defensive coordinator for Franklin, taking over for Manny Diaz who took the head coaching job at Duke. Allen’s debut in Week 1 was smooth, but that was not the case as Bowling Green piled up the yards behind starting quarterback Connor Bazelak.

The former starter at Missouri and Indiana, Bazelak made some big-time plays and throws throughout the game, especially in the first half. His 2 touchdowns before the break had the Falcons riding high and on serious upset alert for much of the game.

Though Bazelak has power conference experience, that alone does not account for Bowling Green challenging Penn State. The Nittany Lions did eventually register 2 takeaways, but Allen needs to turn this unit around — immediately — for this team to reach its full potential.

Nicholas Singleton is the right man for Andy Kotelnicki’s offense

Nicholas Singleton continues to look like the major benefactor of Penn State’s hiring Andy Kotelnicki as OC, and that’s after he rushed for 100+ yards in the season opener.

Singleton delivered a 2nd straight game of 100+ yards to open the season, effectively icing the win for the Nittany Lions with his 41-yard touchdown in the 4th quarter. It gave Singleton 119 yards on 13 carries, a more efficient afternoon than Kaytron Allen who ended the day with 101 yards on 14 carries.

Early impressions of Kotelnicki’s offense also show a willingness to use Singleton in a variety of ways. The star RB gave Penn State its first lead of the game via a touchdown catch out of the backfield, and his work as a receiver should not be overlooked.

Career-high outing for TE Tyler Warren

A key aspect of Penn State’s offense continues to be the play at the tight end position, and Tyler Warren is the leader of that group. On Saturday, he was the leader of Penn State’s entire passing attack with a career-high performance.

He finished the day with 8 catches for 146 yards with his best performance in both categories. Warren’s previous highs were 6 catches (last season vs. Delaware) and 127 yards (during last season’s bowl loss to Ole Miss).

While Warren did not score a touchdown, he illustrated the kind of matchup nightmare he can be for the Nittany Lion offense moving forward.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.