As if things weren’t tense enough for Penn State fans in the midst of a 17-play late-game Wisconsin drive, a targeting call sent Ellis Brooks to an early shower with 5-plus minutes left.

What was already a nail-biting situation became all the more so when the Lions’ defensive quarterback, who tied a career high with 11 tackles, was disqualified.

Thanks to the Lackawanna Connection (see below), the Penn State defense held off the Badgers’ final threats in a 16-10 season-opening victory at Camp Randall Stadium that boosted the Lions from No. 19 to No. 11 in the AP Poll.

Brooks will have to miss the first half of this Saturday’s home opener against Ball State (3:30 Eastern, FS1). Although the Cardinals return a ton of players from their MAC championship 2020 season, Brooks’ 30-minute late start shouldn’t hamper the defense too much. Better that this happen now than heading into Auburn, Iowa or Ohio State.

Much is being said around the country after Week 1 suggesting that the NCAA targeting rule should be tweaked. One idea is that there be different levels of offense — like the NBA with Flagrant 1 and Flagrant 2 fouls — and that not all targeting penalties should lead to ejections. The Fox broadcasters on the game touted that idea. I like it.

For now, though, we have a situation in which this isn’t called targeting …

But this is …

Brooks led with his shoulder, but too high up on QB Graham Mertz.

“The thing we’re going to do a better job of is making sure that our guys are wrapping up,” head coach James Franklin said. “When you throw a shoulder, which is what he was doing in my opinion … it’s just natural for the head to turn. But if you use proper tackling fundamentals, that should take care of that. I think it’s one of those calls that could go either way. If they didn’t call it, I think people would understand that.”

Franklin said he understands and agrees with protecting student athletes and the sport, but thinks “there is just going to come a point where I don’t know what you tell the defensive guys.”

Noting that there were multiple targeting calls in games around the country, Franklin continued:

“The other thing that’s going to be interesting is, are we ever going to call it on the offensive guy? You see offensive guys lowering their helmet and I have yet to see that call. So, it’s interesting. I’m not criticizing. I’m not arguing. It’s a challenging thing right now for our game and I think there is going to have to be continued discussions about it.”

The Lackawanna Connection

Safeties Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown, who both went through Lackawanna College on their way to State College, made victory-saving interceptions on Wisconsin’s final 2 possessions. The junior college in Scranton, Pa., is becoming quite the pipeline for Franklin, who has a long-standing relationship with legendary Falcons coach Mark Duda.

In addition to Brisker and Brown, current Lions Anthony Whigan (OL), Norval Black (WR) and Bradley King (P) have passed through Lackawanna. Two more Falcons, OL JB Nelson and DB Tyrese Mills, are committed to the Lions’ currently No. 1-ranked 2022 recruiting class.

Joe Paterno rarely pulled players from the JC ranks, but in today’s college football Franklin leaves no stone unturned. Getting players after 1-2 years of maturation and game experience is a practical approach, a win-win for coach and player. And it’s pretty convenient to have that feeder program just a relatively short car ride away.

Closing time?

Penn State escaped Madison despite possessing the ball for only 17 of the game’s 60 minutes. The Lions couldn’t kill off even 2:11 after Jaquan Brisker seemingly iced the victory with a red zone INT.

In fact, none of the Lions’ 12 drives lasted longer than 2:10 and only 2 topped 2 minutes.

On its final drive, Penn State went 3-and-out in 1:05, leaving the Badgers enough time — 67 seconds — to move the ball 57 yards before an intentional grounding penalty cost them crucial time and yards.

Ball-control, clock-killing offense has not been Penn State’s forte in the Franklin era. But the 8th-year coach and new OC Mike Yurcich need to figure something out. This issue will cost them games if they don’t.

Clifford did take a couple snaps from under center, something that hasn’t been in the playbook in recent years. Maybe Yurcich can add a new wrinkle to the scheme for such situations. Maybe even multiple backs in the game at the same time? A fullback? I mean, Wisconsin at times put 3 guys around Mertz in the backfield. It’s not that archaic, is it?

Notes and Nit-picks …

  • Transfer RB John Lovett, DL Hakeem Beamon and DB Keaton Ellis were not available for Week 1 and their status remains uncertain for Week 2, per Franklin at his Tuesday media session.
  • Eric Wilson (Harvard transfer) played a lot at LG in the second half after Anthony Whigan started at that O-line spot. They will continue to compete for time and starting honors. I don’t foresee any other tweaks to the rotation, other than filling Brooks’ middle linebacker spot for the first half.
  •  The defense could be really, really special this year. Transfers Arnold Ebiketie and Derrick Tangelo shored up the D-line as was hoped, with Ebiketie wreaking havoc at DE. The secondary was awesome. Jesse Luketa looked confident and aggressive as he roamed from DE to LB. Former 5-star recruit Brandon Smith tied a career-high with 8 tackles, yet I think he can be more disruptive. Most of his tackles were of the down-the-field variety.
  • Jahan Dotson posted his third straight 100-yard receiving game, the first player to do that since Franklin took over the program in 2014. After his 102-yard effort, he ranks 6th in the B1G in receiving yards per game.
  • Penn State has never played Ball State before. The Lions are 27-3 against current members of the MAC and have won 17 of their last 19 home openers. The Cardinals are 1-0 after a 31-21 victory over Western Illinois. They racked up 404 yards of offense but allowed 437, including 367 through the air. Penn State is favored by 20.5 points.
  • Beaver Stadium will return to full capacity seating for the first time since 2019, with mobile ticketing and several changes designed to ease congestion.
  • Prediction: Penn State 45, Ball State 10