Penn State dominated Indiana, but struggling to convert on third down is still an issue

Call it nitpicking, but when you’re a championship contender like Penn State the little things matter.

The Nittany Lions didn’t produce their best performance of the season, but they still had little trouble with Indiana on Saturday, beating the Hoosiers 45-14. It started with Saquon Barkley’s 98-yard kickoff returned for a touchdown and snowballed into a 28-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Despite some miscues throughout the rest of the game, Penn State’s lopsided win over an improved Indiana team proved it didn’t have to play at its peak to beat some of the middle-of-the-road teams in the B1G. It was a mostly solid performance from one of the nation’s top squads.

But there was one statistic that’s a bit troubling from Saturday’s outing, and it’s been somewhat of a trend for the Nittany Lions this season. Penn State converted 6-of-18 third down conversions against the Hoosiers, a percentage that James Franklin would probably like to be a little higher.

Admittedly, that’s pretty nitpicky in a game decided by 31 points. It obviously didn’t hinder Penn State too much in its B1G home opener, but it’s been an ongoing issue through the first five weeks of the season.

Penn State is converting just 35.4 percent of its third down attempts this season, a clip that ranks 12th in the B1G and 95th nationally. Only eight teams from Power Five conferences are converting at a lower rate. That could be a concern with games against Michigan and Ohio State remaining on the schedule.

Obviously there are some outlying factors here. Penn State has won most of its games in convincing fashion and Franklin has ushered his second-team and third-team offenses onto the field early in the second half of some games. That surely plays a role in the less-than-ideal percentage. And the Nittany Lions are making big plays on earlier downs, which eliminates a lot of third down opportunities. That, certainly, is a positive.

The Nittany Lions converted 6-of-18 last week against Iowa, a game in which they were held to just 21 total points for the game. Had they cashed in a few more of those third downs, perhaps they wouldn’t have needed the final four seconds to knock off an unranked Hawkeyes team. Sooner rather than later, those third downs are going to be a lot more important.

After a trip to Northwestern next weekend, Penn State gets a week off before back-to-back battles against Michigan and Ohio State. The Wolverines have the best third down defense in the B1G and fifth-best in the nation, allowing opponents to convert 19.3 percent of the time. The Buckeyes aren’t quite as stingy, but Urban Meyer is going to want revenge on his home turf in Columbus.

So far, Penn State’s shortcomings on third down haven’t rendered any consequences, though Iowa game was pretty close. At some point, though, the Nittany Lions aren’t going to be able to rely on the big play and are going to have to nickel-and-dime a few teams for wins. That’s going to be hard to do if they can’t convert on third down.

It’s a nitpicky thing to critique after a 45-14 win over Indiana.

It’s not going to seem so nitpicky in a few weeks if Penn State can’t convert on those downs against Michigan and Ohio State.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB