Penn State football: The highs and lows of the 2021 regular season in 10 quick hits
A lot of water has gone under the bridge — and a lot of snow has fallen in Michigan! — since that heady time 7 weeks ago when Penn State was 5-0 and ranked No. 4 heading to Iowa City.
A bunch of narrow losses and a new 10-year contract for coach James Franklin later, the regular season is done — mercifully so, in the eyes of many fans. After a 7-5 finish, Nittany Nation is left to wonder how soon the school’s greater commitment to football will pay dividends on the field. Until then, though, let’s look back on how the Nittany Lions wound up as an unranked team playing out the string.
These are the storylines that made and broke Penn State’s season:
Ebiketie helps PSU turn corner
On his first play as a Nittany Lion, Arnold Ebiketie came off the edge and dropped Wisconsin running back Chez Mellusi for a 4-yard loss.
Talk about setting a tone. The transfer from Temple did just that, making a bunch of other big plays in PSU’s season-opening 16-10 victory over Wisconsin. And he went right on making plays, racking up a team-high 9.5 sacks — just half a sack off the B1G lead going into the final weekend of the season.
DT Derrick Tangelo (Duke), OL Eric Wilson (Harvard) and RB John Lovett (Baylor) made impacts too, as Penn State made positive use of the portal for the first time. In all, the Lions brought in 6 players and lost 14 via the portal. That’s a step in the right direction after the program brought in just 1 significant player — punter/kicker Jordan Stout — the previous 2 years. But it leaves room for improvement, as Penn State lost key depth along the defensive line and at quarterback that might have made a difference this season.
Jahan Dotson climbs charts
The wide receiver’s return for a senior season turned out to be a win-win. He’s helped the team immensely with his first 1,000-yard receiving season, and he’s helped himself immensely in the eyes of NFL scouts.
Dotson’s work to add strength and a few pounds to his 5-11 frame, combined with his sure hands and great route-running, have boosted him to probable first-round status in the NFL Draft. Now at 184 pounds, the native of Nazareth, Pa., has held up through all 12 games, catching at least 5 passes in all but one game while racking up 91 receptions for 1,182 yards and 12 TDs. Those season totals rank 2nd, 3rd and 2nd in the Big Ten.
His 242-yard game vs. Maryland set a program record, and his 2021 and career numbers rank top-5 in multiple categories in Penn State history. With his 137-yard game vs. Michigan State, he has a PSU record 12 100-yard games in his career.
Clearly the Lions’ best offensive player this year, he’ll go down as one of their best of all time. (It’s a long list, but he’ll be on it.)
Reaching No. 4
Those first 5 weeks played out perfectly, as Penn State rose from No. 19 to start the season to No. 4 in the AP poll with grit, toughness and minimal-mistake football. The Lions didn’t commit a turnover until the 3rd game of the season and never more than 1 until the Week 6 collapse against Iowa.
Stingy defense sets the tone
Safeties Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown set the tone with game-saving interceptions as Penn State’s defense survived 43 minutes on the field in the opener, yielding just 10 points in the upset win over Wisconsin.
By the time Penn State had climbed into the top 10, Brent Pry’s defense ranked top-10 in the country in a bunch of categories, most importantly points allowed. Takeaways and red zone stops accented the positives.
A couple of big plays allowed in crunch time — most notably vs. Iowa and Michigan — mar an otherwise impressive season. But even in those games, defense was not the problem. With a school-record 2 shutouts in Big Ten play, the Lions reached the final weekend of the season as the No. 4 scoring defense in the country.
Jordan Stout flips fields
Jordan Stout has given Penn State a leg up on the competition throughout the season. His kickoffs result in touchbacks more often (91.4% of the time through 11 games) than anyone else’s and he’s No. 11 nationally in punting average (46.5 yards) as well. He’s been the B1G special teams player of the week 3 times, even after games in which he missed FGs and/or PATs.
Stout’s ability to swing the field position battle played a key role in Penn State’s hot start. Plus, it’s just kinda cool to have someone who ranks No. 1 in the country — in anything.
Clifford’s up and downs
Sean Clifford, as he promised, shrugged off his dismal 2020 season and played with confidence to open his 3rd season as Penn State’s starting quarterback. He did enough to get the Lions past Wisconsin in the opener, and really excelled in going 28-of-32 vs. Auburn in Week 3 and throwing for 401 yards vs. Villanova in Week 4.
He made a case for himself as the B1G’s best quarterback and a Heisman candidate through the Lions’ 5-0 start, only to have it all come crashing down on a hit to his upper body vs. Iowa. Jack Campbell’s shot on Clifford’s exposed torso just after he released a pass knocked him out of the game and effectively knocked Penn State out of CFP contention.
Clifford started every game thereafter, but was severely limited in an upset loss to Illinois and only sporadically showed his early-season form the rest of the way. He finished the regular season completing better than 62 percent of his passes for 2,912 yards, with 20 TD passes and 6 INTs. That’s a heck of a year for a guy facing as much pressure as he did behind a bad offensive line.
Backup QB issues
Penn State started the season with a potential nightmare scenario at the quarterback position, and sure enough, it happened. Ta’Quan Roberson — a deep reserve in his first 2 seasons in the program — was forced into action against Iowa. He ascended to No. 2 on the depth chart because 2 other QBs transferred. He was not ready, not nearly. Penn State’s 17-3 lead on the No. 3 Hawkeyes devolved — painfully and methodically — into a 23-20 loss as Roberson went 7-of-21 for 34 yards, with 2 INTs. The offense also false-started 8 times with Roberson at the helm.
Roberson hasn’t attempted a pass since, and now Christian Veilleux — a true freshman out of Canada coming off a high school season lost to Covid — is generating buzz after a solid debut subbing in early for a flu-ridden Clifford vs. Rutgers.
The O-line blues
Not one running back has had a 100-yard game this year for Penn State. In 7 of the 12 regular-season games, the Lions were held under 100 as a team. They average 106.6 yards per game and 3.1 per carry, putting them on pace to be Penn State’s 2nd-worst ground game in 70-plus years.
The pass protection got worse as the season wore on, too. Following the Iowa loss, Penn State gave up 18 sacks over the next 4 games, losing 3 of them. No Big Ten team was more of a sieve in front of its QB than Penn State, which gave up a league-worst 32 sacks — including 4 in the season finale vs. Michigan State.
Whether the issues relate to recruiting, coaching or motivation, something is clearly wrong with Phil Trautwein’s group.
James Franklin’s money grab
During the poorest stretch of his 8 years at Penn State, head coach James Franklin locked up more money over more years for himself. According to a PSU press release, there will be more money for staff and facilities, too, but the cold, hard numbers released Wednesday focused on the coach’s deal.
A quick look at the details show a contract as one-sided as ever. After 2 more seasons, Franklin can bolt for a mere $2 million buyout. After another 2 years, it goes down to $1 million. If Penn State wants out, it’ll cost the school well into 8 figures, basically all the salary remaining on the contract.
So, fans, enjoy the next 2 seasons, and hope both sides are sincere in wanting to work together in the best interest of the program. Otherwise, this whole song and dance could repeat itself as soon as 2024.
The Illinois debacle
It’s among the worst losses in Penn State history, and it’ll live on thanks to a record 9 overtime “periods.” As a 23.5-point favorite, the No. 7 team in the country lost 20-18 against the Big Ten’s worst defense at the time. The Lions were outplayed and outcoached by a team that seemed to care more even though it had little reason to do so.
Here’s the factual part from my scathing analysis at the time: Illinois outdid Penn State in first downs (26-14), total yards (395-227), rushing yards (357-62), yards per rush (5.3-2.1), third-down conversions (9-18 vs. 4-17) and time of possession (36:25-23:35). If you want to relive the ugliness with my full commentary, it’s here.