I’m a Penn State grad writing about Penn State football with a Penn State slant.

I want Penn State to beat Ohio State on Saturday night to the core of my Nittany-loving being. And I think they can. But they’re gonna need a lot of points.

I want to believe in Brent Pry and his young defense.

I’m trying to look at the bright side. Second-half shutouts against Pitt and Kent State. Nearly a third second-half shutout against Illinois, which scored a third-quarter TD only after a foolish roughing penalty extended a drive.

Penn State worked the rope-a-dope strategy (younger readers search “Muhammad Ali rope a dope”) against those lesser opponents, eventually wearing them out. But really, those teams were demoralized as much by an avalanche of points from the Penn State offense as anything the defense did.

With a lot of squinting and mental gymnastics, you can look at certain parts of certain stat sheets and pretend to see progress. But let’s not kid ourselves.

If the Nittany Lions can’t find another level Saturday, OSU sophomore Dwayne Haskins — he of the 75.7 percent completion rate through four starts — will carve them up. Backs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber will run wild.

In an all-too-typical first half against Illinois last week, the Illini tied the score at 7-7 with a six-play drive that was all first downs. Yep, five straight plays of 10-plus yards followed by a 2-yard TD run. Starting a backup freshman quarterback, the Illini produced 6-plus yards or a TD on 14 of their 21 first-down plays in the first half.

A week earlier, Kent State went 75 yards on 11 plays on its first possession.

Penn State has started every game on its heels, playing passively, tackling poorly. The vast majority of the Lions’ sacks and forced turnovers have come in the second half, against bad teams forced to abandon the run based on the score.

The situation looks bleak. What do we root for? How does this young defense grow up against the best offense it’s likely to face this season?

5  hopeful thoughts

Brent Pry is all out of vanilla: Whether it’s zone blitzes or exotic coverages, Penn State’s defensive coordinator should stir things up. Maybe he’s been waiting for just this occasion.

A jarring tackle early: Nothing dirty, nothing cheap. No weaponizing the helmet. I’m talk about a clean, solid, knock-someone-backward hit. Someone on the Penn State defense needs to announce his presence with authority, fire up his teammates, get the crowd jacked up.

The 110,000th man: Coach James Franklin is asking for record attendance and record decibel levels. Sound waves can affect the flight of footballs, I’m sure of it. Haskins should not be able to hear himself call plays. False starts should ensue. And Penn State’s defenders should feed on all of it.

Leaders emerge: CB Amani Oruwariye’s game-ending interception against App State is the lone signature play for this defense so far. DT Kevin Givens provided a lift against Pitt. DEs Shareef Miller and Shaka Toney have had moments working the edge. True freshman LB Micah Parson ranks third on the team with 22 tackles, but with no sacks and only one QB hurry. Pry has mixed and matched so many players that no one really stands out. The whole  seems to be somehow less than the sum of the parts. There is no defensive version of McSorley, and PSU could really use one.

A little help: McSorley, Sanders and Co. need to eat up some clock while lighting up the scoreboard. The defense has been on the field more than the offense in every game this season. If Penn State can produce one extended drive each half and manage the clock prior to halftime, it can limit OSU’s possessions. Then, a couple stops and a forced turnover or two might be enough.