4-0 and Counting

What can you take away from a 4-0 record and those four wins coming against below average competition? A lot actually. 

The numbers are what they are and here are some of those numbers and their conference/national ranking. 

Yards Per Game: 509.5 (2nd/14th)
Points Per Game: 50 (2nd/5th)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 274.5 (5th/14th)
Points Per Game Allowed: 7.5 (2nd in both)

Those are some of the basic numbers. And they are really good numbers overall. The offense stuttered a few times in the first three games outside of the 79-7 beatdown of Idaho, but against Maryland (59-0) they seem to hit some sort of stride. They were efficient with a strong passing game; a good mix of screen passes, quick slants, swing passes, and then they took shots down field. Quarterback Sean Clifford, who is 2nd in the Big 10 in passings yards with 1,179, was 26/31 for 398 yards and 3 touchdowns while throwing his first interception. For the first time seemingly all season the offensive line gave him a clean pocket for a majority of the game and Clifford showed his ability read the defense, go through progressions (although the short passing game didn't allow for much of that), and step up and make good and effective throws. The interception was just a great play by the safety FWIW. The running game was there, which helped create a good balance, and it was good to see the holes open for the four backs who touched the ball. Another bright spot is that it seems like the receiving group is better than expected aside from KJ Hamler and Jahan Dotson. Daniel George and Danny Chisena are giving Clifford more and more options. Justin Shorter who was looked at the "other guy" besides Hamler left the game with an injury and hasn't been targeted much to start the season. Getting him involved as the season goes on will only allow this offense to become more dangerous. A few final notes on the offense; the blocking down field by the backs and receivers has been great thus far and you saw that on display a few times against the Terps. Having one of the running backs separate themselves as the season goes along might be something good to see, but they seem to thrive off the current rotation and the, "I can do better" mentality. In a good way of course.

Defensively it seemed that the entire unit played 100mph from start to finish. The sack numbers are good (t-7th in the country with 15) and they were getting pressure on Maryland quarterback Josh Jackson and bringing him down. They added 8 tackles for loss with their 4 sacks. It's probably the fastest front 7 James Franklin has had since he arrived in State College and that was also on display Friday night. Every team hits a stride at different times and hopefully the shutout of Maryland was the start of this team hitting their stride. 

Special teams is very, very solid and I can't think of anything that would cause concern for fans. It's been a reliable unit this season and I that will pay big dividends as the season goes on. 

The biggest thing going forward starting with Purdue this coming weekend is to not let the foot off the gas. Let's face it, Maryland isn't good and Penn State did what it should to a team that is far less superior. Purdue is the same type of game. The Boilermakers will be without their starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar and All-American playmaker Rondale Moore for at least this game and maybe more. That provides an opportunity for the Nittany Lions to really take advantage of a Purdue team that, much like Maryland, isn't very good. 

You can take away a lot from 59-0 victories because if Penn State would've come out of that game with a 24-17 victory the fans would be feeling much different. But doing what they did gives off a certain level of confidence and being at the game that confidence, swagger if you will, spilled over into the crowd and you could feel an energy that made everyone feel better than they did the week before. Another 59-0 victory this week will no doubt do the same thing.