Over the last couple weeks, Penn State football coach James Franklin has said the Nittany Lions need to get things cleaned up.
Because Franklin has said it so often, some might wonder if Lysol has become a new NIL sponsor for them.
As the Big Ten opener against defending champion Oregon draws near, Penn State (2-0) will look for better precision and execution against Villanova (1-0) Saturday at 3:30 (TV-FS1) at Beaver Stadium.
The second-ranked Lions have outscored Nevada and FIU, their first two opponents, by a wide 80-11 margin, but they struggled to finish drives in the opener against the Wolf Pack.
Then last week against the Panthers, Penn State dropped five passes, missed several blocks, sent two kickoffs out of bounds, allowed a field goal to be blocked and lacked explosive plays for the second straight week.
“I think our guys feel like we have done enough to win,” Franklin said, “but haven’t played up to what our expectations and standards are. I would also say that’s always going to be the case. We’re always going to feel like we can play better.”
Like Nevada and FIU, Villanova is a six-touchdown underdog in Penn State’s final non-conference game. The Wildcats are ranked 11th in the FCS coaches poll and coming off a 24-17 season-opening win over Colgate.
It’s the 11th meeting between the two schools, but just their second since 1951. Four years ago, Sean Clifford passed for a career-high 401 yards and four touchdowns in the Lions’ 38-17 win over Villanova.
The Wildcats, though, limited Penn State to 80 rushing yards on 34 carries with their 3-3-5 defense, the same one they’ve used for years and the same one they still use.
“They are constantly moving, spiking, slanting and twisting,” Franklin said. “It’s smart. A lot of times it’s hard to get defensive linemen, so when you can go to this system and just create chaos and get guys running free that helps.
“I look at it sort of like facing the Wishbone if you don’t see it all year long. They do a nice job. They’ve been running this system for a while and have had success with it. It caused us some challenges the last time we played them.”
So far, the Lions have had eight “explosive” plays, ones of at least 20 yards. They have six completions and two runs, a 20-yarder and a 67-yarder by Kaytron Allen against FIU. That’s well short of Franklin’s 20% goal for explosive plays.
A preseason All-American, Nick Singleton’s longest rush has been 16 yards. In the first two games last year, he had four carries for at least 24 yards.
Franklin criticized the offensive linemen immediately after last week’s game. He softened that criticism less than 48 hours later, even though they missed blocks.
“I think we were much more physical up front,” he said, “but we can still improve there. There are some things I think we still have to get cleaned up.”
On defense, Penn State has allowed just 11 points and 493 total yards. Nevada scored the only touchdown against the Lions this season against their reserves with 25 seconds left.
The defensive line began the season as a slight concern because of how young the reserves are. But the guys up front have three sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss and Penn State’s only two interceptions, by tackles Zane Durant and Alonzo Ford Jr.
“Our first two games have been pretty impressive in terms of points,” Franklin said. “But I do think we can be more of a suffocating style of defense. We’ve given up more yards than I think Jim (new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles) would prefer.
“I still think our defense is thinking and not playing as fast as we have in the past. That’s what’s going to be important this week and moving forward.”
Along with cleaner play across the board.
Rich Scarcella’s pick
Penn State 48, Villanova 10
The clock is ticking on the Nittany Lions to refine things before their Big Ten opener against Oregon in two weeks. The Wildcats are well-coached and sound, but they’re not nearly as talented as Penn State.
https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/12/second-ranked-penn-state-looks-to-clean-up-flaws-against-villanova/
