Penn State football’s players and staff ran off the field to a chorus of boos as the first half of Saturday’s contest with Bowling Green came to a close.

The 103,861 fans in attendance at Beaver Stadium had just witnessed the Nittany Lions struggle mightily against the Bowling Green Falcons in a first half that ended with the visitors leading 24-20.

Offensively, almost everything was as smooth as it had been in Morgantown one week ago. Drew Allar had few problems throwing the ball and the run game was, again, efficient.

But in an unusual twist of events, most of the problems occurred on the other side of the ball.

The Nittany Lions struggled to keep up with Bowling Green quarterback Connor Bazelak from the jump, as his first play was a 30-yard dot to tight end Harold Fannin Jr. They also found it difficult to contain the Falcons’ run game, with Jaison Patterson, in particular, being a problem in the half.

The bulk of Bowling Green’s offense centered around Fannin, who capped off the game’s inaugural drive with a six-yard touchdown reception. He ended his day with 137 receiving yards on 11 targets.

The first half couldn’t have been more of a defensive nightmare for the Nittany Lions. After last week’s performance, the Nittany Lions had high expectations for how the game would go. Instead, a slow start nearly handed Penn State a disastrous and historic loss against a MAC opponent.

“I think it was just a slow start,” said defensive lineman Dvon J-Thomas. “You know, first time in Beaver, of course…Everybody was really excited. Everybody was just trying to do a lot more than what was needed, and we just weren’t detailed.”

“We came out a little slow and not up to our standard, not flying around, loose on tackling a little bit,” safety Jaylen Reed added.

After allowing 286 total yards in the first half, Penn State held Bowling Green to only 89 in the second, and just six in the third quarter. The Nittany Lions ultimately turned everything around and won 34-27, narrowly avoiding the unthinkable.

A big reason why Penn State had a chance to turn it around was the offense. Drew Allar was efficient with 204 passing yards and two touchdowns, with tight end Tyler Warren having a massive day with 146 receiving yards.

Meanwhile, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen had 119 and 101 rushing yards, respectively, with the former getting two touchdowns. This essentially kept Penn State in the game.

“Just take it one play at a time, and take a deep breath, feel me?” Allen said. “Of course we’re not satisfied but a win is a win.”

A loss would’ve been bad for Tom Allen, the former Indiana head coach who coached his second game as Penn State’s defensive coordinator. However, Allen maintained his usual calm demeanor at halftime and emphasized needing to be more focused.

“[Allen] gave some great messages, letting us know that the score is 0-0, we got to keep working, keep fighting, and just put the first half behind us, and that it was a whole new game, so come out strong, come out fast,” defensive end Abdul Carter said.

“Allen expressed just changing everything around,” linebacker Kobe King added.

In addition to Allen’s message, several players were vocal. This helped reinforce Allen’s message to the defense, and reassure the team that things would work out.

“We just needed more energy from certain guys that we usually hear from, and certain guys that are usually loud. We needed those guys to be loud and hear from them – especially myself. So I think that definitely played a big part,” King said.

The defensive difference between the first and second half was night and day.

Bazelak and the offense appeared rattled as the crowd forced penalties and timeouts. He threw consecutive interceptions to Tony Rojas and Wheatley. A field goal late in the fourth quarter was the only time Bowling Green scored in the second half.

“It gives us a reason to say you always got to start fast every game. You know, you can’t go out slow. Starting fast is a key part to every game,” Reed said.

If this had been against another opponent, Penn State may not have had enough time and opportunities to recover as well as it did. Instead, it got to learn how to be resilient and overcome adversity now instead of in a tough game at USC or against Ohio State, for instance.

“This was just a good sign for our defense, our offense, really just our team in general, special teams included. This is just a good sign of who we are as a team, like how we’re able to bounce back. You know, how do we respond to adversity?” J-Thomas said.

Penn State found a way to get it done, and that’s what matters. It may not have been the smooth sailing game most would have expected, but overcoming adversity can harden a team and make it battle-tested for the future.

“This was a challenge. It didn’t necessarily need to be, but I respect Bowling Green a lot. They’re a great team, and they came out swinging. So, I appreciated this moment just because it taught us how to come together and go harder than ever,” J-Thomas said.