It’s been a tale of two games for Penn State football’s defense. One really good, the other really bad. 

The Nittany Lions made defeating West Virginia look easy in week one despite being on the road in a hostile environment and the general first-game jitters that come with a new season. But one would’ve thought it was the team’s first game a week later in Happy Valley based alone on the final score and defensive performance. 

Although Penn State defeated Bowling Green 34-27, significant defensive struggles in the first half nearly resulted in a loss. Now that James Franklin has had time to analyze film from the game, he said he has a grasp on what went wrong. 

“After tackling really well in week one, I didn’t think we tackled as well in week two. I think that was pretty obvious. And then on top of that, we just made some mistakes, made some things more difficult than they needed to be, especially early in the game,” Franklin said. “You look at our first half statistics compared to our second half statistics, it wasn’t even close. But I think the biggest thing that it really came down to was tackling.”

Penn State allowed 286 total yards in the first half, but only 89 in the second. That included six in the third quarter, during which the Nittany Lions have only allowed 14 points in the last calendar year. 

Additionally, sacks have also been an issue so far this season. The Nittany Lions have had just two sacks all season, and both were against the Mountaineers. Adisa Isaac led the team with 7.5 sacks last season, while Johnny Dixon and Abdul Carter were second with 4.5. With two of those three players now in the NFL, their production has proven elusive to replace. 

“We’ve been more disruptive in the past,” Franklin said. “But just like I thought after watching that tape, their whole game plan was not to allow us to get sacks. It was quick game. It was run game. It was move the pocket. They weren’t holding on to the ball. In a lot of ways, that’s going to factor in a great deal with your production.” 

Bowling Green quarterback Connor Bazelak had no issues stunning the defense with explosive plays early in the game. His first pass was a 30-yard dot to tight end Noah Fannin Jr., who was celebrating in the end zone five plays later after catching a touchdown pass. 

When Bazelak wasn’t throwing, Jaison Patterson and Jamal Johnson were running rampant in the first half. The combination of Bazelak’s ability to quickly make plays and frequently handing the ball off simply made getting sacks impossible to come by. 

“If you play well in the first half, and the score gets out of wack, then they (Bowling Green) have to break their game plan and how they want to play, and then that’s usually when the sacks come,” Franklin said.

Penn State is now in the first of two bye weeks, with the second sandwiched between an October 12 matchup at USC and an October 26 contest at Wisconsin. As unexpected as it may be, now couldn’t be a better time to correct mistakes and errors before Big Ten play begins. 

Next week’s game against Kent State will be the last time for second- and third-string players to get significant reps barring injuries before Big Ten play begins. While that’s always important, this bye week and the ensuing game suddenly have more implications because of the near-disaster against Bowling Green. Fix the defensive issues now, where there’s still a margin for error, or else it may be too late.

“The bye week came at a really good time to spend some time working through some of these things, get some things cleaned up,” Franklin said. “It’s going to be a really important week for our staff. It’s going to be a really important week for the players, and then to go into the next week, with a lot of these things cleaned up.”