Cornerback Cam Miller (5) figures to take more snaps in Penn State’s hybrid ‘Lion’ position following a long-term injury to safety Kevin Winston (2) that is forcing a shuffle in the back seven.
Barry Reeger | AP file photo
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Penn State coach James Franklin and his staff are tasked with keeping players locked in for a game against a seven-touchdown underdog.
Barry Reeger | AP file photo
Penn State had two full weeks to stew over a close escape against Bowling Green.
Another MAC opponent comes to Beaver Stadium on Saturday. And it could get ugly.
It is entirely possible that Kent State will end up as the worst FBS team in the nation at the end of the season. The Golden Flashes are 0-3, having been outscored 149-41. That includes a loss in the one contest they were sure to be favored in, a home game against FCS St. Francis (Pa.).
Playing last week in one of the only venues in the country as big as Beaver Stadium, Kent State trailed Tennessee 65-0 at halftime. The Volunteers offered to play with a running clock or reduced quarters after the break.
The Flashes declined.
“That is not who we are as a team or a culture,” Kent State coach Kenni Burns told reporters in Knoxville. “I talked to the captains about it and they said absolutely not.”
Final score: 71-0. Total yards: Tennessee 740, Kent State 112.
“Uphill climb” doesn’t begin to describe the job for Burns, now in his second year as coach.
The program had actually managed to escape the MAC basement under his predecessor, Sean Lewis, who lost 63-10 to the Nittany Lions in 2018, his first year in charge.
A year later, Lewis led the Flashes to their first bowl win in history. In 2021, they won the MAC East title.
But he left to work as Deion Sanders’ offensive coordinator at Colorado in 2023 before landing another head job at San Diego State.
In Burns’ two seasons at the helm, Kent State is 1-14 — going 0-13 against FBS teams and 1-1 against the FCS, beating Central Connecticut a year ago.
All of this is to say that if the Lions have any struggles this week, something is seriously wrong in the Lions’ quest for a playoff bid.
It’s up to the coaches to not allow any complacency to set in — as it might have early in the Bowling Green game.
“Obviously they’ve had some challenges early in this year, but we’ve seen some good things on tape that we need to be prepared for and we need to be ready for,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “… They have our attention. There’s no doubt about it.”
THREE AND OUT
Back to work
It’s easy enough to say the right things for the players and coaches. But human nature can make it tough to take an opponent seriously coming off of a 71-point loss.
Penn State’s own struggles against the Falcons came the same day as Notre Dame, then ranked No. 5 in the country, lost at home to another MAC program in Northern Illinois.
While Franklin and his staff like to point out these pitfalls to keep players engaged, it comes down to consistency during the week.
“The challenge is ultimately about us and our focus on Penn State and us getting better and developing and playing up to our standard week in and week out,” Franklin said. “Which is easier said than done.
“We see it every Saturday. That’s why I always say winning is hard. There’s a lot of teams across the country that are sad Saturday night, and you want to do everything you possibly can to make sure you’re not one of them. It doesn’t always come from an opponent that the fans and the media and the locker room think it’s going to come from.
“So having a mature football team and approaching it that way on a consistent basis is hard to do.”
Safety shuffle
The Lions’s defense suffered a major blow with the loss of safety Kevin Winston Jr., who is out “long-term” with an undisclosed injury, Franklin announced on Wednesday.
This week’s game will be the first step in building a plan for a defense that will miss Winston’s athleticism and versatility. If the Lions can build a big lead as expected, it would provide valuable opportunities to try different players and different combinations.
Jaylen Reed and Zakee Wheatley are the entrenched starters with Reed in line to move back to Winston’s spot after mainly playing the hybrid “Lion” position for the first five quarters of the season. Winston checked out early against Bowling Green, forcing defensive coordinator Tom Allen to change some things on the fly.
That likely contributed to some of Penn State’s woes on defense vs. the Falcons before being able to settle things down after halftime.
One player who is going to see his reps increase is true freshman Dejuan Lane, who made a quick impression despite only being on campus for a few months.
“Dejuan Lane is the next guy that we’ve been trying to get reps for,” Franklin said. “Obviously when you’re talking about Jay Reed and Zakee, those two guys played a ton of football for us and will need to continue. Dejuan is another guy that we’ve been trying to get more reps and more experience. That will be important, but we’re going to have to develop a few more guys.
“… So Dejuan is going to be really important this week and obviously moving forward as well. He’s a guy that we’ve been trying to get more involved. We had planned on playing him more last week. Didn’t play out that way, but he’s probably the guy that I would say our focus is on the most right now.”
High praise indeed
On the other side of the ball, another true freshman who could see a bigger workload this week is offensive lineman Cooper Cousins.
Cousins has worked at guard and center in practices since enrolling over the winter. At 6-foot-6, 316 pounds, the Erie native already looks the part physically, and coaches have been happy with the mental side of things as well.
The last offensive lineman to carve out a role so quickly for the Lions was former Lake-Lehman star and current Buffalo Bills starter Connor McGovern.
McGovern became a starter as a true freshman after a few games in 2016, a time when Penn State had major depth issues while dealing with scholarship sanctions.
The Lions are hoping not to require Cousins to start so soon in his college career, but there’s a belief that he could do it if needed.
Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein called Cousins a “relentless” player who loves the game.
Trautwein won national titles while manning the trenches with Florida, where he played with twin brothers Maurkice and Mike Pouncey, a pair of first-round draft picks who became multi-time Pro Bowlers.
“He moves well — he’s a mauler,” Trautwein said of Cousins. “And whenever I kind of look at him sometimes, I think about the Pounceys. And they were great teammates and great guys. So being able to have two guys that I played with, went first round and play a long time in the NFL and comparing him to them, that’s what kind of player I think Coop is.”