STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — James Franklin knows his team is much better than how it played two weeks ago, and he’s sure that with this much time to ponder that too-close-for-comfort win, the No. 10 Nittany Lions will show it.
“We’re used to playing dominating football,” Franklin said. “Around here, we’ve been doing it for a long time. So I do think they have a chip on their shoulder and I’m expecting that to show up on Saturday.”
Penn State (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) will have an opponent ripe for domination.
Kent State limps into Beaver Stadium after a 71-0 loss to No. 6 Tennessee where the Golden Flashes (0-3, 0-0 MAC) gave up 37 points in the first quarter alone, surrendered 740 total yards of offense to the Vols and declined a running clock offered to ease their suffering in the second half.
The Nittany Lions fared better in their last outing, but were still nowhere near their standard. They needed a spotless second half to beat Bowling Green after the Falcons jumped on them early and led 24-20 at halftime.
Penn State players have spent the last two weeks waiting to redeem themselves with a more complete effort.
After going 2 for 9 on third down and committing seven penalties for 76 yards, the Nittany Lions want to play better third-down offense, cut back on fouls and tackle better than they did against the Falcons.
“It makes for a game that as a head coach you’re not proud to watch, and it also just makes it difficult to get into a rhythm,” Franklin said.
With a rising No. 24 Illinois visiting Beaver Stadium in a week, they know they’ll need to tighten up to compete for a conference championship.
“When you talk about the standard, we weren’t happy with the first half,” linebacker Tyler Elsdon said. “All the things in the first half were controllable things, communication issues, tackling issues, stuff that’s again controllable.”
Franklin announced after the team’s Wednesday practice that safety K.J. Winston is expected to miss multiple games with an unspecified injury.
With Winston unavailable, Penn State will rotate in a handful of young safeties, among them vaunted recruit Dejuan Lane.
While he’s played little defense thus far, Lane has been an eye-raiser on special teams. He’s flashed his speed on kick coverage and Franklin sees plenty of opportunity this week for him to get some reps with the first defense.
“That will be important, but we’re going to have to develop a few more guys,” Franklin said.
Penn State’s last three defensive coordinators have utilized a 4-2-5 look with three safeties where one usually plays as a hybrid box defender dubbed the “Lion.”
With Winston at safety, Jaylen Reed was coordinator Tom Allen’s preferred “Lion,” but Reed will likely resume traditional safety duties with Zakee Wheatley and Lane in reserve.
Cornerback Cam Miller, who’d played the “Lion” spot before, will likely take on more reps there.
Kent State could be without three of its top players on Saturday.
Safety Alex Branch has been playing with a nagging shoulder injury and could miss the game while top two running backs Ty Thomas and Curtis Douglas are both questionable with injuries suffered in Knoxville, according to coach Kenni Burns.
The Golden Flashes already lost their top running back, sophomore Gavin Garcia, to a season-ending knee injury in August and may have to bring a different position player into the running back rotation.
“With a team that’s got so much youth and not enough experienced depth behind it, it’s going to show when we have our starters go down,” Burns said.
Despite their struggles last week, the Golden Flashes somehow avoided critical turnovers, including two snaps that sailed over quarterback Devin Kargman’s head.
Burns attributed it to inexperience using a silent snap count, something that they’ll likely need to use again inside another loud, rowdy venue.
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