The Elite, The Meh & The Ugly – Penn State

A tough loss to stomach on Senior Day

The Minnesota Golden Gophers’ (6-5) upset bid short-circuited in the second half of a 26-25 loss to the No. 4-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (10-1) on Senior Day.

The Elite

The Gopher defense. Penn State was 1-for-11 on third down, and this was only the third time this season that the Nittany Lions had been held to 26 or fewer points in a game. Two turnovers by the Minnesota offense in their own territory put the defense in a difficult position and to their credit they were able to limit Penn State to field goals on both drives. They struggled to cover All-American tight end Tyler Warren, but virtually every defense on the Nittany Lions’ schedule has struggled to cover him. The Gopher defense played well enough to put this team in a position to pull the upset.

The flea flicker pass to Jameson Geers. What a thing of beauty.

Daniel Jackson. The Gophers’ top receiver gave his all in his final home game at Minnesota, leading the team with six receptions for 90 yards. We’re going to miss him.

The Minnesota offensive line. After their worst performance of the season against Rutgers, the Minnesota Movers needed to bounce back, and I thought they did. It was especially impressive that they did so against one of the toughest defensive fronts in the country. They were able to keep Max Brosmer clean for most of the game, only surrendering one sack. The offensive line also paved the way for Darius Taylor and Marcus Major to rack up 83 rushing yards in the first half. It was tough sledding in the second half as the Nittany Lions tightened up after halftime, but the Minnesota Movers held their own better than most people expected.

The blocked PAT. I will applaud any time a special teams unit decides to make a play. There was also the blocked punt by Derik LeCaptain that set up the Jameson Geers touchdown.

The seniors. They played their hearts out.

The Meh

The play-call on 2nd & Goal at the 8-yard line. On what would be their final offensive possession of the game, the Gophers had 1st & Goal from the 8-yard line. They lost a yard on a first down run and then had back-to-back incompletions, forcing them to settle for a field goal rather than a go-ahead touchdown. There has been considerable criticism of the second down play-call, which was a pass attempt to left tackle Aireontae Ersery on a trick play.

Asked about the play in his postgame press conference, head coach P.J. Fleck said he “loved the call” and would “call it all over again” based on the pre-snap look. If you watch the play below, you’ll see that Daniel Jackson is split out on the left side of the formation and motions right. It’s a misdirection play, as the pre-snap motion and the post-snap routes are all trying to drag the defense to the right in an attempt to clear a path to the end zone on the left side of the field. What Minnesota did not expect was for defensive end Abdul Carter (#11) to drop into coverage. Based on the down and distance and Penn State’s tendencies, the coaching staff anticipated that he would be rushing the quarterback. But Carter doesn’t, and Brosmer throws the ball away.

If Carter isn’t there, Aireontae Ersery might very well have rumbled into the end zone. But that’s not what happened and that’s the risk you run calling a trick play in that situation.

The Ugly

Turnovers. This was the difference in the game. In the second quarter, Brosmer threw his first interception since Sep. 28, and Penn State converted it into three points. Then on the first play of the fourth quarter, Brosmer fumbled the ball on an option play and the Nittany Lions recovered, which they once again converted into three points. In a game decided by one point, six points off turnovers will keep you up at night. The Gophers also did not force a turnover.

The fake punt. Trailing by one point with four minutes left in the game, the Minnesota defense forced a three-and-out, giving their offense an opportunity to drive down the field for a go-ahead score. Only their offense would never get that opportunity. Penn State called for a fake punt and picked up the first down on a 32-yard run. Head coach James Franklin explained after the game that the punt team had the green light to fake it if they got the right look from Minnesota. They got the look they wanted and executed the fake perfectly. That was the nail in the coffin.