Blue White Illustrated

ninth in the conference with an average of 215.1 passing yards per game. McSor- ley's completion rate had dipped to 54.3 percent, lowest among the league's top 10 passers. As a team, Penn State's 55.5 per- cent completion rate was the league's ninth-best. The receivers have come under heavy scrutiny due to those declines, as a series of dropped passes have played a role in the offense's dimin- ished productivity. Heading into the Rutgers game, Penn State had dropped 29 passes according to stats compiled by Pro Football Focus. That total included seven drops by Johnson, six by Brandon Polk and six by Thompkins. As a team, the Lions were averaging just under three drops per game, and some had been costly. At Indiana last month, Polk couldn't hold onto a pass in the end zone in the third quarter, and the Lions were forced to kick a field goal. As it turned out, those four points that Penn State missed out on would have come in handy as the team was trying to protect a five- point lead in the closing seconds. "We need more production," coach James Franklin said. "I think if you look at some of that, it's drops. But if you also look at our offense in the past, in terms of positions and the guys who are play- ing each position, who produces the most catches and the most yards in our offense, I think the Z is always a little bit behind those other positions. But yeah, you look [at the Indiana game] and at that position, we had one dropped ex- plosive play and we had one dropped touchdown. So I think it's a combination of all those factors." Offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne echoed that assessment earlier this year, explaining that the Nittany Lions prob- lems' were "not a personnel issue. It's just how people have chosen to defend us this year. We've had some games where we've put up quite a [few] points and numbers and things like that. And if they don't get their touches, I understand that's how people are going to see it." The Lions have had some bad luck, as injuries have affected the output of the passing game. Johnson, Penn State's second-leading receiver last year with 54 catches for 701 yards, suffered an in- jury at Indiana and didn't play in the second half of that game. He returned to action against Iowa but played only briefly before retreating to the sideline. The following week, he didn't make the trip to Michigan, nor did he play against Wisconsin on Nov. 10. In addition, McSorley suffered a knee injury at Iowa that forced him to wear a brace both in that game and the ones that followed against the Wolverines and Badgers. The Michigan game was his worst as a starter, as he completed only 5 of 13 passes for 83 yards. That was mostly due to the Wolverines' high-pressure de- fense – he was sacked four times – but also to McSorley's unease in the pocket. Even when he had time to throw, he was off-target. One big missed opportunity came late in the second quarter with Penn State trailing 14-0. Thompkins had broken free down the sideline for what would likely have been a touchdown. The Lions could have cut their deficit in half and taken a bit of momentum into the locker room. But McSorley overthrew the senior wideout, then took a sack on third down, and Penn State was forced to punt. After the game, Franklin said that Mc- Sorley's health contributed to the of- fense's ineffectiveness but was not the only factor or even the primary one. "Trace being 100 percent could have made a difference, no doubt about it," he said, "But I think it's got to start with giving Michigan credit." One of the few encouraging signs for Penn State coming out of that game was that its top three receivers were all freshmen. Tight end Pat Freiermuth caught three passes for 51 yards, further establishing himself as a worthy succes- sor to Mike Gesicki. Jahan Dotson caught two passes for 29 yards, includ- ing an impressive 19-yard toe-tapping catch on fourth-and-2 that kept Penn State's only scoring drive of the after- noon going. And K.J. Hamler had one catch for 20 yards in what was, by his standards, a quiet day. Dotson played in his fifth game of the HAMLER TIME Although only a freshman, Ham- ler has been PSU's lead- ing pass-catcher this year with 33 receptions for 552 yards through 10 games. Photo by Steve Manuel

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