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force a single punt? Or was it the second, in which the Lions clamped down against both the run and the pass and held their surging Legends Division opponent scoreless? The team will start to get those answers next Saturday when Purdue visits Beaver Stadium, but in the immediate aftermath of the Lions' loss to the Gophers, concerns about the defense, perplexing though they may have been, were overshadowed by an even more pressing question: What's wrong with the offense? While the defense floundered for 30 minutes, the offense struggled badly for the full 60. The Nittany Lions completed only 14 passes for a season-low 163 yards and scored 10 points, the lowest point total in Bill O'Brien's two seasons. The blustery field conditions had a lot to do with those dreary numbers – Christian Hackenberg attempted only 10 passes in the first three quarters and 15 in the fourth with the wind at their backs – but so did Penn State's poor execution. There were dropped passes, missed opportunities and two unforced fumbles, the second of which – a botched snap on the Minnesota goal line with about seven minutes to play and the Gophers leading by 14 points – all but ended Penn State's chances. "I thought our defense came out and played well in the second half," O'Brien said. "They made some good adjustments at halftime and did a nice job. But offensively, we didn't pick up our end of the bargain in the second half. It's disappointing." O'Brien declined to make players available for interviews after the loss, which dropped Penn State's record to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten. There wasn't a whole lot to say about a game in which Minnesota converted 7 of 10 third down attempts and 12 of 18 passes in the first half en route to its fourth consecutive victory. "Give Minnesota credit. They deserve to be 8-2," O'Brien said. "It seemed like when we made a [defensive] call, they had the right call for it. And we didn't stop them on third down in the first half, but we did better in the second half, obviously. " n o V e m b e R SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 13:33 MINN Hawthorne,Chris 45-yard field goal 4 plays, 1 yards, TOP 1:22.......................................................................... 3-0 3:08 MINN Cobb, David 1-yard run (Hawthorne, Chris kick) 15 plays, 96 yards, TOP 8:10....................................................................10-0 1:02 PSU Zwinak, Zach 12-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:06......................................................................10-7 2ND 9:08 MINN Nelson, Philip 6-yard run (Hawthorne, Chris kick) 13 plays, 70 yards, TOP 6:54.....................................................................17-7 3:11 PSU Ficken, Sam 27-yard field goal 13 plays, 65 yards, TOP 5:57...................................................................17-10 0:17 MINN Williams, Maxx 24-yard pass from Nelson, Philip (Hawthorne,Chris kick) 11 plays, 74 yards, TOP 2:54...................................................................24-10 The game, Penn State's first against the Gophers since 2010, took place on one of those gloomy, blustery November days that foreshadow the brutal Upper Midwest winter to come. Temperatures were in the low 40s, but it felt a lot colder thanks to wind gusts that reached 31 miles per hour. Both quarterbacks were affected, and the numbers that Minnesota's Philip Nelson put up – 15 of 24 for 186 yards and a touchdown – where nearly identical to Hackenberg's. The rushing numbers were comparable, too. Penn State finished with 190 yards as a team, with Zach Zwinak accounting for 150. Minnesota finished with 195, including 139 by David Cobb. The difference? Minnesota scored 14 points in its two red zone opportunities, while Penn State scored 10 points in four opportunities. "We ran the ball, but we couldn't make any plays in the red area," O'Brien said. "That's what it came down to. We just didn't score any touchdowns. " The Gophers had trouble getting their highly regarded running attack going early in the game but still jumped out to a 10-0 lead. The first three points were courtesy of a Bill Belton fumble on the opening play of the game, which gave Minnesota possession at the Penn State 29-yard line. On their second drive, the Gophers used passes to convert two third-and-8 situations, as well as a 9 , 2 0 1 3 2 fourth-and-2, finishing the 96-yard march with a 1-yard touchdown run by Cobb. Penn State did exactly what the Golden Gophers were looking to do on its next possession, as Zwinak accounted for 61 yards on a 75-yard possession. He finished it with a 6-yard touchdown run. But the Gophers outscored Penn State 14-3 to end the half, and the last of those touchdowns – a 24-yard completion to a wide-open Maxx Williams with 17 seconds left – obliterated any momentum the Lions might have gained with a 27yard Sam Ficken field goal moments earlier. The Nittany Lions will return to Beaver Stadium for a two-game homestand that begins against Purdue and ends with senior day against Nebraska. The game against the Boilermakers figures to give Penn State a chance to once again show its resiliency. After all, they are 0-5 in the Big Ten and 1-8 overall after a 38-14 loss to Iowa on Saturday. While the Nittany Lions are not in a position to take anything for granted, even a victory over the league's worst team, they have a history of battling back from hard times. Said O'Brien, "I feel like there's a lot of football left, and these kids will play hard. I don't ever doubt the effort that these kids play with. " b l u e w h i t e o n l i n e . c o m

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