Blue White Illustrated

NATE  BAU ER | n baueR@bluewhiteonline.com PSU looks for answers, but is time running low? M INNEAPOLIS – Lost in the maze of nondescript beige tunnels of TCF Bank Stadium, just an hour after Minnesota's 24-10 win against Penn State on Saturday afternoon, a Golden Gopher staffer hauled an oversized wooden trophy into a back room with little fanfare. The Governor's Victory Bell, awarded to the winner of each Minnesota-Penn State matchup, this time belonged to an 8-2 Gophers' team trending in opposite directions with the hapless Nittany Lions' team it defeated. Saddled by NCAA sanctions, injuries, and, maybe most important, a true identity crisis this season, the Bill O'Brien-led Nittany Lions have gradually transformed into a team without answers. "I think our guys played with great effort. I don't have any problem with the way they played," O'Brien said afterward, attempting his best impression at patience with the media contingent on hand. "In the locker room right now, I told them number one, we're going to coach them better. I said we're going to make sure that we put you guys in better positions to make plays. I said number two, we're going to make sure that we do everything we can as a coaching staff to help these seniors go out as winners, because this senior class means a lot to me." Choosing to leave his third point undisclosed, O'Brien left enough hints to produce a well-informed guess at what else he might have said to his 5-4 team. Plainly, with just three games remaining on a back-and-forth season highlighted by an unforgettable win against a Top 20 opponent, but marred by a series of atypical losses in conference play, time is running out on a group without a defining personality. As O'Brien made clear before the season, the 2013 iteration of the Nittany Lions was always going to be different from that of 2012. Yet, following an awe-inspiring year n o V e m b e R filled by the emotional ebbs and flows that come with unprecedented, life-altering circumstances, this Penn State team is lacking more than just the power of the playmakers that helped spur its successes. Granted, the losses of the quarterback, offensive linemen, defensive tackle and linebackers that have found homes in the National Football League all hurt considerably, but in games like Saturday's, Penn State's selfinflicted wounds appeared to be as much to blame as any of the team's readily acknowledged personnel deficiencies. From the opening-play fumble of running back Bill Belton, a series of dropped passes and mistimed throws, to Christian Hackenberg's late-game mishap, the Nittany Lions' offense had every opportunity to produce points against a Minnesota rushing defense even more consistently porous than Penn State's own. Defensively, mustering a stop or two on any of the Gophers' nine combined first-half third and fourth-down conversions, tamping down a pair of the Gophers' backbreaking long runs out of their own end zone, or causing more than one sack all could have helped reshape the game's outcome. Instead, a combination of unforced errors and an inability to produce in the clutch – on both sides of the ball – proved to be insurmountable in this game and, potentially, this season. For a program already suffering from a closing gap for margin of error, the end result is beyond disappointing and frustrating for a staff that continues to search for the leadership and chutzpah that remains absent this season. Said O'Brien, "I just feel like there's a lot of football left. These kids will play hard. I don't ever doubt the effort that these kids will play with. " With just three games remaining, the opportunities for Penn State's players to fulfill their own potential are growing slim. 9 , 2 0 1 3 6 GAME GRADES QUARTERBACKS Christian Hackenberg's fourth-quarter fumble on the goal line was the capper to a tough afternoon, all the way around. The windy conditions didn't help. GRADE D RUNNING BACKS Bill Belton's unforced fum- ble on the very first play put Penn State in a 3-0 hole, but Zach Zwinak came through with 150 yards. GRADE B RECEIVERS This was Allen Robinson's least productive game of the season (seven catches, 63 yards), and Brandon Felder had some costly drops. GRADE DOFFENSIVE LINE The Lions needed their line to open some holes, given the windy field conditions and the importance of playing ball-control football. It delivered. GRADE B DEFENSIVE LINE The Lions gave up 195 rush- ing yards to a team that went into the game averaging 221.1. You can live with GRADE B that. LINEBACKERS A unit that can scarcely afford any injuries suffered another when Mike Hull had his knee bent sideways in a first-quarter pileup. He returned to the game, but theLions' defensive woes continued throughout the first half. GRADE CDEFENSIVE BACKS Penn State did a nice job of putting the Gophers in third-and-long situations, and a terrible job of closing the deal. The defense tightened up after the break, but by then it was too late. GRADE DSPECIAL TEAMS This game was a punting tour de force, as both teams frequently seemed to be starting inside their own 5yard line. Also, Alex Butterworth had a clutch save on a high snap on a field goal attempt late in the second quarter. GRADE B COACHES PSU played what Bill O'Brien called "uncomplimentary" football, failing to capitalize on Minnesota's mistakes while making some very costly mistakes of their own. He took the blame, as he always does after a loss, but it's ultimately up to the players to exeGRADE Ccute the game plan. CROWD The cold, blustery weather and 11 a.m. kickoff combined to create a lackluster atmosphere. GRADE C b l u e w h i t e o n l i n e . c o m

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