Blue White Illustrated

N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 3 consistently this year," Franklin said. "So it's not a Saquon issue. It's a team issue, and we're going to work to get it cor- rected." • A week a?er being gouged by Ohio State, the Nittany Lions were lit up by Michigan State through the air. Lewerke completed 33 of 56 passes for 400 yards, with two touchdowns and one intercep- tion. Receiver Felton Davis III had a fan- tastic a?ernoon, catching 12 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown. Michigan State went into the matchup ranked 12th in the Big Ten in scoring of- fense at 23.8 points per game, but it was sixth in total offense at 393.6 yards per game, so its outburst didn't come out of nowhere. One of the reasons for the in- congruity of those statistics – lots of yards, not so many points – is that Michigan State had a Big Ten-worst 10 fumbles in its first eight games. Which brings us to… • … turnovers. Penn State's plus-14 turnover margin going into the game was easily the Big Ten's best, but it lost that battle on Saturday. The Lions threw three interceptions, while Michigan State threw only one. Neither team had a fum- ble. LOOKING AHEAD A?er back-to-back road losses, the Nittany Lions will no doubt relish their return home next Saturday. They've gone 12-0 at Beaver Stadium and 5-4 on the road over the past two seasons, so for this team, there truly is no place like home. It may also help to play an opponent that they've defeated with regularity over the years. Penn State holds a 25-2 lead in its all-time series against Rutgers, and the Scarlet Knights will come into this one as decided underdogs. They were last in the Big Ten in total offense (288.0 yards per game) and 12th in total defense (395.0) heading into their game against Maryland, so while Penn State can't afford to take anything for granted at this point, this is an opportunity to get back on track. Of course, even if they're able to do that, it's too late to salvage their champi- onship hopes. Some might say the Lions should refocus on attainable goals, like a high-profile bowl invitation, but Franklin doesn't see that as being a pro- ductive approach. To the Nittany Lions' fourth-year coach, the focus should be entirely on the immediate future. "I would describe us as a young pro- gram, and we haven't been a part these conversations for a long time and we haven't handled that well," he said. "That's on me and that won't happen again because the formula that I know works we're getting back to it and we're not talking about anything else. Goal setting – I don't believe in it. We're not goal setting. We're focusing on the task at hand, and getting better today and waking up in the morning and doing a back handspring out of bed and attack- ing the day and at the end of the day going to sleep and doing it again the next day. Put a bunch of game days like that [together] and the results will take care of themselves."

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