Penn State vs. Bowling Green: Final thoughts and analysis of the Nittany Lions’ home opener
Penn State will host its home opener Saturday afternoon when it takes on Bowling Green. The Nittany Lions will take on the Falcons in Beaver Stadium in Week 2 of the college football season. Here are some final thoughts and predictions ahead of the Nittany Lions’ matchup with BGSU. WIDE RECEIVERS SHOULD GET OPPORTUNITIES Penn State quarterback Drew Allar only targeted two wide receivers in Saturday’s win over West Virginia, but that number should tick up quite a bit against Bowling Green. The Nittany Lions will have more reason to rotate in receivers in a game they can reasonably expect to win by a significant margin, but even if that weren’t the case, they should be able to increase the number of wideouts who get involved in the passing game. Tre Wallace and Omari Evans were the only two targeted against the Mountaineers, but Liam Clifford and Julian Fleming also saw a significant number of snaps at the position and should be more involved this weekend. Not to mention, Anthony Ivey and Tyler Johnson — who each played fewer than 10 offensive snaps against WVU — should also get extra time.
Add all of that, and the potential return of Kaden Saunders to the offense after dealing with an injury, and it should create more distribution in the passing game. That’s going to be especially important over the next month of home games as the Nittany Lions try to determine how many of their receivers they can trot out against the likes of USC and Ohio State — when the offense will need multiple weapons on the outside to succeed. ROTATION ON OFFENSIVE LINE One of the surprises of the season opener was how little Nolan Rucci played at right tackle after he competed with Anthony Donkoh for the starting job during the preseason. Penn State head coach James Franklin previously said that both would get time on the field, but it was Donkoh who dominated snaps at the position for the Nittany Lions. That should change this weekend in a matchup with lower stakes. There will be more incentive to rotate in some of the offensive linemen against a team that will not be able to stay with Penn State in the trenches. That applies to Rucci, but also to interior offensive linemen like Cooper Cousins and JB Nelson — although Nelson can also play tackle. It could also mean reps for J’ven Williams, who can play guard or tackle and has a chance to be a strong part of the team’s offensive line in the future. It would not be a surprise to see all four of those players rotating in much more heavily than they did against West Virginia in order to see how they play with the usual group of starters.
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