Matt Campbell isn’t pretending there’s no issue.
Penn State has been flat, sloppy and at times downright bad after halftime in Big Ten play, and the pattern is impossible to ignore. The Nittany Lions have let second halves slip against Wisconsin, USC, Michigan and, most recently, Washington, where they were shut out after the break and still escaped with a win.
With Minnesota next on the schedule, the message inside the program is clear: the urgency has to show up earlier and last longer.
“I think we just need a better sense of urgency,” linebacker Cael Brezina said. “Especially in games that we’ve been up at halftime for whatever reason, there’s maybe a foot that comes off the gas a little bit.”
Brezina said the team is still trying to sort out exactly why the second-half drop-offs keep happening.
“We’ve got to learn from it and then figure out how to move forward,” he said. “Whether it’s people are tired or we’re not warming up the right way, we’re not doing the right stuff at halftime. So we’ve been kind of digging into that and just trying to figure out how we can come out hot the second half.”
Campbell didn’t soften the critique. He called it what he sees it as: a problem.
“It’s a real problem. I’ll be honest with you,” Campbell said.
“My concern is I think there’s times where it’s a mental maturity piece of it, that you’re up in some of those games, and like it’s a mental lapse. We’ve got to figure it out.
It starts with the head football coach making sure.”
The numbers back up the concern. Penn State has been outscored 84-40 in second halves of Big Ten games, and the Nittany Lions have managed a double-digit quarter just once after halftime in league play, in the 21-18 loss to Michigan.
Campbell said he’s done the math and believes the third quarter matters more than the fourth in close games.
He said 92 percent of one-score games are decided by the third quarter, and Penn State has not been good enough in that stretch.
There’s also been a field-position wrinkle in the mix: Penn State has received the opening kickoff of the second half against Washington and Northwestern in Big Ten play.
Still, Campbell said the responsibility falls on everyone in the building to fix it.
“Believe me, there is an elite sense of urgency from the head football coach, our staff, then, obviously, our players to understand it’s not okay,” Campbell said.
“It’s an area that we have to demand a pathway forward. Whether we’ve got to do a better job at halftime, whether we have to have better schematic plans coming out of the second half, or we have to do a better job mentally getting our guys ready to go play the second half.
Whatever those things are, I think it’s fair to shoot holes in all of it because it’s not getting done. We have to be better.”
In Other News...
Penn State Faces A Bigger Concern Than One Encouraging Injury Update
Penn State got a useful bit of news on the injury front this week when offensive lineman Malachi Goodman was upgraded to probable for Saturdays game against Minnesota at Beaver Stadium. In a season where availability has mattered as much as anything else, getting another body closer to full strength on the offensive line is the kind of update the Nittany Lions can use, especially with the conference schedule tightening and every snap carrying a little more weight.
Still, the larger concern is the overall shape of the availability report, which leaves wide receiver Koby Howard officially out and puts three defenders Jahmir Joseph, Jeremiah Cooper and Caleb Bacon in the questionable column. Five players are already ruled out, including Howard and four defensive players, so even with Goodman trending in the right direction, Penn State is still staring at a depth test on both sides of the ball heading into a game that could demand clean execution from the first series on. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Win Still Exposed A Problem Mike Rhoades Cant Ignore
Penn State left the Bryce Jordan Center with a 72-57 win over Mercyhurst and a 3-1 record, but the mood afterward was anything but celebratory. Mike Rhoades made it clear the Nittany Lions were not close to where they need to be, pointing to a lackluster performance that still left plenty of room for concern before Big Ten play begins.
Ivan Juri continued to be the bright spot, posting his fourth straight double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Even with that kind of production, Penn State could not fully separate itself from a Mercyhurst team led by Jake Lemelmans 20 points, a reminder that the early-season margin for error is already shrinking for Rhoades and his group. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Faces Another Nerve-Racking Test Under The Lights
Penn State heads into another primetime setting with a familiar kind of pressure attached, this time against Minnesota in Week 11. The matchup has the feel of a game that could hinge on execution more than flash, with the preview leaning heavily on defense, field position and whichever side can produce the most timely plays when the lights are brightest.
The predictions from the staff point to a tight, competitive night rather than a runaway, and the player-of-the-game picks reflect how much this one could come down to a single standout performance. For Penn State, the bigger question is whether the Nittany Lions can handle the nerves and turn a tense atmosphere into another controlled finish, or whether Minnesota can make it uncomfortable deep into the game. [Read more 🡒]