The offense enters the spotlight once again for Penn State football as the Nittany Lions travel to take on the Maryland Terrapins in College Park on Saturday. Questions about the effectiveness of Drew Allar and the Penn State offense have only escalated after back-to-back disappointing showings. But evidently, there’s been no questioning of faith in the Penn State locker room. Ahead of a potentially sneaky road matchup this weekend, LB Curtis Jacobs said his side of the ball has complete confidence in the Nittany Lion offense.
Offensive woes take center stage ahead of Maryland
Penn State’s difficulties on the offensive side of the ball this season have been well-documented. The Nittany Lions possess a bottom-half passing offense nationally and rank 119th in explosive play rate. Running lanes have become narrow as opposing defenses force QB Drew Allar to win games.
And over the last two weeks, the results have been mixed. The offense looked like a shell of what it was expected to be at the start of the year during a 20-12 loss to Ohio State. While it bounced back some last week, the unit still struggled against a poor Indiana team. It was only by a 57-yard Allar pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith late against the Hoosiers that Penn State football prevailed.
Now the Nittany Lions hit the road for the fourth time, where they have struggled this season. The home-road splits have been particularly noticeable for Allar. The sophomore QB touts a 71% completion rate at home with 1,067 yards and a 14-1 touchdown to interception ratio. Away from Beaver Stadium, Allar is completing 48% of his passes for 588 yards and two touchdowns.
Curtis Jacobs says defense has “over the moon” confidence in Drew Allar, Penn State offense
While everyone else may be questioning the effectiveness of Mike Yurcich, Drew Allar, and the Penn State offense, these sentiments are evidently not shared in the Lasch Building.
When asked about the mindset after an Allar interception pinned the defense deep in Penn State territory late against Indiana, Curtis Jacobs said the Nittany Lion defenders never wavered. The Penn State defense held, forcing an Indiana field goal, which allowed Allar and the offense to reclaim the lead on the next drive.
“Our confidence is over the moon for everyone on that offense,” Jacobs said. “Obviously, that’s a situation [the interception] that’s going to happen. We practice sudden change every Friday. So, it’s just a mentality we have to have as a defense. The offense had our back all day on Saturday, and I felt like we showed up then to have their back.”
If there’s anything that can be said confidently, it’s that Penn State football will need both sides of the ball to get through this stretch run of the season. The Nittany Lions’ difficult three-game stretch starts Saturday afternoon against Maryland. The game will kick off at 3:30 on FOX.
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