Penn State Starter Has Perfect Response After Below-Average First Game

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It was a very impressive Week 1 for Penn State against Marshall. Taking care of business and shutting out a Marshall team that's above average is always a step in the right direction. 

However, as we dissect what Penn State did, it's only fair to point out some of the problems it had on both sides of the football. 

Defensively speaking, I was very impressed with what the Nittany Lions did, and putting up a shutout only confirmed that. 

Head coach Matt Campbell is going to be a defensive-minded type of guy, and with Penn State historically being one of the better defensive teams in the country year in and year out, he fits that mold perfectly. 

Penn State has done a lot of things well over the past few decades, but running the football at a high level is nearly constant. There's a reason why Penn State is typically one of the better running teams in college football, and that can't change. In the Big Ten, Penn State needs to run the football at a high level to be the team it aspires to be.

Regarding how Penn State looked on the run side of things in its first game against Marshall, I don't think it's unfair to say it was very disappointing. If the Nittany Lions want to win games at a high level in the Big Ten, there's no debate that they need to run the football at a much higher clip. 

That's something that players and coaches have spoken about, including running back Carson Hansen, who understands that how he looked the other day was inexcusable.

“I think we had a lot more,” Hansen told reporters Wednesday in the Lasch Building, per StateCollege.com. “I think we got to refine our little details. We got to find those little things that are gonna make this offense explode, and that’s exciting because we have the potential to do that, and I’m excited for this next Saturday.”

“As a running back, you want as much as you can, because you’re a competitive guy, and whatever they bring at you, you gotta be prepared for it, and that’s the mindset going into it,” Hansen said. “If they pack the box, that is what it is, and we got to go run through it. If not, we’ll throw it over top, and you know we’ll get it done that way.”

I'm glad that Hansen isn't trying to beat around the bush here and say that Penn State did what it had to do on that end of things. 

Instead of coming out and making excuses about how poor it looked, Hansen knows that for Penn State to do what's needed, it has to improve in that area. I expect that to be the case pretty soon, as there's just far too much talent on that front for it to continue.

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