Penn State Outlines Comeback Blueprint After Loss to Northwestern

Penn State Outlines Comeback Blueprint After Loss to Northwestern

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Penn State Outlines Comeback Blueprint After Loss to Northwestern
Penn State Nittany Lions offensive lineman Cooper Cousins takes the field at Beaver Stadium before the game against Marshall.
Penn State Nittany Lions offensive lineman Cooper Cousins takes the field at Beaver Stadium before the game against Marshall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Penn State offensive lineman Cooper Cousins was the last player out of the locker room for interviews after the Nittany Lions' 34-13 loss to Northwestern. After his teammates mostly looked back on the game, Cousins wanted only to look ahead.

"The biggest thing is, you can have a victim mentality or a victor mentality," Cousins said late Friday night at New Ryan Field. "So my biggest focus, not only for the team right now but even for myself, is to not have a victim mentality, because we've got a good opponent next week and we've got to get ready to go."

Cousins is familiar with stress, as the Nittany Lions are 0-2 in the Big Ten for the second consecutive year. But this time, they're turning toward a White Out game vs. USC while confronting multiple issues on offense and defense.

Northwestern became just the fifth team since 1947 to run for 400 yards against Penn State, moving to No. 4 on the all-time list with 413. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions rushed for just 48 yards against the Wildcats, raising further questions about their offense five weeks into the season.

Penn State coach Matt Campbell expressed frustration with the team's run game, tackling an lack of physicality against the Wildcats. He also didn't quite know what to say about those issues immediately following the loss.

"Those are all things that I wish I had the magic answer right now, to be quite honest with you," Campbell said. "Like I said, the reality of tonight is they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. And when you do that, it doesn't matter what league or what game it is, you really put yourself at a great advantage to dictate the pace of the game.

"They did it from the start of the game to the finish of the game. And again, we've got to find great answers to get it fixed, and it starts with the head football coach, and we'll work really hard to have better answers than what I'm giving you right now."

About 10 minutes later, Cousins sought to start finding those answers and drawing the blueprint for a comeback.

'I think we need to have conviction'

Several players said they didn't think practice was physical enough because of the short week, but Cousins wouldn't accept that.

"At this point, you can't even worry about the practice that we just had," he said. "You have to worry about the next practice that we have. So I think if you dwell on a week of practice, that's going to keep affecting your process and the team's process. I think we're practicing well, I think we're practicing great, and we have to focus on our next upcoming practice. That's all I got for that."

Cousins, Penn State's starting right guard, is part of a run game that hasn't been effective against Power 4 teams. Penn State ranks eighth in the Big Ten in rushing offense, averaging 156 yards per game.

But the team averages 83 .5 yards against conference opponents and 205 vs. non-conference teams. Without their 304-yard rushing performance against Marshall, the nation's 119th-ranked run defense, the Nittany Lions average 119.5 yards rushing.

"I think we need to have conviction," Cousins said of the run game. "I think we need to come off the ball with a nasty intent. I know that's the vision of what we have for ourselves, but we need to start putting that on tape. And teams need to see us having that conviction that I'm talking about.

"Teams need to see us and be worried about that conviction that they're seeing in our run game. Like I said, I believe in the offense and what [offensive coordinator Taylor] Mauser and [line coach Ryan] Clanton and Campbell have in store for us. And I'm just more motivated to go into this next week."

Campbell owned the loss, saying, "We lacked it in every way, shape and form tonight, and I put a lot on me." But Cousins shared responsibility.

"It's on everybody," he said. "He can say it's on himself, but being an offensive leader on this team, I put it on myself as well. Maybe I've got to get up even earlier. Maybe I've got to get more guys with me in the morning. Maybe we've got to come together as an offense on our own. Maybe we've got to start doing a little bit more."

Penn State returns home Saturday for the annual White Out game against USC, which fell one spot to No. 19 in the AP Top 25 after a 25-21 win over Washington. The Trojans (5-1) are visiting Penn State for the first time since 1994 and motivated to make a playoff run under Lincoln Riley.

But Cousins still likes where Penn State stands.

"I think we're in a good spot," he said. "I don't think it's anybody's fault. I think we have a great coaching staff. We have a great program that surrounds us, and I think we're ready to go. So I don't think it's really anybody's fault. I I don't think it's a leadership fault. I think we just have to come in this next week and focus on our process. We'll be fine."

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/pennstate as Penn State Outlines Comeback Blueprint After Loss to Northwestern.

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