This isn’t the way Penn State LB Dom DeLuca wanted his college career to end.
Last season, DeLuca was the hero of Penn State’s first College Football Playoff win, and many felt that this season would bring more Playoff wins, maybe even a national championship to Happy Valley.
Instead, Penn State is 3-5 and more than three weeks removed from coach James Franklin being fired.
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With their biggest preseason expectations unrealistic, Penn State still has to play four games, and DeLuca didn’t sugarcoat anything when talking with reporters Tuesday morning.
“It’s been a long couple weeks,” DeLuca said. “Nothing’s been really going our way. We haven’t been able to execute. (We need to) Get everyone’s morale up, get everyone’s spirits up. Come out Saturday, play hard, play fast and play physical.”
Something that can be looked at as either a silver lining or a cause of aggravation is the fact that Penn State could easily be 7-1 and in a much different spot.
Penn State’s first four losses to Oregon, UCLA, Northwestern and Iowa were all by one possession, and the latter two losses were each by one point.
“It’s coming down to a couple plays at the end of the day,” DeLuca said. “That’s what really hurts all of us, really. That’s what we have to fix. I mean, yeah, you don’t know what that play’s going to be and where that play’s going to be in the game, you just have to be able to make that play when it comes and being able to execute and do our jobs at a high level.”
This past Saturday’s loss at No. 1 Ohio State was the first game this season where there was nothing Penn State could have done.
Ohio State was just better, and the 38-14 final score reflected that.
But that doesn’t mean Penn State’s defensive performance doesn’t need fixing. Ohio State scored five touchdowns and only punted once, and if Penn State doesn’t improve quickly, this week’s opponent could do the same.
No. 2 Indiana leads the country in scoring average, putting up 46.4 points per game.
The good news is, DeLuca feels Penn State’s problems can be rectified.
“Of course,” DeLuca said. “I think we definitely could get that corrected. I mean, being able to watch film with the DBs and d-line and being able to make sure we’re on the same page and being able to communicate during the week and how we see things and how the d-line sees it and how the DBs see it. So then we all can communicate on how we can play it the best way on Saturday. That’s going back to Tuesday-Wednesday practice. We have to come out and play physical. Just seeing how we are comfortable with the playcalls and what the gameplan is, that’s going to make us play better Saturday.”
