Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from Homecoming blowout of Purdue

3. Special teams were a weakness for Penn State

Penn State looked like a well-oiled machine for much of the first half, forcing six Purdue punts. But twice the Nittany Lions flubbed those punts, limiting their ability to flip the field on special teams. If there was one Achilles heel that could have potentially doomed the home side on Saturday afternoon, it was a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot when things were going in their favor.

The first mistake came when KJ Hamler tried to field a line-drive punt from Zac Collins on the fly. Instead of bringing the ball in and running upfield with momentum, Hamler let the pigskin bounce off his chest. That time he was lucky to fall on the football, and the Nittany Lions went on to score on the ensuing drive.

Penn State wasn’t so fortunate on their second mistake. As Hamler tried to waive off his teammates from a short punt, lead blocker Jonathan Sutherland was unable to get out of the way of the ball. The punt ricocheted off Sunderland’s knee, caroming out into open field. Purdue and Penn State both flocked to the ball and piled up in a scrum, and the Boilermakers were able to recover and mitigate the damage from the first half.

While special teams ultimately didn’t doom the Nittany Lions in Week 6, they need to be more careful when fielding the ball lest it cost them against upcoming opponents that will be far better suited to capitalize on such mistakes.