Penn State Football: Biggest disappointments from 2021 season

Penn State football finished a disappointing 7-6. Here are the three biggest disappointments from the 2021 season.

Penn State football was not supposed to be this mediocre. After a 5-0 start to the 2021 season, it appeared the program had turned a corner from their 4-5 record during the Covid shortened 2020 season.

In Iowa City in mid-October, things fell apart for the Nittany Lions. Quarterback Sean Clifford exited the game with an injury in the second quarter and Penn State limped to their first loss of the season. The next seven games would see the Lions only defeat Maryland and Rutgers.

One of the most frustrating aspects of Penn State’s season is they had leads in all six of their losses and failed to secure victories. They lost by a combined 16 points to Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State. Hands down the worst loss of the season was against Illinois, a 20-18 home defeat in nine overtimes where both teams were inept in trying to score two-point conversions in the extra frames.

The season held such promise early on with a road defeat of Wisconsin and a home win over Auburn in front of a raucous White Out crowd. But Penn State fizzled on the back end of the season.

The Nittany Lions have plenty of soul searching ahead this offseason to figure out how to right the wrongs and get back to winning football. In the meantime, let’s look back at the three biggest disappointments of this past season.