Penn State looking for offensive improvement after loss to Wisconsin

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Win or lose, Taylor Mouser is tough on himself.

After Penn State blew a 17-0 lead in a 24-20 loss to Wisconsin last week, the Nittany Lions offensive coordinator had to take a longer-than-usual look in the mirror when he got home on Saturday night.

He took a few moments to play with his kids before the burden of the first loss of the Matt Campbell era settled on his shoulders.

“It’s certainly an emotional, gut-wrenching loss,” Mouser said Tuesday. “After you get done swearing at yourself in the mirror for a long time, and then I’ll watch 'Seinfeld' for three hours. Then I want to go in with a fresh mindset to watch the tape and not be emotionally biased to the game and the result of it.”

Penn State’s loss was a hard watch for the 35-year-old who also doubles as the tight ends coach.

Penn State (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) outgained Wisconsin 81-14 in the first quarter and had five first downs to one for Wisconsin.

However, the Nittany Lions managed just seven first downs the rest of the way and only one in the fourth quarter when they had multiple chances to finish off the Badgers.

What was particularly grating for Mouser were the multiple handoffs he called in third-and-long situations. Those short gains did little for Penn State after linebacker Tony Rojas snagged his sixth career interception with about eight minutes left.

Instead, Penn State’s offense punted on each of its next two possessions and allowed the Badgers to score twice in the final four minutes.

“As cowardly as it feels from my standpoint to do that, I’m telling you that is the case,” Mouser said. “I obviously want to throw it and get the first down and don’t love doing that, but for us, the defense had been playing so good up to that point, didn’t want to put them in a bad spot, have something bad happen, and didn’t have a ton of rhythm going in the pass game up to that point either.”

Quarterback Rocco Becht, who had been playing well before running into the Badgers, was just 12 for 29 for 114 yards and an interception.

Both Becht and Mouser shouldered some blame afterward, Becht for not making enough plays and Mouser for not dialing up enough that would get Becht going.

The Nittany Lions were without star receiver Koby Howard and weren’t able to get the ball to anyone else effectively on the outside. Chase Sowell was the only wideout Becht targeted. Meanwhile, Penn State’s talented tight end group had just four catches, all from Ben Brahmer with only one after the first quarter.

“There were moments Rocco played really good football, and Rocco would tell you there’s moments where, man, his consistency needed to be better in the football game as well,” Campbell said. “I think you look back on all those things, and again it’s like would've, could've, should've.”

Becht said he’s already moved on. Penn State usually doesn’t have padded practices on Sunday or Monday. Instead, Becht and a bunch of players got together at the team’s facility to make a pact.

“We all looked at each other and said we still have everything in front of us, we’re going to continue to go out there and grind.” Becht said. “We know that last Saturday wasn’t our best. That’s not us so I definitely expect a different team on Friday.”

Mouser knows what his quarterback and offense are capable of. He knows they have to improve as the Nittany Lions have a short turnaround before they have to travel to face Northwestern (2-1, 0-1), which lost 29-23 against No. 5 Indiana last week.

“He’s a 10,000-yard passer,” Mouser said. “I’ve been with him for three years. I know how good he is, so when it’s not working, I’m gonna always put it on myself because I know how talented he is and the way he prepares.”

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