Having received a dose of humble pie, here’s how Penn State plans to ‘get back to work’

If Manny Diaz’s defense is a raging flame, having helped Penn State blaze an undefeated five-win trail entering the bye week, last Saturday must’ve felt like a blue-and-maize-colored extinguishment.

“It was embarrassing,” defensive tackle PJ Mustipher said after the road loss to Michigan. He added later, “We’ve got to get back to work. It’s time to look at ourselves in the mirror individually. All the other outside noise, we aren’t too worried about that. We’ve got a job to do next week.”

The defense has been Penn State’s calling card this season and a primary reason for the team’s climb into the Associated Press top 10.

A loss to Michigan, now ranked No. 4, wasn’t a complete shock. The Nittany Lions have only one road win ever in matchups featuring two top-10 teams and are 0-10 vs. top-10 opponents since 2016.

That Penn State (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) suffered its first loss this season in such disheartening fashion, 41-17, was a more telling barometer as it slid to No. 16 in the latest AP poll.

“The encouraging thing through the first five games, all the guys have shown that they can do it,” Diaz, the Nittany Lions’ first-year defensive coordinator, said last Thursday. “I think with all of them, the real key is can you do it down after down? Can you do it every game? When you play a team like Michigan, they’re going to ask you that question.”

To look solely at Penn State’s first top-10 test, that question was answered.

» READ MORE: The wrong kind of statement game for Penn State

The Wolverines lacerated the defense for 418 rushing yards. That’s the third-highest total by a Penn State opponent in program history. All four touchdowns came on the ground — two of which were 60-plus-yard runs courtesy of Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards.

Penn State’s previous five opponents — two Big Ten foes, an SEC team, and two more nonconference matchups — rushed for a combined 398 yards.

“An A-gap left open can be a problem,” Diaz said. “Doesn’t matter whether you’re playing Michigan, Central Michigan, Northern Michigan, Lake Michigan — it’s all an open A gap. Defense is all about making yourself hard to move the ball against. Better teams just punish your mistakes.”

Penn State’s bright spot defensively was an ability to stymie Michigan’s red zone offense in the first half, holding the Wolverines to field goals on three trips to the 11-, 6- and 5-yard lines. A second-quarter tip drill pick-six from linebacker Curtis Jacobs was a positive as well.

“When they start to get movement at the line of scrimmage and they get downhill like that, it definitely wears on you,” Jacobs said. “But I would never say I felt tired.”

Added safety Ji’Ayir Brown: “It happened already. It’s in the past. There’s nothing nobody in this world can do to change that.”

Saturday’s loss shouldn’t qualify as a complete write-off of Diaz’s defense. There’s still an abundance of talent on Penn State’s roster capable of making plays.

Cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr. and Kalen King are still among the top 10 in pass breakups in college football with 10 and nine, respectively. As a team, Penn State has amassed 13 takeaways, good for 13th in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Freshman linebacker Abdul Carter and defensive end Chop Robinson have added prominent depth as new additions to the front seven.

Michigan was more of a pump-the-brakes statement game.

Brown said postgame he has a plan to ensure that Penn State’s first loss doesn’t snowball through the rest of its schedule, starting with the “White Out” game against Minnesota on Saturday at home and then a home game vs. No. 2 Ohio State on Oct. 29.

How Penn State responds should shed light on whether the Nittany Lions’ season snowballs again or reignites their early season flame.

“I was part of the team when it [snowballed] last year,” said Brown, who had a game-high nine tackles. “I want to just try to get the guys to forget about it as soon as possible and come out and still be the same team that we were before this game.”