Thrills-a-minute Penn State still looking for answers in all of those points

There are some teams you just can't help but like in spite of themselves.

We may be heading there with this group that plays loose and free and yet full of errors and misgivings. Only to somehow catch fire after the intermission and leave everyone in their exhaust.

These Nittany Lions are frustrating, particularly on defense, and beg the question of how good can they possibly be. Of course, we truly won't know until they account for themselves this coming Saturday against Ohio State.

And then two weeks later against Michigan State.

By then, we'll know a lot more.

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Because, for now, we're left shaking our heads at an offense that stumbles and trips over itself before coming together and laying 50-plus points on whoever.

You get the sense they haven't come close to playing their best yet. Especially when you judge their immense talent against the continued struggles with penalties (another touchdown called back ) and turnovers.

At least, these are the ending numbers that matter: nearly 600 yards of total offense with a stunning 387 coming on the ground. The Lions have achieved unheard of perfection, too, going 22-of-22 inside the red zone, settling for just one field goal.

Their offensive line has turned a corner. The top two receivers seemingly regrouped the past two weeks. And they own a tailback in Miles Sanders who looks to be every bit as productive as predecessor Saquon Barkley, just with differing details.

This growing operation — still without the services of Swiss army knife Tommy Stevens and hyped rookie receiver Justin Shorter — should be able to score and score often against Ohio State.

You can almost stomach eight more penalties for 72 yards when you can score in so many varied ways.

But stopping a high-echelon opponent? That's a dicey proposition that certainly will have to be answered, if the Lions truly aspire to qualifying for their first College Football Playoffs.

Whether this defense will hold up its end of the deal, that's an unknown and uneasy situation.

So far, no playmakers have come forward in the back seven, with the exception of senior cornerback Amani Oruwariye. Opponents can simply scheme against him.

That's why Penn State spent much of this past Friday night desperately trying to pull away from pesky Illinois.

The Illini are improving, for sure, but are still callow and are not yet built to overcome heavy doses of adversity. 

And Penn State still couldn't knock them out until the beginning of the final quarter.

The Lions are still a mismatched group at linebacker. They seem nearly faceless in the secondary, though they did receive a jolt of energy from kamikaze safety Jonathan Sutherland. The redshirt freshman got his longest action of the season at Illinois, and for good reason.

That concern is that, after four games, this defense hasn't shown the toughness to hammer a quality offense with either force or improved speed.

Rather, they have jabbed and stumbled, only to eventually adjust and stuff a weary opponent. The most intriguing part of next weekend will be to see if anyone on this side like a Shareef Miller or Kevin Givens or even reckless linebacker Cam Brown can turn that corner, bolstered by the electricity of the night.

That did happen two years ago. That titanic upset of Ohio State would have never materialized if not for inspired lockdowns provided by linebackers Jason Cabinda and Brandon Bell (both fresh off injury) and defensive ends Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan.

You could argue, that group, especially those ends, never played quite to that level again.

Who knows if this maddening Penn State defense has such a performance in them?

Because it probably won't matter how Trace McSorley and his buddies excel on this biggest stage. No one can't be expected to ring up 40-plus on the Buckeyes in order to win.

At some point, the defense will have to own the day to improve to 5-0. Which means they must deliver in ways they truly have not yet.

That's risky road to run.

They may have to force the issue on defense against the Buckeyes, signaling their elite speed into attack mode and hope they can force enough poor decisions.

And simply see where that takes them.

Otherwise, we'd have more definitive answers when it comes to shutting down an elite offense.

That may may feel disappointing or even a bit hopeless.

For comfort, remember that they've lost only three times since that sunny afternoon in Ann Arbor in 2016 — each coming down to the final moments. The wise thing would be to give James Franklin and his staff the benefit of the doubt yet again.

They've earned that trust. And you can't help but like them for their attitude and want to improve and adjust.

They've got one week to find the answers.

At least when it comes to the defense part of it.