STATE COLLEGE
This is still Penn State.
No NCAA sanctions are going to change that. The Nittany Lions proved that last season.
Know what they're proving this season? That a true freshman quarterback who has a bazooka for a right arm, the poise of a fifth-year senior and a future that is better than maybe any player who has ever played his position in this program can't change that fact.
And no, neither can an offensive wizard of a head coach who has turned a Penn State offense not yet organized enough to put a full game together into one that can still rack up the points.
See, everyone is going to talk about quarterback Christian Hackenberg's record-setting 311-yard performance after Penn State drubbed Eastern Michigan 45-7 on a picturesque Saturday at Beaver Stadium. They may even point out the fact both Bill Belton and Akeel Lynch ran for 108 yards, and that they combined for three touchdowns, and that neither is Zach Zwinak, who is Penn State's best running back. Certainly, they'll talk about Allen Robinson, dominant yet again, gaining 129 yards and helping to settle down a hyped-up Hackenberg early in the first quarter.
Inevitably, coach Bill O'Brien will get praised for just how much this offense has changed, for the better, in such a short amount of time.
But the story of this game - and the story of the season so far - has simply been the defense. It's good. Really good. And that maybe shouldn't be a surprise.
After all, this is still Penn State.
"They're playing very well right now," O'Brien said. "There are some veteran guys over there who have played a lot of football for us. Obviously, we're very pleased with our defense. They shut (Eastern Michigan) out. We gave up that touchdown on offense."
Indeed, that touchdown for the Eagles came on an 11-yard fumble return by linebacker Hunter Matt, who simply happened to be the closest guy to the pocket when the ball slipped out of Hackenberg's hand during his wind-up.
It was a huge play for the Eagles, sure. But even up 7-0, in a quiet Beaver Stadium, it was painfully obvious their scrappy, undaunted offense wasn't going to be able to break the Penn State defense.
DaQuan Jones was dominant up front again, and Deion Barnes and C.J. Olaniyan got better and better with their pass rush as the game went on.
Glenn Carson and Valley View grad Nyeem Wartman deftly led an linebacking corps that was without key contributors Mike Hull and Ben Kline. And the secondary was hardly challenged by Eastern Michigan's overmatched receivers.
"They're going to stop them," guard Eric Shrive said. "It's our job to get it in the end zone for them once we do."
Consider, now, the way things started for the offense, and the way they have been starting for the offense: How Hackenberg opened the game 1-for-5 and wasn't particularly close to a completion on any of his misses.
How the running game managed just seven yards in the first quarter.
How the offense has been so good once it finds itself, but how it never seems to find itself until halftime is within sight.
How lucky is Penn State that the defense has played the way it has?
"We need that solid defensive unit, because we do have that young quarterback out there," Jones said. "He has been doing a heck of a job. But as a defense, we have to be ready for anything - a sudden change of possession, turnovers, things like that."
Clearly, Hackenberg is better than your average true freshman quarterback.
But you're unrealistic if you think mistakes aren't going to come. He threw an interception Saturday that defensive back Mycal Swaim actually had an easy play to make. Add that to the fumble, and the two interceptions last week in the win over Syracuse, and it's fair to call him turnover-prone. A wonderful young prospect? Yes. Perhaps the best freshman quarterback in college football? You can make an argument. But certainly turnover-prone.
That's proven.
Smart money is that this will change as the weeks pass for Hackenberg. But right now, Penn State needs to hedge that bet.
The only way to do that is with a defense that has stifled two opponents this season. Against the Orange and Eagles, the Nittany Lions have allowed just 132 rushing yards on 72 carries. Neither team has passed for more than 190 yards against them, and only one of the three touchdowns opponents have scored against Penn State came without the help of a turnover.
"It's them playing complementary football with us. It's them getting stops, and giving us some more opportunities to make some plays," Robinson said. "We're fortunate they've kept opponents out of the end zone a lot and given us those opportunities to put points on the board. I really give props to our defense. We've put them in tough situations early in the season. But if (the opponent) gets the ball at our 20, I still have confidence in them they'll keep them out of the end zone."
It's early. That needs to be said. So far anyway, the defense has been stout enough to allow Hackenberg and the running game and the rest of Penn State's offense to settle in to its rhythm at its own pace.
Sometimes, it will take longer than others, and the team and the coaches and the fans might have to live with that for a while. But once they do, the defense is good enough to make sure they're not trying to slug their way back into a blowout.
That's the way a young offense develops.
That's the way a young team wins.
(Collins covers Penn State football for The Times-Tribune. Contact him at dcollins@timesshamrock.com and follow him on Twitter @psubst.)