UMass faces a tough test at No. 6 Penn State

The UMass Minutemen can no longer ignore the elephant on the schedule.

After falling short in three consecutive home games, UMass (1-6) hits the road to engage the most daunting opponent it will have faced since moving up to FBS in 2012.

The Minutemen will reach the two-thirds point on the season when they travel to University Park, Pa., to confront the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions (5-0, 3-0) at historic Beaver Stadium, capacity 106,572. Penn State was unranked when it beat UMass 48-8 on Sept., 20, 2014.

UMass is coming off an 41-24 home loss to Toledo at McGuirk Stadium while Penn State easily dispatched Northwestern 41-13 at Ryan Field. The UMass game will be the Lions’ tuneup for their Big 10 showdown at No. 3 Ohio State on Oct. 21.

UMass played in a big house in its 59-14 loss at Auburn on Sept. 2. But hard experience has taught UMass coach Don Brown that Happy Valley is the loudest and most vitriolic venue in the Northeast. Brown visited Beaver Stadium a few times when he was Jim Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator at Michigan.

“The place is going to be packed, there is going to be over 100,000 people there,” said Brown. “You’ve got to be a big boy and put your big boy pants on and go to work.

“It is really simple. You focus your attention at the task at hand. Stay in the fight for 60 minutes and that kind of the deal. That is the approach you’ve to take. It is not rocket science.”

What is not simple is designing a game plane that can counter the Nittany Lions’ methodically balanced offense and shutdown defense. Penn State has averaged 40.60 points per game with 203 first downs and has given up 9.60 points per game and saw the chains moved against its defense 48 times, less than 10 per contest.

The Lions have rushed for 1,205 yards and allowed 542, more than double what the defense has given up. Penn State has thrown for 1,178 yards and given up 698.

“They are 50-50 in the run pass ratio so you are going to have to have balance,” said Brown. “Obviously, you have to do a great job in the run game on the early downs and on third down. You better be ready to handle it because they throw it around pretty good.”

The Lions’ defensive front seven has recorded 20 sacks while the offensive line has allowed three. Quarterback Drew Allar has completed 102 of 168 passes (64.56 percent) for 1,092 yards with nine touchdowns and zero interceptions.

“The thing I like about their quarterback is that he does a very good job of just dumping the ball down and getting it out of his hand,” said Brown. “He gives the receivers a chance to make first downs and that is kind of a big one.”

UMass showed a workable balance on offense against Toledo. Tailback Kay’Ron Adams rushed for 157 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown. Quarterback Taison Phommachanh completed 20-of-30 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.