Penn State is coming off its biggest win in years, upending then No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday.

We caught up with BlueWhiteIllustrated.com's Nate Bauer to get his insights on the Lions (5-2).

GoldandBlack.com: Was the victory against Ohio State the defining victory of the James Franklin Era?

Bauer: "Yeah, I would say so. I try to keep perspective in this team, this program, but in the past five years, everything has kind of been, at last in terms of the perspective of everyone else, it's been about this extremes, these wild extremes, with how far the program has fallen, and then on the reverse side Saturday night it became, 'Well, look at how far they've come? Now, they have beaten Ohio State, so now they have arrived.'

"I think a little bit of that is premature. All credit goes to them, though, because they played a good game and they capitalized, essentially, on moments when they needed to make plays. That was the key, that they made big plays when they needed to. If you look at how the game was played, Ohio State had it in hand for the majority of the game, but it just so happened that Penn State very clearly won the fourth quarter and that was enough to win in that case."

GoldandBlack.com: Is Penn St. on letdown alert at all against a re-energized Purdue team?

Bauer: "No, I wouldn’t say that. I would say that they had, to be honest, their defining moment a few weeks ago when they beat Minnesota in overtime. That was a game they very much looked like they were going to lose, but were able to pull it out in the end, and ever since then, they have had a change in spirit. I hate to try and put my finger on the pulse of the team, because it kind of sounds goofy, but they do seem to have the 'buy-in factor' now. The letdown was on the other end of the spectrum when they lost at Pitt, and then got crushed two weeks later at Michigan. That was when the team, the program, was on that alert, that they could lose that Minnesota game, maybe they lose to Maryland, and now all the sudden you're 2-4. That would have been the danger zone, but instead they win those two games, go 4-2 and then they beat Ohio State, it's kind of a wild swing to what the expectations were this year."

GoldandBlack.com: Have the Nittany Lions done it the old-fashioned way with running the ball and playing good defense?

Bauer: "To be honest with you, no. The exact opposite of that. To be fair, James Franklin has been pretty honest about what they needed to do, which is to create chunk plays on offense. It's been almost entirely explosive plays. Here's a stat for you that kind of blew my mind: They finished the game against Ohio State with with 275 total yards, maybe, and they had 287 total yards on 13 explosive plays. For the other 45 plays, they lost yards. It was Saturday night against Ohio State.

"Against Maryland, the same held true. If they don’t make the big catch and the big run, then the offense wasn’t really doing much, because otherwise, defenses can really key in on stopping (Saquon) Barkley. It makes a ton of sense. If you sell out to stop the run, what's that mean? It means you have press coverage on the outside, man-to-man, make Trace McSorely throw the ball, make the pass. And you play the odds vs. those receivers. The receivers are good, but it's kind of been 50/50 this year and you saw that in the loss at Pitts and the loss at Michigan. It so happens that the games they win, the games that are tight, it's been the explosive plays."

GoldandBlack.com: How do you describe McSorely?

Bauer: "How do I describe McSorely? It's tough. I think he's smart and he's a winner. I think sometimes people can get obsessed with the measurables like height and arm strength, and all that stuff, I think it is important to note that he doesn’t have those things. He is not your prototypical quarterback, but his teammates are confident in him and he just finds a way to get things done.

"... That’s the way it happened last Saturday. He only went 8-23, but the way he did it and the timing in which he did it, it was enough. When the big moments come, he's really been able to succeed and thrive in that. To be fair, he is still a young kid and it is just starting for me, only seven games into his career. The learning process will continue for him. and has he has developed his confidence — he did not look confident at beginning of the season and I think for him specifically, a kid who really rides on that confidence ... If he's not confident, he's nothing. He's a very pedestrian quarterback. But if he is confident, he can do a lot of really good things. And that's kind of what Penn State fans are excited about."

GoldandBlack.com: It seems like it has been a mixed bag on defense, not very good against the run and pretty good against the pass.

Bauer: "The defense has been through so much this year. Before the games even started in the offseason, they lost four lineman to the NFL, so it's a line change in hockey. You're dealing with a totally new group up front and they've needed time to develop. But in the meantime, they have lost all three starting linebackers for a sizable period of time. They lost Nyeem Wartman-White for the whole season to a torn ACL, they lost Brandon Bell and Jason Cabinda and was a thin that was already very thin. So when they went down within the first three games, it was just about keeping their head over water at that point. The stats were very ugly, and they could have been worse, Michigan could have put up 70 if they wanted to. So they managed to swim through it and they get to Ohio State and Bell and Cabinda came back and that started to even things out and now they're starting to look like a defense. They've been able to put some pieces together to be decent."

GoldandBlack.com: Purdue has struggled with protecting a pass rush. Is Penn State’s the real deal?

Bauer: "It is now. It's kind of wild. I didn’t notice how much they had climbed in the national rankings. They are somewhere around 17th nationally in sacks and sixth in tackles for loss. All things considered, that is more than remarkable. It's astounding.

"Even at defensive tackle, they have had trouble keeping guys healthy. They had converted defensive end Ryan Buchholz in at tackle most of the (Ohio State) game, and Franklin said after the game, they four redshirt freshman on the defensive line for sizable portions of the game on Saturday. It has really been about those guys growing up.

"Sean Spencer turned some guys who didn’t have a high ceiling into NFL players, especially Carl Nassib. There's a guy who nobody saw what he did coming and what he continues to do. To create that quality of a pass rush, it is starting to be a trend rather than an anomaly."

GoldandBlack.com: What do you think we'll see Saturday?

Bauer: "Good question. Again, I think it comes down to Purdue's secondary and how Purdue is able to defend the pass. And for Penn State, it's the same thing. Penn State's secondary, it's basically what they did Saturday vs. Ohio State, they made Ohio State throw the ball. And Ohio State couldn't do it. Penn State had success there. But Purdue, I think, is a more proficient team passing the ball, so it's going to be a heavy test.

"It always gets into reputation. People look at Purdue and say, 'Oh, they fired their coach.' Penn State fans have already moved ahead to 10-2, running the table. Listen, Penn State has not played particularly well on the road this year or ever under James Franklin, and I know that's a little bit unfair because the last couple years have not been been a normal circumstance, but on the road for a noon game is tricky. It's not easy to go there and win a game like that.

"I'm kind of expecting lower scoring and maybe tighter of a game than what people expect, but I do expect Penn State to probably win the game."

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