For program morale, for a easier path to a bowl game, and for more reasons than one can count, Penn State's Saturday meeting with Minnesota is a must-win for James Franklin's 2-2 Nittany Lions.

It's a label that doesn't come lightly, as there is plenty of logic in the school of thought that says declaring one game as so pivotal is foolish, especially this early in the season, and yet, it's hard to see this meeting with the Gophers, for the suddenly relevant Governor's Victory Bell, any other way.

Calling the trophy, which only exists because the Big Ten felt it necessary to manufacture "rivals" for Penn State when it joined the Big Ten, relevant would be silly in most cases, but considering it goes to the winning side, allowing it to go back to Minnesota with Tracey Claeys team would equal another setback, another missed opportunity to right the ship, and more questions than answers for the Lions five weeks into the college football season.

Minnesota can be had defensively, as it seems a bit prone to missing tackles and might not matchup all that well with Penn State's spread attack. But, like every other opponent the Lions have faced so far, it will try to take away the run (Claeys has already declared as much) and force the Lions to make plays in space, something they've done very well at times and not so well at others.

The Gophers (3-0) also have a quarterback in Mitch Leidner who can run a bit and cause havoc because of it, which is a proven weakness for Penn State's injury-riddled defense. Minnesota also has a very big, and experienced, offensive line that rivals what PSU saw against Pittsburgh and Michigan in those two areas, which will make the challenge all the greater.

Oddsmakers have installed the Lions as three-point favorites as of this writing, and theoretically, Penn State's skill players on offense should overwhelm Minnesota's back seven enough to win the day; the Gophers are undefeated, but they haven't beat a quality opponent by any measure. Yet, it's hard to call anything a certainty at this point of the Lions season.

All we know is that Penn State has a record many predicted it would have heading into October but more injuries than anyone could have guessed. It will face a considerable step down in Minnesota compared to Michigan, but the defense must hold up, and the offense click better than it did in Ann Arbor, to move to 3-2. Check both of those boxes, and it's on to Maryland on a high note. Miss on both, and it's likely that the frustrations grow louder.

So, yes, it is a must-win, for any number of reasons.

Interesting OL data

Pro Football Focus has, as its name suggests, long focused on individual players to grade out NFL games. Over the last couple of years, though, it has expanded that into a look at college games, and the site has released some data from the Lions loss at Michigan last week.

Read the full analysis here.

A few of the key takeaways include:

Penn State missed 15 tackles against the Wolverines, according to the site's count. It's a problem that needs cleaned up in a hurry, but since its persisted over four weeks of action, it's hard to see what the quick fix is.

According to PFF's grading scale, RT Andrew Nelson was the Lions' best lineman on Saturday, while two other linemen, C Brian Gaia and LG Ryan Bates, also graded out as two of the program's top-5 players on offense. The grades look at each play, not just the ones sacks were allowed on, and it probably speaks most to PSU's inability to get much of anything going downfield.

As expected, Michigan blitzed, a lot; according to the site, UM pressured PSU QB Trace McSorley on 45.7 percent of his dropbacks.

What to look for later today

Just like every game-week Tuesday, Franklin will hold his preview news conference at 12:30 p.m. today.

In terms of what to listen for, it will be interesting to see what the head coach has to say about Minnesota, a tough team to figure out considering they haven't played a quality opponent yet. Conversely, what will he say about the morale of his team, and the situation at linebacker?

We'll find out in a few hours.

PennLive's Bob Flounders, Greg Pickel and Dustin Hockensmith also talk Penn State football on the Keystone Sports Network. Check out audio from their latest recruiting podcast below.