SB Nation - Drew Astorino

Preview: Michigan State vs. Penn State

LVS — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:20:02 -0000

about 1 month ago: Michigan State's Keshawn Martin (82) scores a touchdown on a 48-yard pass reception during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Western Michigan, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State won 49-14. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

Browse more photos »

Your MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS vs. the PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS

SPARTAN STADIUM, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN

3:30 (ET), ABC (coverage map)

WEATHER: 52 DEGREES AT KICKOFF, TEMPERATURE FALLING AFTER DUSK.

Hey, a game that's not the most important of the season! Your Spartans obviously did the heavy lifting last week against Purdue; in all likelihood, this game is not about whether MSU will make a bowl, but rather, about whether we're going to San Antonio or Orlando or, of course, rollin' down Woodward to Ford Field (!). Penn State, after a season that has to be characterized as quite disappointing, amazingly still has a shot at a BCS berth. You know the backstory: last season, PSU absolutely demolished us; the season before, however, was good times:

It appears that the play-by-play guy attended the Joe Buck school of announcing excitement. Also, I miss Devin Thomas.

So, here cometh TEH GREATEST RIVALRY GAME IN ALL TEH LAND, and the opportunity to beat a team with a pulse for the first time this season. (Says the guy whose team's best win is against Temple. w00t.) The 8-million member PSU blogosphere and commentariat seems surprisingly reticent about this game. But, after last week's defensive fiasco I'm simply not comfortable picking us to win against teams with competent offenses. Penn State is such a team. I'd love to be proven wrong.

More, after the jump.

Big game plz, Colin.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON DEFENSE: At this point, I think the secondary is probably going to suck no matter what we do, so we might as well stack the box to try to stop the run and get as much pressure on Darryl Clark as possible. Indeed, as RUTS told us, this is what you want to do with Clark:

He's like about any other good, but not great, quarterback. If he has a clean pocket and can set his feet, he's as good as anyone in the country. If he gets hit too much, he gets rattled and starts making bad decisions with the ball. In that sense, he can be knocked back into looking like a talented quarterback in his second or third start -- he thinks he can make throws that he can't actually pull off.

Clark struggled mightily in the Iowa and Ohio State games--and even in the Illinois game--because he was under pressure (ding ding ding da da ding ding). Pressuring him may allow Clark some opportunities to scramble (as Brian said earlier this year, he's "not Michael Vick but isn't John Navarre, either."), but it's probably the best chance to contain the PSU offense. PSU partisans seem to think that our defensive line will have success against their offensive line, and pressure Clark heavily; I'm not so certain. Many anticipated that Penn State's offensive line was going to be the downfall of the team this year, as it was the most inexperienced group in the conference. PSU has allowed only 12 sacks on the season, although it looked overmatched against Adrian Clayborn and Cameron Heyward, among others. But, uh, we don't have Clayborn or Heyward; we've got a defensive line which failed to pressure Joey Elliott (until the last play, of course), and hasn't proven the ability to apply pressure on its own. My suspicion is that, if PSU is content to throw from three-step drops, they'll have a lot of success: we won't have the ability to get to Clark that quickly, and our secondary is obviously vulnerable. Bottom line: stack the box, try to get pressure, hope for the best.

And, about those guys Clark will be throwing to: RUTS sez . . .

Starting WR Chaz Powell is out for the game with a shoulder injury. In his place, you'll see a rotating group including the very tall Brett Brackett and the very quick Curtis Drake. Maybe true freshman Justin Brown gets in the game, but I doubt it. Graham Zug had a nightmare game against Indiana last week, but that was mostly due to fumbling punts. He runs good routes and gets open against passive zone coverages. Really, that goes for the whole group -- if you can press and bump them, they become ineffective quickly. [ . . . ]

Derek Moye is probably our best receiver, but he was totally shut out by Ohio State's press coverage and only had two catches for 28 yards against Indiana. Because of that, I suspect PSU will make an effort to get him involved quickly.

Moye is indeed good: 41 catches for 676 yards and 5 touchdowns this season. He's 6'5", 195 pounds . . . and if you're thinking, "holy hell, he's Mike Floyd in disguise," well, yeah, me too. He's not quite there, talent-wise, but, erm, I wouldn't want to be fighting for a jump ball against him. I suspect that our cornerbacks wouldn't want to be, either. And, yeah, about that Quarless guy: he reminds me a lot of Kellen Davis in that he's ludicrous athletically, but the results don't quite meet the expectations. But, the same could be said of Garrett Graham, and that didn't end so well for us earlier this year.

This is probably Evan Royster's last regular season game for Penn State, as most expect him to jump to the NFL.
Last year, he only carried the ball 12 times against MSU, but those carries were relatively successful, as he averaged 6.6 yards per game. This season, he's been a bit up-and-down: he had big games against Northwestern and Minnesota, but not-so-good efforts against Iowa and Ohio State. MSU's rush defense has been mostly a positive this season, although last week was a bit of a regression. I suspect that Royster will approach 100 yards but not be the deciding factor in this game. His backup, Stephfon Green, has intermittently battled injuries and hasn't played much or well since the Illinois game much earlier this season.

Safe to say at this point: one of my all-time favorite Spartan football players.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON OFFENSE: . . . we need for Kirk Cousins to have the best game of his career. As a preliminary matter, let's stipulate that we're going to get basically nothing against Penn State on the ground: the Lions are 8th nationally against the run, and our rushing offense is not good. The goal in this game should be to do just enough to semi-effectively set up play action.

Ah, so the main event: MSU's passing offense vs. Penn State's pass defense. It starts wtih the offensive line, obviously. Penn State doesn't have Tamba Hali or Courtney Brown or anyone of similar fear-producing ability, but the stats are certainly there: they lead the conference in sacks, and while Brian noted that:

[t]he numbers are impressive—PSU is 11th nationally with three sacks per game—but there is the whole schedule thing to take into account. Jack Crawford has four sacks, all of which come against the Akrons and Temples on the schedule. In Penn State's three real-ish games, they acquired one sack (Odrick) against Minnesota, three (Crawford, Latimore, Stanley) against Illinois, and two (Hull and Crawford/Lynn) against Iowa.

. . . Penn State sacked Forcier/Robinson 5 times, and then, the next week, sacked Mike Kafka 6 times. Since then, things have cooled down a bit: they weren't able to sack Terrelle Pryor (although Pryor is surely one of the most difficult sacks in the country), and were only able to get to Ben Chappell twice last week. Nonetheless, this is an impressive line; they're led by scary beast Jared Odrick, who has 6 sacks, and the aforementioned Jack Crawford, who now has 5.5. RUTS says that:

Penn State loves to just send the defensive line if they can get away with it. The defensive scheme actually depends on it, but PSU's defensive ends have been several notches below their predecessors. There's no Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans, or Tamba Hali on this defensive line, so they'll send linebackers on occasion, and maybe mix in a corner blitz once or twice per game, but that's it.

We can't let them get tons of pressure from the front four alone. I know it's tempting disaster to say that I *want* Navorro Bowman, Sean Lee, and the corners to blitz, but Penn State blitzing and leaving the secondary exposed is how Cousins will be able to throw for lots of yards.

Penn State's defense is statistically impressive against the pass: 16th nationally in pass efficiency defense, and 17th nationally in pass defense. Once again, I'll let RUTS write my preview for me:

Penn State can be thrown on, but they do their best to protect any obvious liabilities in the secondary. Free Safety Nick Sukay has steadily improved throughout the year. Drew Astorino (#28) plays the other safety position, and it's no secret that he's trying to fight through a shoulder injury. CB A.J. Wallace sustained a concussion last week, he's listed as "possible" for Sparty. So there may be opportunities for you in the passing game.

So, PSU is good, but they're not scary in the way that Iowa is: this season, the Lions have allowed 252 yards passing to Northwestern, 263 to Illinois (!), and 298 last week to Indiana. (Note that they won all three of those games, however.) Quite frankly, our passing offense is better than any of those teams'. I think Cousins has a big day, and throws for at least 250 yards; look for B.J. Cunningham to play the Devin Thomas role this time around. If he's able to deliver, Cousins stands in line for first team all-conference honors, so there should be some personal motivation, too.

FINAL PREDICTION: Cut and paste, for starters:

Clark picked our defense apart last year, and while you don't have Derrick Williams anymore, our pass defense is even worse this time around. Also, I have distressing visions of Jared Odrick pwning whoever's blocking him and not giving Cousins enough time to be comfortable.

More generally, Dantonio has done a lot of good things during his time at MSU, but beating teams with appreciably more talent certainly hasn't been one of those things. So, I'll remain skeptical until we finally win one of these games. It's at home, which is good, and I could definitely see the special teams stats ending up very lopsided in our favor. But PSU is the better team, and you're playing for more: a win for us would upgrade our bowl game slightly, but a win for PSU might send you guys to the BCS. So, an upset isn't out of the possibility, but I'm not particularly optimistic.

I wrote that yesterday morning, and honestly, I'm a bit more optimistic now. Penn State fans seem quite worried about this game, and one columnist even questions whether Penn State's players even have their hearts into the game anymore. Which, like, what? Even if that's true, you're playing for the BCS! I'd dismiss it out of hand if the sentiment didn't seem to be a common one across the PSU internets.

One thing that doesn't fit into my normal preview format: if you've been reading previews of this game anywhere else, you'll know that PSU's special teams have been an unmitigated disaster this year, and ours have been very good. I'm normally skeptical that special teams play has any predictive value, but here the discrepancy between the teams seems so great that it may indeed be relevant this week. Keshawn Martin, Brett Swenson, Aaron Bates: keep on doing what you do so well. kthx.

Nonetheless, this is a pretty talented football team we're playing. PSU is excellent on defense, and the offense -- with many of the same players -- ripped us apart last year. It seems that I'm saying this every week now, but truly, our defense will determine whether we win this game. If they show up, we have a chance. If they play like they did last week, we don't. It's awfully tempting to say that MSU wins this game on the strength of the passing game and special teams play. But, visions of Quarless and Zug running rampant across the middle of the field prevent me from tempting fate, for now. Penn State 31, Michigan State 27.

Your thoughts welcome, of course.

Conversations With the Enemy: Talking Penn State with Run Up The Score

LVS — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:07:03 -0000

More photos » by TONY DING - AP

2 months ago: Penn State tight end Andrew Quarless (10) scores a touchdown after a 60-yard reception in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Michigan, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

Browse more photos »

Hello again. I traded a few questions about Saturday's EPIC rivalry game with Run Up The Score from Black Shoe Diaries, SBN's leviathan Penn State blog. My answers to his questions should be up at BSD shortly.

Below, I'm in bold.

MSU-PSU: great rivalry or greatest rivalry?

Greatest, of course! How else could you explain two teams fighting over a pre-school arts and crafts monstrosity like the Land Grant Trophy?

Penn State allowed almost 300 yards passing against Indiana last Saturday; that statistic alone gives MSU fans at least some hope, as our offense is essentially pass-or-bust this year. How has PSU's pass defense been this season? Are there any clear vulnerabilities in the secondary?

Keep in mind that Indiana threw the ball 51 times and was playing from behind in the second half last week, but yes, the larger point is that teams know it's better to throw on Penn State than attempt to run. I would not be remotely surprised if MSU attempts close to 50 passes on Saturday, although I doubt they'll reach the 61 passes thrown by Brian Hoyer against PSU back in 2006 -- and that was in a 17-13 game. Penn State can be thrown on, but they do their best to protect any obvious liabilities in the secondary. Free Safety Nick Sukay has steadily improved throughout the year. Drew Astorino (#28) plays the other safety position, and it's no secret that he's trying to fight through a shoulder injury. CB A.J. Wallace sustained a concussion last week, he's listed as "possible" for Sparty. So there may be opportunities for you in the passing game.

[More, after the jump.]

PSU leads the conference in sacks. Does the pressure come primarily from the defensive line, or will the Lions regularly mix in blitz packages?

Penn State loves to just send the defensive line if they can get away with it. The defensive scheme actually depends on it, but PSU's defensive ends have been several notches below their predecessors. There's no Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans, or Tamba Hali on this defensive line, so they'll send linebackers on occasion, and maybe mix in a corner blitz once or twice per game, but that's it.

The book on Darryl Clark seems to be that he's fantastic if given time, but quickly becomes very average if he's subjected to pressure. Is that mostly correct? What are his major strengths and weaknesses?

He's like about any other good, but not great, quarterback. If he has a clean pocket and can set his feet, he's as good as anyone in the country. If he gets hit too much, he gets rattled and starts making bad decisions with the ball. In that sense, he can be knocked back into looking like a talented quarterback in his second or third start -- he thinks he can make throws that he can't actually pull off.

Can you tell us a bit about PSU's receivers and tight ends? Our pass defense has been atrocious, and Andrew Quarless, in particular, worries me greatly.

Starting WR Chaz Powell is out for the game with a shoulder injury. In his place, you'll see a rotating group including the very tall Brett Brackett and the very quick Curtis Drake. Maybe true freshman Justin Brown gets in the game, but I doubt it. Graham Zug had a nightmare game against Indiana last week, but that was mostly due to fumbling punts. He runs good routes and gets open against passive zone coverages. Really, that goes for the whole group -- if you can press and bump them, they become ineffective quickly.

As for Quarless, he has all the talent in the world but had squandered it until this season with various off-field issues. He scares a lot of teams, although he's only broken 50 yards receiving once this year, due to a 60 yard touchdown catch against Michigan. Derek Moye is probably our best receiver, but he was totally shut out by Ohio State's press coverage and only had two catches for 28 yards against Indiana. Because of that, I suspect PSU will make an effort to get him involved quickly.

Special teams have seemed to be a major problem all season long for PSU. Have things improved at all in recent weeks? If not, which areas are the most dire? (Happily enough, MSU's special teams have been mostly fantastic all season long.)

Improved? No, no. It's a worsening nightmare by the week. Penn State is 113th in kickoff returns, 107th in punt returns, 114th in net punting, 57th in kickoff coverage, and 117th in punt return yardage allowed. On top of that, our punt returners (Zug and Astorino) went from being Designated Fair Catchers to dropping everything in sight last week. So relatively speaking, we're downright awesome in covering kickoffs. In our two losses, the game turned on a blocked punt for a touchdown against Iowa and a punt return inside the 10 yard line by Ohio State's Ray Small.

Is there anyone on offense or defense for PSU that MSU fans probably haven't heard of, but that we should keep an eye on?

Curtis Drake is a good candidate on offense. He's a true freshman receiver, and is extremely elusive with the ball in his hands. Last week, PSU's offense was jumpstarted by a long gainer on an end-around by Drake. Defensively, freshman Stephon Morris has seen a lot of time in Penn State's nickel package and has played well beyond anyone's expectations. Given Michigan State's propensity to throw the ball, you'll see a lot of him Saturday.

Finally, generally speaking, how are you feeling about the game?

Justifiably nervous. I don't like hearing that Michigan State excels on special teams -- that's a huge point that can't be overlooked. Penn State tends to start slowly, especially on the road, and that seems to be an especially bad idea this week with a possible BCS at-large bid on the line. Michigan State will be plenty motivated, given the beating they received last year at Beaver Stadium and Mark Dantonio's pissy-pants antics of calling two defensive timeouts during the waning seconds of the game in sub-freezing temperatures. And every Penn State fan is expecting a minimum of two special teams disasters.

Thanks to RUTS, and I wish his team only the absolute worst luck this Saturday.

Malicious Internet Interrogation: The Only Colors

Run Up The Score — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:29:20 -0000

More photos » by Amy Sancetta - AP

8 months ago: Peanut the dog, dressed in a Michigan State Spartan costume, is seen outside Ford Field before the semifinal game between Michigan State and Connecticut during the men's NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament Saturday, April 4, 2009, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

Browse more photos »

Part one of an exchange between myself and LVS of SBNation's fine Michigan State blog, "The Only Colors". His questions, my answers. The other half of Malicious Internet Interrogation will likely be up later today or tomorrow. And don't forget this afternoon's basketball game against UNC-Wilmington. Tip-off is at 4:00 p.m., game to be broadcast on ESPNU (and ~~presumably, ESPN360~~ yeah, apparently not). We'll have an open thread.

1. MSU-PSU: great rivalry or greatest rivalry?

Greatest, of course! How else could you explain two teams fighting over a pre-school arts and crafts monstrosity like the Land Grant Trophy?

2. Penn State allowed almost 300 yards passing against Indiana last Saturday; that statistic alone gives MSU fans at least some hope, as our offense is essentially pass-or-bust this year. How has PSU's pass defense been this season? Are there any clear vulnerabilities in the secondary?

Keep in mind that Indiana threw the ball 51 times and was playing from behind in the second half last week, but yes, the larger point is that teams know it's better to throw on Penn State than attempt to run. I would not be remotely surprised if MSU attempts close to 50 passes on Saturday, although I doubt they'll reach the 61 passes thrown by Brian Hoyer against PSU back in 2006 -- and that was in a 17-13 game. Penn State can be thrown on, but they do their best to protect any obvious liabilities in the secondary. Free Safety Nick Sukay has steadily improved throughout the year. Drew Astorino (#28) plays the other safety position, and it's no secret that he's trying to fight through a shoulder injury. CB A.J. Wallace sustained a concussion last week, he's listed as "possible" for Sparty. So there may be opportunities for you in the passing game.

[For the rest of our Q&A, including discussion of SPECIAL TEAMS FAIL and much more, please head over to The Only Colors.]

And Here Come The Pretzels

Run Up The Score — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:42:59 -0000

On yesterday's ESPN GameDay show, Chris Fowler and the crew passed along information that Penn State coaches indicated their offensive playbook would be uncharacteristically open against Ohio State. The coaching staff trusted the improved offensive line, and especially trusted Daryll Clark to win the game for Penn State. If such a strategy was ever in place for the Penn State offense, it was scrapped after their first offensive play of the game as defensive end Cameron Heyward bolted through Dennis Landolt and Evan Royster, defensive tackle Todd Denlinger spun around Johnnie Troutman, and defensive end Thaddeus Gibson hopped over a weak chop attempt by Ako Poti. The result, 2nd and 16, and 59 minutes of puckering.

And shame on you for not fighting through your doubleteam, Doug Worthington!

Sifting through the rubble this morning, and nothing has changed. Yesterday's game was an absolute owning of the home team -- coaches, players, fans, offense, defense, special teams -- from beginning to end. Cameron Heyward is an unblockable monster. No matter which Penn State offensive lineman he lined up against, they were quickly and embarrassingly thrown aside. Daryll Clark was hit and hurried, and again unable to carry the team in those circumstances.

Clark will take some justified heat for this loss. Fair or not, his place in Penn State quarterbacking history will be roughly alongside Wally Richardson's 1995-1996 run -- fondly remembered, but nowhere approaching legendary. Daryll will leave Penn State with a shared Big Ten title, love and respect from a vast majority of the fanbase, and gaudy stats against awful teams. People will be happy to see him when he returns to campus in 5, 10, 20 years. But he won't be a Penn State legend or anything close to it.

I suspect the coaching staff feels embarrassed this morning. There's absolutely zero excuse for the ongoing clusterfrick that is Penn State's special teams unit. If Joe Paterno expects to win games with defense and special teams, it's probably a fine idea to actually have good special teams. Given the athletes on this team, are we supposed to believe that Drew Astorino is our best ~~punt returner~~ designated fair catcher? Penn State's punt team practically handed Ohio State their first touchdown and took the life out of the crowd. And it's clearly not a matter of putting bad athletes on the field for kicking plays -- the players chasing Ray Small down the field on his first punt return are A.J. Wallace, Knowledge Timmons, Josh Hull, Chris Colasanti, Navorro Bowman, Brandon Beachum, and Andrew Quarless. And they were put in a bad position by an awful Jeremy Boone punt.

The playcalling was atrocious. If you don't have enough confidence to throw the ball on 3rd and 5, do us all a favor and kneel on the ball three straight plays and punt. Your defense will get the same amount of rest, and there's no risk at all! Beats the hell out of running the same tired crap right at Ohio State's strengths, or letting your quarterback get battered play after play.

Tom Bradley and the defense don't get a pass for this either -- they let the team down repeatedly on some crucial third downs. D'anton Lynn blew a coverage that led to DeVier Posey's long touchdown. On Pryor's rushing touchdown, Bowman had him dead in the backfield and was shaken off. They had their chances to turn the game around, or even just get off the damned field, and failed.

Finally, man up and give credit to Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State. This can't be stressed enough: they dominated every single aspect of the game. As for Penn State, they had their two toughest opponents at home and blew it. While 10-2 is still within reach and sounds great, this season has already been cast upon the disappointment heap. Penn State will end up in some middle-tier bowl with a cheesy sponsor. Don't worry. We'll pretend to care about it.

Grading the Penn State Defense Against Michigan

BSD — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:15:22 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

2 months ago: Penn State linebacker Josh Hull (43) sacks Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier (5) during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Browse more photos »

Oh, we heard a lot of talk about the Penn State defense before the game. Who had they played? They hadn't seen a rushing offense like Michigan. I think one of our resident BSD Wolverine fans predicted Minor and Brown BOTH going over 100 yards with Forcier getting another 60. So much for that, huh?

Defensive Line

Outside of that first series, they absolutely dominated the Wolverines who only gained 110 yards on the ground. This is the team that led the Big Ten averaging 235 yards per game

. Jared Odrick's 2 tackles and 0.5 TFL don't accurately illustrate how dominating he was. Eating up two blockers on pretty much every play, he disrupted everything Michigan wanted to do. And he should have had a safety but he overran the tackles and let Forcier get it away. On the next play he had the center so nervous the kid snapped the ball right out the back of the endzone.

Jack Crawford had perhaps his best day yet. After getting sucked inside on a few fake handoffs, he settled into his assignment and finished with 3 tackles, all for a loss, and a sack. He also forced the fumble on Robinson late in the game. In all the line finished with 13 tackles, 6.5 TFL, and 3 sacks. Devon Still and true freshman Jordan Hill recorded the other two sacks which makes me feel good about next year after Odrick is gone.

Final Grade: A

Linebackers

What can be said about Lavorro at this point? Not much, really, so I'll just point at the scoreboard: 11 tackles (6 solo), 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT, and 1 sack. As I predicted, Penn State held him back as a spy in passing situations and it worked to perfection. Every time Forcier tried to get out of the pocket to improvise, Bowman was there to drop him or make him get rid of it. By the end of the first quarter Forcier looked like a deer in the headlights. Welcome to the Big Ten, kid.

The Hull-stache had another great day with 10 tackles (6 solo), 2.5 TFL, and a sack. It must be the mustache, because this is not the same player we saw Brandon Minor dragging for 8 yard gains last year.

Bani Gbadyu and Sean Lee split time and combined for 8 tackles. Chris Colasanti got in the game briefly, and Forcier made him look silly by faking him out of his jock on a QB keeper.

Final Grade: A

Secondary

I'll say this: When the coaches let them man up and play, they did well. More on that later. Forcier only managed 140 yards on less than 50% passing. He threw the pick to Astorino, and was sacked five times. Many of the sacks on Forcier were coverage sacks where he couldn't find a man open. There were very few mistakes by the group other than a missed tackle or two.

Final Grade: A

Special Teams

Another so-so performance. Jeremy Boone has to shorten his windup for his punts. That's two he has had blocked this year, and you can bet every team from here on out will be gunning for him.

Collin Wagner hit his two short field goal attempts. Two of his seven kickoffs went for touchbacks. So it was a good day for him. The kickoff coverage team seems to get it now and they are holding down the big returns. At least I don't remember my heart skipping a beat as they make a shoe string tackle to prevent six points this week.

But our own kick returns were much improved highlighted by Chaz Powell's 54 yard return to open the second half.

The punt return game...seriously guys. Absolutely terrible. I shouldn't complain because they are catching the ball, but what was up with Zug catching the ball and starting to run only to find out Drew Astorino called for a fair catch? It's like the Keystone Cops out there. Let's put the dual return man thing to bed. There is absolutely nothing dynamic about our punt return game right now. Something tells me Joe Paterno likes it that way.

Final Grade: C

Defensive Coaching

Okay, so what happened on that first drive? For starters, Michigan had obviously been scripting those plays and practicing them for the past two weeks. They ran with no huddle and everyone obviously knew what they were supposed to do. Penn State had no time to make adjustments or switch personnel. That was a big factor in the drive.

As far as I can tell, the uncertainty surrounding the no huddle forced Penn State to go into some very simple base defensive sets. You know what means, right? Good ol' Cover-3. Forcier took advantage of the soft coverage three times for passes of 7, 7, and 20 yards. The big pass came when Sukay missed a tackle on a short screen. Crawford got sucked into a fake handoff allowing Forcier to gain 8 yards on one play. The rest of the drive was a lot of Carlos Brown and Minor RAGE for decent carries in the 6-8 yard range. But there were also some short 1 and 2 yard gains won by the defense.

Give credit to Michigan on that drive. They came out and hit Penn State in the mouth. I see a lot of Michigan blogs and fans asking why they got away from the running game after that drive, but truthfully, two out of Michigan's first three plays were good sized passing gains. Penn State tightened up the coverage after that and Michigan couldn't answer.

Checking the stats today, it is a beautiful sight. Penn State leads the conference in every single defensive statistic. Awesome.

Final Grade: A

Grading the Penn State Defense Against Eastern Illinois

BSD — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:00:39 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

Penn State defenders Jack Crawford, right, and Jared Odrick, celebrate Odrick's sack of Eastern Illinois quarterback Jake Christensen by hugging as grown men do during the first half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. Penn State won 52-3. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Browse more photos »

This is going to be short and sweet because, well, it's Eastern Illinois.

Defensive Line

The defensive line dominated as you expect against an opponent like this. The Panthers only managed 59 yards rushing on 32 attempts. Crawford, Ogbu, and Odrick combined for 4 sacks, 6 TFL, and 9 tackles. Odrick was particularly dominating, and Ogbu forced the fumble Navorro Bowman returned for the touchdown.

A bunch of the younger guys like James Terry, Sean Stanley, Chima Okoli, Jordan Hill, and Kevion Latham all got significant playing time.

Final Grade: A

Linebackers

Josh Hull and Navorro Bowman looked good. Hull had 11 tackles while Bowman had five. But Eastern Illinois really tried to run away from Bowman (wouldn't you?). Still he managed to get 2 TFL and of course he had fumble return for the touchdown. Bani Gbadyuand Nate Stupar did nothing to impress me.

A lot of the younger guys got in the game late, but to be honest I lost interest at that point and didn't see anything remarkable in their performance. I was glad to see Chris Colasanti get in there and get a sack. He's a good kid that just hasn't had his Penn State career go the way I'm sure he pictured it.

Final Grade: B

Secondary

I felt like the secondary took a step back in this game. Christensen only threw for 137 yards, but they just didn't look very tight. A.J. Wallace was making a lot of tackles 10-15 yards down field. He did have the interception, but I credit that to Ogbu who pressured Christensen forcing him to lob a ball up for grabs. It's not like Wallace baited him or read the play perfectly and anticipated it was going there.

I was really disappointed with Drew Astorino and Nick Sukay. They both just looked slow in getting to the ball, and Astorino flat out dropped a pick. Maybe it's time we give Gerald Hodges a look or two in the backfield. I was disappointed to not notice him in the game until late in the fourth quarter, and that was at outside linebacker. I guess we need the depth there right now, but I'm worried that the coaches' knee-jerk reaction to some linebacker injuries is going to stunt his development at safety. He had a really nice teeth-rattling hit on his lone tackle.

But once again I thought D'Anton Lynn and Stephon Morris played really well. Add Knowledge Timmons to that list as well. I'm not at all worried about our cornerback situation next year.

Final Grade: C

Special Teams

Penn State only punted twice all day which is an indicator of just how dominant they were. Boone only punted once for 37 yards which you would think dooms the special teams for a failing grade this week. Ryan had the other punt for 43 yards. Breen also got a shot at a kickoff, and nailed it in the endzone for a touchback. I think he deserves another shot, and Wagner needs to be put on notice that just getting it past the ten yard line isn't going to cut it anymore. The real season is starting, so if he can't get the job done, we'll give it to someone else who can.

But overall the special teams actually wasn't that bad this week. The kick off return coverage still looks a little soft. There were too many returns getting out to the 30 yard line, but I don't recall any kicks where we were a shoe string tackle away from giving up six points. For the most part they did a good job of filtering the play into the middle and containing it. Now they just have to get more aggressive at it. Maybe it's time to put Stupar back out there and let him destroy the wedge like he did last year. Curse you, Penn State linebacker knee hating God for putting us in the depth situation.

Both of Penn State's kick off returns went for touchbacks, so we can't evaluate the kick return game this week.

But the punt return game may have a new star. Justin Brown caught three punts on Saturday and his 20 yard return was the longest play Penn State has had all year.

Final Grade: B

Defensive Coaching

Nothing special to report here. They were fast and aggressive in the beginning until the game was in hand. Then they called off the dogs and put the younger guys in. Kudos to the coaches for keeping the intensity up against a lesser opponent. I was also glad to see a few cornerback blitzes in the package. This is a welcome new wrinkle.

Final Grade: A

Grading the Penn State Defense Against the Iowa Hawkeyes

BSD — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:00:34 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

2 months ago: Iowa running back Brandon Wegher flips over Penn State defenders Drew Anderson, left, and A.J. Wallace during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, in State College, Pa. Iowa won 21-10. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Browse more photos »

It's hard to evaluate the defense when your offense goes out and lays a turd on national television. When your offense keeps putting you on the field with your back against the wall you can only hold out so long.

Defensive Line

The unit wasn't it's dominating self, but then the level of competition was about 1000 times better than the first three games. Jared Odrick and Ollie Ogbu went pretty much unnoticed, but they did a good job in occupying blockers so that Josh Hull and Navorro Bowman could combine for 26 tackles and 5 TFL.

The defensive ends didn't impress me much. I noticed that Jerome Hayes got the start, and Iowa went to work attacking him right away. He was lined up on the side with Bani Gbadyu when Brandon Wegher ripped off his 32 yard run on Iowa's second drive. On the next drive he was replaced with Eric who I thought did a much better job in run defense. Jack Crawford didn't make a big impression on me. He's still a year away from being a monster.

But overall I felt like the line held their own against the powerful Iowa offensive line. The Iowa running game averaged 4.4 yards per carry and gave up two sacks.

Final Grade: B

Linebackers

Navorro Bowman returned, but Penn State is still waiting to see their two All-Big Ten linebackers on the field at the same time as Sean Lee sat out with a sprained knee. So his spot was filled by Bani Gbadyu and Nate Stupar. Stupar came into the game nursing a sprained ankle, and I noticed Gbadyu got a little dinged up himself in the game. It sure would have been nice to have Mike Mauti out there. It seems like the deeper Penn State is at any particular position, the more injuries they tend to get. See defensive tackles.

Bowman and Hull looked fantastic. Both of them had 13 tackles in the game. Bowman tackled three ball carriers behind the line while Hull had two TFL and a sack. After that blocked punt you could tell by the body language on the team that they had given up, but Hull and Bowman kept playing hard to the end.

Personally, I think the bashing Josh Hull sees is no longer justified. He's a tremendous player and a tenacious linebacker that goes hard every play. He's not the best in pass coverage, but then neither was Paul Posluszny.

Final Grade: A

Secondary

I thought the secondary played an excellent game. Ricky Stanzi was held to just 135 yards and completed less than 50% of his passes while throwing two picks. But it should be pointed out that Stanzi wasn't helped by his own guys dropping several passes.

Two guys that really impressed me were Nick Sukay and Stephon Morris. Sukay had nine tackles, broke up four passes, and caught an interception. Unfortunately, it was his missed block that led to the punt block, but that shouldn't completely negate a solid game. Morris has basically solidified himself on the first team nickel package; a truly amazing achievement for a true freshman in only his fourth game. And remember that Morris did not enroll in the spring and just joined the team in July. He's going to be a special player.

I was disappointed in Drew Astorino. Normally he's a pretty sure tackler, but he overran some plays and looked silly in whiffing on some arm tackles. I chalk that up to a wet field where he wasn't able to plant his feet and set himself.

Final Grade: B

Special Teams

I was worried going into this game that special teams were going to liability, and they were. Colin Wagner is not getting it done as the place kicker. His kickoffs aren't going past the five yard line, and I don't think he's made a field goal over 40 yards yet. I'm officially on the Give-Anthony-Fera-A-Chance bandwagon.

Once again Jeremy Boone was the lone star averaging 53 yards on his two punts. But other than that everything was atrocious. Iowa averaged 24 yards per kick return, and they returned a blocked punt for 53 yards. Penn State averaged 17.2 yards on five kick returns, but that was with one good return for 36 yards by Chaz Powell. The Nittany Lions only averaged only 12.5 yards on their other four returns.

Remember everything I said about Nick Sukay's play on defense? Yeah, well, none of that applies to special teams last night. He blew the blocking assignment and also drew the questionable roughing the kicker call on the Iowa punt. But he's still a good player who will get better.

Final Grade: F

Defensive Coaching

I happened to be sitting next to a few Iowa fans in the stands during the game. They were nice guys and very friendly complimenting us profusely on how awesome our stadium was. Anyway, right after Clark hit Powell for the 79 yard touchdown the place was rocking and they were obviously standing there with that "Oh Crap" look on their face. I leaned over to the guy and said, "This probably works to your advantage. With a seven point lead Joe is going to go conservative and let you get back in it." Today it kind of frightens me how accurate that was.

I paid particular attention to the secondary since it's hard to tell what they're doing while watching a game on television (I'll save my rant on television coverage as it relates to football strategy for another day.) They pretty much played Cover-3 the entire first half, and just like the fourth quarter last year in Iowa City, Stanzi picked them apart for eight or nine yards on every second down to set up a short yardage situation for third down. In my opinion, this is inexcusable.

Back in 2004 Joe Paterno came to the realization that if he wanted to be competitive he had to change his offense so it wasn't so predictable. Out of this was born the Spread HD with multiple formations, plays, and personnel to keep the opposing defense guessing. The new offense has been a tremendous success (last night notwithstanding), but yet Penn State hasn't changed a thing on defense. I know the defense still manages to do quite well, but why put them at the disadvantage of being so predictable? Why let Iowa march down the field and hope you can tighten up inside the 30 yard line? Would it kill us to play man-to-man once in a while? Or even a Cover-2 where the corners are in man and the safeties are covering deep zones?

I was pleased to see more blitzes in the second half and I thought it worked well to keep Stanzi off balance. I thought that was a nice adjustment. I also liked pulling Hayes in favor of Latimore.

Final Grade: B

Potential Penn State Problem #1: Extra Crispy

Run Up The Score — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:00:21 -0000

A quick look at Penn State's team passing defense statistics from 2008 indicates that things may not have actually been so terrible: 19th in pass efficiency defense, 27th in passing yardage allowed, 16 INT, 10 TD, 56.3% completion rate. Combined with an prolific offense and the #8 rushing defense in the nation, it's easy to see why the team was so successful in 2008.

Even if we look at the conference-only stats from 2008, Penn State fared well. They were #3 in both pass efficiency defense (107.8) and passing yardage allowed (186.8 ypg), and #1 in opponents' 3rd down conversions (32.3%). So, what the hell? Why all the concern?

For one thing, all of this is obvious nitpicking. We're talking about the weaknesses in a team that went to the Rose Bowl last year. They only lost twice, remember? Still, it was the secondary that faltered in the waning minutes in Iowa City* and pretty much throughout the entire Rose Bowl against USC:

QB Mark Sanchez ALL PASS ATTEMPTS USC vs PSU 2008 / 2009 Rose Bowl (via DraftParty)

The failures were equal parts personnel and scheme. We know Mark Rubin was essentially a fourth linebacker playing strong safety and sometimes got lost in coverage. But really, how were Lydell Sargeant and Tony Davis supposed stop anybody when they're constantly instructed to line up 8-10 yards off the line of scrimmage? The scheme is the scheme -- something I labeled "Bend But Don't Suck" years ago -- and it's not changing anytime soon. It's great when the front four can get pressure on the quarterback, and especially brilliant if said quarterback (a) isn't that great and (b) doesn't have much receiving talent. That pretty much included 75% of Penn State's schedule last season. But against a hot quarterback (Iowa, second half) or a really good one (USC), Penn State doesn't have much of a prayer stopping an opposing aerial attack as long as the defensive line is adequately blocked.

So, yes. The BBDS defense returns again, but with entirely new personnel. Rubin, Davis, Sargeant, and Anthony Scirrotto are all gone. A.J. Wallace is the one guy with extensive game experience at corner, and he has the dual distinction of being suspended for the first few games in 2009 and not having played terribly well as a cornerback in the past. Your opening day starters appear to be D'Anton Lynn and Knowledge Timmons at corner, Drew Astorino at free safety, and Nick Sukay at strong safety.

It's truly impossible to predict how the secondary will play. Lynn and Sukay were both highly rated players coming out of high school (so was Wallace, but the clock is really running out on him). Astorino showed last year that he's not afraid of the big stage. And Timmons, well...he's fast. That's practically all we know about him to this point, other than he really loves his iPhone. (Hey, me too.)

Maybe we'll look back at this season in five months and laugh at how needlessly concerned we were about this group. But until then, pucker pucker pucker.

* - Sorry. And we can get into the other 20 reasons we lost that game, but let's focus, mmkay?

Penn State Recruiting Update - Defense

BSD — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:10:18 -0000

The other day we went through an update on Penn State's recruiting efforts on the offensive side of the ball, so today we'll go through the defense.

Defensive Tackles

Projected Need: 2

Verbal Commits: None

In the last two recruiting classes Penn State has brought in two defensive tackles: Brandon Ware and Jordan Hill. Jared Odrick runs out of eligibility this year, and Tom McEowen, Abe Koroma, and Ollie Ogbu aren't far behind. So Penn State really needs to bring in two defensive tackles in this class.

So far there is nothing in the basket, but signs are looking good with Sharrif Floyd from Philadelphia, PA. Floyd is a five-star prospect and the #3 rated tackle in the country as rated by Scout. They also just got in the game with DaQuan Jones of Johnson City, NY and gave him a scholarship offer.

Personally I feel really good about our chances with both of these guys. Floyd is slow playing things, but I think we're the leader there. He has said he doesn't have a top five, but if he did, Penn State would be in it. Jones just got his offer and plans to visit at the end of this month. I wouldn't be surprised if he commits during his visit or within a week after it.

Defensive Ends

Projected Need: 2

Verbal Commits: None

The early departures of Maurice Evans and Aaron Maybin left the depth chart pretty thin at defensive tackle. So I'm thinking Penn State is going to take two defensive ends in this class.

They haven't landed any commitments yet, but the coaches have been very selective in their offers. Dominique Easley from Staten Island is the top target. He hasn't named any leaders yet, but I have to think our reputation, location, and depth chart have to be attractive to him and Penn State will be in it to the end with him.

The other big target is Kyle Baublitz from York, PA. He has made numerous visits to Penn State, and the Nittany Lions are considered to be his leader.

Linebackers

Projected Need: 2

Verbal Commits: Mike Hull

Penn State only took one linebacker, Glen Carson, last February. Sean Lee is gone after this season, and there's a high possibility Navorro Bowman won't be back next year if he has another great season. So I'm thinking we need to take two kids in this class.

Mike Hull committed back in December, but we still need one more. Everyone seems to think it's just a matter of time until Khari Fortt commits to Penn State. His high school teammate, Silas Redd, is already a Nittany Lion. Fortt loves Penn State and has made several visits.

Defensive Backs

Projected Need: 1

Verbal Commits: None

Penn State took a huge haul of defensive backs in the last class with three safeties and three cornerbacks. By all accounts Gerald Hodges looks impressive and will probably be a three year starter beginning in 2010. Drew Astorino looks like he has the other safety spot all to himself until 2012. With freshmen speedsters Derrick Thomas, Darrell Givens, and Stephen Morris competing at cornerback along with sophomore D'Anton Lynn, the secondary is looking pretty promising for the foreseeable future.

But with Timmons and Wallace graduating after this season there are a few scholarships available to give. So I wouldn't be surprised if they take one or two kids, but I'm not counting on it. I think with the way Astorino and Hodges have been impressing along with the overflow of bodies at cornerback it's very possible we'll sit this year out when it comes to defensive backs. If a four or five star stud at another position wants to get on board, this is the position that will suffer in order to make room for them.

But having said all of that, Penn State is floating a few offers out there. It never hurts to dip your lure in the water and see what bites. Jeff Knox from Maryland, Sean Parker from California, and Keenan Allen from North Carolina are reportedly sporting offers. Of those four, Knox seems to be the most promising since he lives in the state of Larryland and he recently listed Penn State in his top four along with Michigan, Maryland, and Pitt. But he has yet to make a visit to campus.

June Status Report

It's still early in the recruiting season, but it's a bit concerning that the offense has six verbal commitments and the defense only has one. (I never thought I would see the day!) And that one is Mike Hull who committed seven months ago.

The coaches are clearly being selective in who they offer as evidenced by the low number of known offers out there. They have to do this with a small class. My concern is that we wait too long on these kids, and then if they decide to go elsewhere it's too late to get back in the game with the other top targets. I would feel better if we had more offers out there, but I understand it's a delicate balance. You don't want to fill up your roster with all the two and three star kids that would normally be destined for the MAC. I suspect we'll see another round of offers sent out soon after the summer camp circuit wraps up.

Nitt Picks Is Running Like Hell

Run Up The Score — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:02:55 -0000

More photos » by PAT LITTLE - AP

9 months ago: Penn State linebacker Sean Lee (45) talks with teammate Chris Colasanti during spring football practice on Friday, March 27, 2009 in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

Browse more photos »

Okay, back to football.

Penn State recently held its annual Coaches' Clinic -- this year it was indoors at Holuba Hall due to the windy conditions. For the uninitiated, it's an event attended by hundreds of high school coaches from across the state. There are instructional presentations by the PSU coaches, but the big news always comes out of the live scrimmage.

Last year, the highly unusual news was the offense performing quite well against the defense. This year, things seem to have reverted to the defense just mauling its adversaries. Some reports from across the state:

Mark Wogenrich, Allentown Morning Call (which also has a two-deep depth chart):

On the very first play of the scrimmage, tight end Andrew Quarless jumped offsides. Head coach Joe Paterno was all over him.

Paterno also worked over cornerback Knowledge Timmons, who seemed physical but uncertain when to turn it on and off. He looked like a perpetual pass-interference flag waiting to happen.

Running back Evan Royster is effortlessly smooth. He scored on a 40-yard run that didn’t seem to require much energy expenditure.

Bit of a surprise to see Andrew Dailey at strong safety. Dailey, a 6-2 redshirt sophomore, spent last season at receiver and linebacker. True freshman Gerald Hodges was at third-team safety.

Sophomore receiver A.J. Price is listed at 173 pounds.That has to include pads.

[More from Wogenrich here.]

Bob Flounders, Harrisburg Patriot-News:

Penn State is rebuilding an offensive line that lost three first-team All-Big Ten choices to graduation. By the time the Big Ten season rolls around next falll, the unit might be solid enough to hold its own. ... There were few surprises. Senior Knowledge Timmons started at the one cornerback spot opposite A.J. Wallace and sophomore Andrew Dailey -- listed as a linebacker on the roster -- worked at one of the safety spots along with Drew Astorino.

[And from a different Flounders PennLive.com link: Harrisburg High redshirt freshman defensive tackle Brandon Ware, who is rumored to be down to 341 pounds after spending much of 2008 in the 360s, worked with the third-team defense and was a handful when an O-lineman tried to engage him one-on-one. ... Shuler caught a touchdown pass from Clark, one of the rare shining moments for the offense. ... Sophomore Jon Ditto, listed as a wideout on the roster, is working at outside linebacker. ... Other notables who were held out of practice were defensive end Jerome Hayes (knee) and tailbacks Stephfon Green (ankle) and Brent Carter (knee)]

Eric Thomas, Carlisle Sentinel:

Judging by one scrimmage in limited work against the first team defense, it appears redshirt freshman walk-on Matt McGloin may have the edge over Kevin Newsome. Newsome looked tentative under center, had a pass batted down at the line and was mugged by defensive end Kevion Latham and was off on deep balls during the scrimmage. The true freshman from Virginia who enrolled in January also had trouble handling some snaps both with the first and second string offensive line and appeared to be off on his timing when under center. On one play Newsome appeared to have trouble with a three-step drop. At first glance he appeared to throw the ball a lot of like Michael Robinson did, a side-armed somewhat inaccurate style.

The first team offensive line had DeOn’Tae Pannell at left tackle, Matt Stankiewitch at left guard, Stefen Wisniewski at center, Lou Eliades at right guard and Dennis Landolt at right tackle.

First team defense was Latham and Jack Crawford at the ends, Jared Odrick and Ollie Ogbu inside. Mike Mauti, Josh Hull and Navarro Bowman were the linebackers.

Sean Lee was held out of contact during the scrimmage and will do so all spring.

The secondary had A.J. Wallace and Knowledge Timmons at the corners with Andrew Dailey at free safety and Drew Astorino at strong safety.

The second team defensive line had Pete Massaro and Eric Latimore at the ends with Devon Still and Abe Koroma inside. Bani Gbadyu, Chris Colasanti and Nate Stupar at the linebackers and a secondary of D’Anton Lynn and Devin Fentress at the corners and Cedric Jeffries and Nick Sukay at the safety spots.

Jon Ditto, a one-time tight end, worked out with the linebackers.

On the first play the first team offense ran, tight end Andrew Quarless jumped. It appears the starting tight end spot is up for grabs between Quarless and East Pennsboro’s Mickey Shuler. Shuler made a nice grab on a throw from McGloin and later on a beautiful throw from Clark scored. Chaz Powell has inherited the Derrick Williams role, even his No. 2. Powell lined up in the backfield on several snaps.

Harrisburg’s Brandon Ware had a strong showing taking down reserve lineman Jonathan Stewart to pressure the quarterback and later knocking down a pass at the line of scrimmage.

The takeaways? No surprise that the defensive line is going to be amazing, and with the return of Sean Lee, Penn State will probably have the best front seven in the conference. Pray to whatever gods you believe in for the health of Daryll Clark, because Newsome isn't even close to being ready for live action. If Clark goes down, we're officially in "entering a world of pain" territory unless Newsome or McGloin improve greatly. Be afraid, again, about the defensive secondary, although Penn State can (for the second straight year) take comfort in the fact that they won't face many prolific passing attacks in the Big Ten. The coaching staff is quite obviously looking at various defensive back combinations -- let's hope they come up with a winning superfecta by October. Finally, the wide receiver position remains problematic. Zug jokes aside, they're not scaring anybody with a competent pass defense, and that means we're going to need a hell of a lot more from Mickey Shuler and...gulp...Andrew Quarless.