SB Nation - Mark Rubin

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?

An Early Look: Penn State

Sam @ WWAHT — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:00:16 -0000

Let's excuse our Penn State friends for a moment. I've just given them beaucoup spank bank material.

2009 is going to be a very, very important year for the Penn State program. It may end up being the most important of the decade, outside of 2005's Redemption Tour. The Age of JoePa is coming to an end, and soon. The program has largely put the struggles of the early 2000s behind them, and on the strength of a Big Ten championship and a shocking win in Columbus last year, Penn State is considered by many to be the Big Ten's other program-of-the-now, as Michigan has placed itself firmly in the midst of a massive rebuilding project. What is it exactly that Penn State has to do in 2009 to have a successful season?

Well, first off: the program has its doubters. Despite the lopsided Rose Bowl loss to USC, Penn State is a program that has largely been innocent of the non-conference embarrassments characteristic of other Big Ten programs lately; the Nittany Lions had won two bowl games prior to the Rose Bowl meltdown, one against an okay Texas A+M squad in Texas and another against Tennessee, a game prior to which Tennessee boasted a top-20 ranking and the Lions had been unranked. The program, however, still bears the mark of what its fans call The Dark Years, and up until 2008, the struggles against Ohio State and Michigan had held the program back from rejoining the ranks of the truly elite. 2008 was in many ways a breakthrough year; Penn State beat both Ohio State and (an admittedly down) Michigan, and if the Big Ten's championship-deciding rules weren't so archaic, the Lions would have won the conference outright. Up until the final weeks of the season, Penn State was seen as a national title contender, whose legitimacy was questioned - in my mind, unfairly at times - due to Ohio State's falls-from-grace in the prior two championship games. While the losses to USC and Iowa stung for Nittany fans, 2008 provided renewed confidence in Paterno and the newly-explosive offense.

But they still have one more hump to get over. They have to be able to repeat that success to at least some degree, and channel it into another solid (i.e. no more than two loss) conference season. If they don't, the "once-a-recruiting-cycle" nature of Penn State's national relevance will continue to stain the program. The Big Ten will have to suffer through another year of being considered Ohio State, and then everybody else. No pressure or anything, guys.

But if they're relatively successful, Big Ten detractors will have a difficult time deriding the conference as a "one-team league", and it'll only get more difficult if the Rich Rodriguez experiment shows signs of life at Michigan. I frequently find myself reminding my fellow Ohio State fans that if the conference is to truly get better, the Buckeyes will have to take their share lumps in the process.* Personally, as a fan who wants to see his team win every game, I don't think it's worth it, but perhaps that's just me. However, if you're one of the people who really, genuinely cares about "conference strength", you want Penn State to show some sort of staying power. They don't necessarily have to win the conference, but they have to be competitive in every single game, win about ten of them, and ideally, they need to win their bowl game as well.

Penn State players you should care about:

On a schematic level, Jared Odrick had about as much to do with Penn State's win as Aaron Maybin swallowing Bryant Browning whole. Odrick literally tore up the offensive interior for four quarters, and was a big reason why Beanie Wells was held to 55 yards rushing on 22 carries. Of course, Navarro Bowman, he of the 106 freaking tackles in his redshirt freshman year, had a bit to do with that as well. Both will terrorize the offensive line, and if neither can be blocked, Ohio State's offense will be done. Evan Royster didn't quite tear up the Buckeye defense last year, but he provided some consistency on a night where Daryll Clark could provide none, toting the rock 19 times for 77 yards.

Fun with statistics:

Penn State's rushing defense last year was a killer, killer outfit, and given that they return Odrick, Bowman, and Sean Lee (from injury), it might be even better this year. Five teams - Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana and Illinois - went over 100 yards rushing on the Nittany Lion defense, and all of them except Wisconsin had one run that went for 30 yards or more on its own. Oh, and Iowa. But Iowa had Shonn Greene. Basically, if that one run that killed them against Indiana, Illinois and Michigan didn't happen, it would have been in the conversation as one of the most dominant rushing defenses in the Big Ten this decade. USC, a little busy torching the Lions' secondary through the air, managed only 61 yards on 35 carries in the Rose Bowl.

Penn State had nine guys with over 100 yards receiving at the end of the season to Ohio State's five. Fortunately for us, the three most productive of those guys - Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams - are gonesie.

How big was Aaron Maybin to Penn State last year? Well, he account for more than 1/3rd of their 33 sacks. Odrick was their next-leading sack artist, but Josh Gaines and Maurice Evans, a due that accounted for seven combined sacks last year, are lost to graduation and the draft. All told, Penn State lost more than half of their sacks off of last year's unit.

As a result, this is where I start salivating: Lydell Sargeant, Tony Davis, and Mark Rubin are no more; they have ceased to be, and the only returning guy of note in the secondary is AJ Wallace. And uh, yeah about AJ Wallace....

My prediction: Alright, you're going to have to bear with me on this. I think Terrelle Pryor is going to do fairly well against the Nittany Lions, and here's why: last year, he had his best passing day of the season, yards-wise, against the Lions. This year, he'll do much of the same. Expect him to get a good amount of time in the pocket and rack up some impressive stats, but the Penn State front seven is going to clog the rushing lanes at critical junctures late in the game. In the end, Penn State will walk away having given Ohio State a tough 17-13 loss, as the Buckeyes end up settling for one too many field goals after multiple promising drives. I should note that I personally do not think this Penn State squad goes undefeated in the Big Ten, losing probably at Illinois. Nevertheless, Penn State's front seven, featuring what might be the best linebacking corps in America , will be simply too good for a Buckeye offense that'll probably still be relying quite heavily on its ground game to overcome.

A Nittany Lion's Thoughts: Kevin from BSD was kind enough to oblige us with his opinions on the game, as well as whether or not this really is a rivalry.

1. Do you consider Penn State - Ohio State a rivalry? If so, why?

Yes, and I'll try to keep this concise.

I wrote a bit about this in the magazine, but basically I see the evolution of this thing following the path that the some southern schools have taken. For so long you had OSU and UM as consistent Big Ten winners, with others unable to maintain any lasting stature as a consistent threat.

The way this works is if Penn State is able to put the Dark Years behind them and become that third party threat. Purists on your end will probably claim there can only be one Game, but guess what: Michigan has a pretty solid rivalry with Notre Dame, and that's been able to co-exist for an awful long time with their conference finale.

So how is a school like Florida is able to have multiple rivals and no one gets into pissing contests about which one is best? FSU is an important game for them, but so in Miami, and they have the Cocktail Party with Georgia...it's all gravy and it only makes there season better.

And it's really only discussion about Michigan that makes this a question in the first place. PSU and OSU share a border and recruiting ground and your Best Player Ever is from our state. Only our two schools have won the conference championship in the last four years and we are picked 1-2 again in 2009. Gameday has been to this game four years in a row, they've only been to Ohio State-Michigan twice in that time.

I'm not trying to discount your game with UM, it's great yada yada, but I do find it funny how important it is for Big Ten lovers (from all schools) to put games into very distinct and well defined boxes rather than just looking at the reality of the situation: which is that when teams repeatedly compete for high stakes natural "rivalness" occurs.

I blame it all on the damn trophies.

2. Name a player opposing fans should be aware of; preferably one that don't already know about.

Well you might have heard we lost the three long time, well regarded receivers who dominate Penn State's career receiving records. Even though just about everyone bashed them in their 2008 previews as undersized and over-hyped (or alternatively: underwhelming and unimpressive), we are apparently all going to die and looking at the total abomination of our passing game.

But the team will try to throw anyway, and although I could pick a couple of guys who may or may not break out, I'll name-drop Derek Moye. He'll be the deep threat and at 6-5 has the ability to (in time) be a more imposing Butler-type because of his athletic ability. He can by most accounts fly and should help at the very least open the field up a bit.

3. Taking off the blue and white-colored rec specs, what do you think Penn State's regular-season record will be?

I hate making predictions and so prefer a kind of caveated cop out. We looked at some of the early lines and Penn State isn't a pre-season do g in any game they play. This makes me want to say 12-0 is saying something like below 11-1 is a kind of disappointment.

But I'm not really that optimistic. Ohio State as you know will be very good this year, Iowa is early enough to give a developing team some problems, and Illinois scares the hell out of me because if Williams shows up that offense will be impossible to stop. Basically: 9-3 is a very real possibility.

4. Make an off-the-cuff prediction for the Ohio State game.

Off-the-cuff? Sure: Penn State 16 Ohio State 10 on a cold as hell day where Royster and Green outplay Herron and Saine.

I can personally verify from extensive playing and replaying of this game on NCAA 09 that Derek Moye is indeed a terror to cover. Well, pixellated Derek Moye anyway. Leave your thoughts on the game below.

And They Say WE'RE The Delusional Ones

BSD — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:32:26 -0000

Whenever something from the Bleacher Report pops up on my Google Alerts I go read it just for the entertainment value. I rarely link to any of the garbage they put out, but sometimes you get some so ridiculous I bring them up for a good laugh. Let's give this one titled Looking Back, Looking Head: Ohio State vs. Penn State the Joe Morgan treatment.

To all PSU fans that think you had the better team and that you dominated and beat Ohio State in Columbus in 2008, and those who say Ohio State was never close to winning that game.

You are truly convinced of that because you think PSU was the better team, but you are all wrong!

Way to set up the straw man so you can knock him down. I would appreciate a link to any PSU blogger or even a raving lunatic on a message board that thinks Penn State "dominated" or suggested that Ohio State was "never close to winning that game." Ohio State carried a 6-3 lead into the fourth quarter and was driving for another score before the Pryor fumble. What person in his right mind would think Penn State dominated the game?

I'm sure you all remember when Pryor fumbled and then PSU scored what ultimately was the game winning TD, right?

Here are two things you may not know about that play.

Again with the straw man. Just get on with it already.

No. 1—It was 3rd and 1 and Pryor was supposed to run up the middle or off tackle and just get the first down, but instead he saw an opening and tried to break a big one.

Yes, we already knew that Terrelle Pryor made a bad decision and tried to break the game open rather than just do the smart thing and get the first down. But go on.

No. 2—You are so lucky he barely fumbled the ball PSU fans.

Ok first of all, how does one "barely" fumble the ball? He either does or he doesn't, and Pryor did. And besides, I prefer to think of it as Mark Rubin making a great play and poking the ball loose. (Did you know Mark Rubin beat Michael Phelps in swimming?)

Here is a screenshot of the exact moment when he lost control of the ball.

Please take note of the field from where he is and then look down field all the way to the endzone.
Had he not fumbled, there is no doubt he would have scored on that play.

There's a screenshot there of the play, and to me it looks like Pryor's momentum has been slowed by Rubin. He's moving toward the sideline with Anthony Scirrotto and Lydell Sargeant closing in fast. But yeah, I guess if I look at it through Scarlett and Gray glasses HE'S TOTALLY GOING TO THE HOUSE DUDE!!!1!!!ONE!!!

Seriously, thank your lucky stars that your team lucked into a win over the Buckeyes.

Were we also lucky later in the fourth quarter? I seem to recall the Buckeyes were driving in the final minutes with a chance to tie it up. That was before Pryor threw that wounded duck of a pass that Lydell Sargeant picked off in the endzone. Or maybe he barely threw a wounded duck that Sargeant barely picked off. I forget. I didn't see the replay because I was running around the house screaming F@&K YEAH!!!

I suppose we were also lucky to mount those two final scoring drives with our backup quarterback. Lady luck sure was shining on us that day indeed.

They will not be so fortunate this season. That's right, I'm already letting you know that Ohio State WILL win in Happy Valley this coming season.

We have been warned. Oooooo....

I know some of you like to mouth off that you played better vs. USC.

Actually, we did. Ohio State was never in that game and lost 35-3. Penn State had one bad quarter but was competitive throughout the rest of the game only losing 38-24. Last time I checked 32>14.

Well either way, (BSD - So you're saying I'm right!) it was a thumping at the hands of Trojans and your team was completely healthy, and all your best players were on the field.

He's right there. We had all of our best players. Except for Evan Royster who got injured in the first quarter and didn't return. And his backup Stephfon Green who broke his ankle later on. Oh, and also Sean Lee, our best linebacker. But other than that, we were completely healthy.

But missing our best player didn't seem to hurt us in the fourth quarter against the Buckeyes, did it?

Remember, Ohio State lost to USC in Los Angeles (not Pasadena) without Beanie Wells and with Todd Boeckman at QB.

Los Angeles vs. Pasadena? Seriously? That's like saying let's play the next game against the Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions in Dublin, OH and call it a neutral field. You can't be that obtuse, can you?

And you're complaining about having to play with Todd Boeckman? The same Todd Boeckman that torched Penn State in Happy Valley in 2007 and took you to the national championship game? Yeah. He sucks.

Let's just close this out with more idle threats and call it a day.

Your "We are, State Penn" chant won't save you and it is a day game.

So sorry Nits, there will be no night game whiteout either to help your clawless lions.

This year the young but mighty and talented Buckeyes are going to bring you back to reality and best of all, on your own field!

I prefer to think of it this way: We beat you by seven points in front of a hostile crowd in a night game. Imagine what we'll do to you on our own field.

This whole article smells like sour grapes. "Boo-hoo we had the better team and should have won." And it's full of idle threats with poor gramar and punctuation. I suppose that makes it perfect for the Bleacher Report.

I look forward to November.

The Rivalry's Guide to Beating Ohio State

grahamfiller10 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:56:01 -0000

This should read like a Billy Mays infomercial:

FOR ALL YOU BIG 10 COACHES: TIRED OF GETTING BLOWN OUT IN COLUMBUS? TIRED OF BEING STIFF-ARMED BY ANOTHER 5 STAR BUCKEYE RECRUIT? TIRED OF WATCHING JIM TRESSEL SMILE AND TALK ABOUT HOW YOU "PLAYED HARD" AFTER HIS TEAM MERCY KILLED YOURS BY FOUR TOUCHDOWNS?

Then read this article, written by THE RIVALRY ESQ, and maybe you can keep it competitive against the Scarlet and Gray this year!

Because frankly, the Buck's have been dominant ever since Tressel's system got rolling during the national championship season in '02. Boasting a 47-9 in-conference record and five conference titles (shared and solo), it's been quite a bitch to play OSU lately. [ed note: PSU fans, I know you smashed them last year, that was a helpful learning tool for making this list.]

Billy Mays, a Pennsylvania native, supports this article.

So what should your team be doing to prepare for a trip into Columbus or a visit from the Buckeyes? I compiled a general list of concepts...

Stop the Run

Easier said than done. Just to name a few solid offensive linemen that have excelled in Columbus the last seven years: Doug Datish, Kirk Barton, TJ Downing, Alex Boone, Rob Sims, Nick Mangold, Alex Stepanovich. These talented linemen, combined with NFL caliber backs, make stopping the bread and butter off-tackle run plays next to impossible. Terrelle Pryor's scrambling won't help either.

But, just like Penn State proved in 2008, the devastating running attack can be stopped. Two basic ideas:

Attack the guards. As WeWillAlwaysHaveTempe pointed out, guard play has been shaky last few years. Numerous times in 2008, the talented Penn State frontline beat the middle three of the OSU offensive line and made a play or disrupted things for a linebacker to clean up the running back.
Don't allow your linebackers to be intimidated: During the 2007 Illini upset in Columbus, J Lehman had 12 tackles, flying everywhere from his LB spot. In 2008, Navarro Bowman and the entire PSU linebacking corps made decisive tackles on Wells, the opposite of whatever Michigan State's defenders tried during the stiff-arm fest that happened in East Lansing. It doesn't hurt to put five defenders at the line of scrimmage, a formation that Illinois used with some success in '07.

The running game was held to 90 ypg in the Buckeye's nine in-conference losses since 2002, a telling statistic. The ability to slow the run will make Pryor have to look downfield, a preferable option to being pounded by the relentless rushing attack. And there is no Michael Jenkins or Santonio Holmes on the 2009 roster, a downfield threat you absolutely must account for.

Mix Up Your Offense and Generally Avoid Downfield Throws

Your not going to score a lot on the Bucks during Big 10 play. From 2005-2007, the Buck's allowed the least ppg each year in-conference, using a "bend but don't break" scheme featuring four down linemen, NFL caliber linebackers, and some talented defensive backs. No one has really had sustained success against this defense, but it certainly helps to do the following:

Move your quarterback out of the pocket. It doesn't matter if it's a modified rollout or a scramble. The Illinois upset in 2007 showed a confused Buckeye defense lacking confidence in defending the movement of Juice Williams. When Penn State had any success throwing the ball in 2008, it was on rollout runs or throws. Hell, if you want to go back to 2004, Brett Basanez's scrambling helped light up the (admittedly weak) OSU defense for 444 total yards. Not since Michigan '06 and Michigan '03 has a Big 10 team with a straight dropback based offense put up big points on Tressel. And this year, there won't be a dropback offense talented enough to score 30...Look what happened when MSU and their vanilla O got smashed last year.
Throw short and mid range passes effectively. Michigan did it with slants in '03, Illinois and Penn State did it with screens in '07 and '08. If you can hit the seams in front of the safeties or get seven yards on a screen, you avoid having to force the ball downfield against the likes of Malcolm Jenkins, Ashton Youboty, Nate Salley, etc.

Pray for Inopportune, Game Changing Turnovers...Or Cause Them

Troy Smith's headstand sack/fumble, TP's '08 fumble, Boeckman's three picks against Illinois. See a pattern here? There's a big, season altering distinction between giving Ohio State trouble (Wisconsin, 2008) and finishing the job (Penn State, 2008). Case in point - When Pryor ran in for the game winning touchdown against the Badgers, the previously solid UW defense was out of position and disorganized. When Pryor had the ball popped out while scrambling on third and one against PSU, Mark Rubin was broke down in position to make a play.

Here is Law Buck's 2009 Spring Preview of Ohio State, predicting an 11-1 record and an undefeated in-conference slate...Wow...11-1? I just don't see them losing to Navy, I'm sorry.

Here is BSD telling you OSU is overrated...

We're All Growns Up, And Making Bryce Paup References

Kevin HD — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:32:06 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

Browse more photos »

I've always found the draft a bit of an odd thing. On one hand fans typically like to see their players to get drafted early and take pride in how many players were taken by teams in The League. But then again, fans dread and seethe scorn when a player jumps for the cash, and also can't feel good about so many talented players not being around for the next college football season.

Anyway, five Penn State players were taken in the seven round draft, second most in the conference to Ohio State, and another nine guys were signed as of the time of this post.

Aaron Maybin - Pick 11, Round 1 (11) - Bills

Project Mayhem, who came out of nowhere in 2008, did The Pass Rush Factory well on Saturday, confirming the jump was indeed a pretty good move.

There were early rumors that Maybin could go as high as five with the Browns looking at so many holes, but most of the recent projections had him in the 10-12 range. The 'experts' can score this one as correct, and Buffalo Rumblings is pleased:

On paper, Buffalo has its most explosive pass rusher since Bryce Paup...What makes this pick better is the fact that they took the right player. No DE displayed a quicker first step in college or at the Combine than Maybin. I had him rated as the top DE on the board the moment he declared for the draft, and the Bills clearly followed suit, if only at the most critical juncture. I think he's the best pass rusher in the draft. The Bills, too, think he's the best pass rusher in the draft, and his upside is tremendous.

Derrick Williams - Pick 18, Round 3 (82) - Lions

No one deserves a little draft luck like Williams, the former #1 rated recruit in the land was taken in the third round and, for the second time in his career, will be tasked with helping to rebuild a program in distraught.

The Pride of Detroit gives the pick a D+, which is, well not even a real grade if I remember right. Regardless, they didn't like the pick, although I think that had a lot to do with Williams not really filling one of their copious amounts of needs like some of the other players who were still on the board.

The Lions have a history of dismissing important needs and picking wide receivers, and as bad as a D+ is, I have to give him credit for his optimism. If I was cursed with being a Lions fan for the past several years, every decision that organization made would get an F- by default until something dramatic happens. I would probably just be that bitter.

The Free Press has a couple of quotes about the pick:

Kiper's response:

"He came into Penn State and he was supposed to wow everybody. He didn't initially, but came on. ... He doesn't have the great 40 time, but he's quick out of his burst, out of his cuts. He has that burst you look for and has the ability to score in a lot of ways -- in the return game, on reverses, catching the football. He's very good after the catch in the open field."

You hear things like this all the time and I gave up a long time ago trying to argue about it. Williams was no Reggie Bush or Tim Tebow, but he was important, in a way that the occasional observer wouldn't recognize. I don't blame anyone for this, I completely understand how his stats can be seen as underwhelming, but let's drop the whole "never lived up to the hype" thing, because to be frank it's a stupid comment.

Mayock's response:

"II thought he had an excellent Senior Bowl, but he followed it up with a poor Combine, running a 4.67 -- very slow for an elite receiver. Great Senior Bowl, but too many drops in his career. ... I watched him catch punts one day (at the Senior Bowl) and this is supposed to be an elite punt returner and that day if the football had been a harpoon, he'd have been dead. It'd have pierced his chest."

He was reportedly pretty sick the week of the combine and told by his agent to sit the thing out. He worked out anyway, which was indeed a bad decision, but as we've talked about before here at BSD looked great in the Senior Bowl.

And I have no idea where he's going with that harpoon analogy.

Deon Butler - Pick 27, Round 3 (91) - Seahawks

About four picks before Butler was drafted by Seattle, a commenter who shall remain nameless set the over/under at pick 114 in the open thread, a fourth round choice. I too was a bit surprised to see him go so early, but his blazing 40 at the combine apparently helped the draft stock of one of the most under-the-radar receivers in the nation last year.

Seattle loves them some record setting Penn State receivers, of course, and so we all saw this coming:

"He has some of the same traits as far as route-running goes," Seahawks offensive coordinator Greg Knapp said when asked to compare Butler to his fellow PSU alumnus. "He's not as polished, obviously, as Bobby is."

Rich Ohrnberger - Pick 23, Round 4 (123) - Patriots

Ohrnberger was probably the biggest surprise from a Penn State perspective, who many thought wouldn't go until after Shipley and Cadogan. Not true, of course. Ohrnberger will be buried on the depth chart this season, but was part of an effort to hedge against an aging line:

Ohrnberger, a player who took a pre-draft visit to Gillette Stadium, adds youth to the interior of the offensive line and provides a fallback, longer-term option with starting guards Logan Mankins (left) and Stephen Neal (right) entering the final year of their contracts.

PatsBlog likes the pick, even if it did cost them a well respected cornerback in Ellis Hobbs:

Ohrnberger is a guy I actually like. Although he is undersized, he plays with a good motor, is quick out of his stance, and is good in pass protection and pulling. Solid pick who could eventually take over for Stephen Neal at right guard.

A.Q. Shipley - Pick 17, Round 7 (226) - Steelers

There was a time when I though A.Q. might not get drafted, and at that time I was thinking it would be the most bewildering event (or non-event?) of the weekend.

He is undersized, and probably slid because of it, but once picked I found it hard to feel bad for a guy who gets to play for his hometown team. The Steelers earned overall "grades" as low as an F and as high as an A+, further lending credibility to the practice of grading drafts.

Naturally the local papers loved it. Not everyone was sold, though:

Can't say I'm too big a fan of Big 10 football so I can't comment on whether or not Shipley is so adored for his local product status, his ability on the field, or some combination of the two. Probably headed for the practice squad as well, but there's an interesting discussion to be had about the future of our offensive line - especially for those who have an opinion one way or another as to whether or not Shipley legitimately could be a better than average starting center....

I'm not sure if he's upset the Steelers picked a kid from the Big Ten or if he simply doesn't know much about A.Q. It's not like the Big Ten hasn't produced some decent linemen in the last five years. Besides, as far as risk and reward go, there's nothing wrong with picking the conference's best center in the seventh round and hoping it works out.

Quickly: Signed but undrafted...

It's easy to pile on Maurice Evans at this point; he goes undrafted but signs with the Giants. As disappointed as I am in his 2008 production and decision to leave, I can unconditionally say I wish him all the best.

Jordan Norwood will join the Browns, and Facebook Stalking H/T to NittanyWhiteOut, who was all over this one.

Gerald Cadogan was a major surprise as an undrafed free agent. He'll go to Carolina.

Lydell Sargeant will move north to help build Penn State another satellite campus in Buffalo. Front page promotion for the best photoshop of this one in the comments.

Tyrell Sales signs with the Colts.

Josh Gaines stays in-state with the Eagles.

Dan Lawlor signs with the Redskins.

Mark Rubin signed with the Rams.

Anthony Scirrotto signs with the Panthers.

Surprise: The Fourth Linebacker, Mark Rubin

Run Up The Score — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:00:06 -0000

The first of many looks back at the pleasant (and unpleasant) surprises of Penn State's 2008 season. Today, Mark Rubin. Tomorrow, your mom!

"They are who we thought they were!" Words from one of the top five coaching meltdowns in history? Yes, but it's also how many described the early play of Mark Rubin and Josh Hull, two players who in August were pegged as the biggest potential liabilities on the Nittany Lion defense. As noted (repeatedly, yes) in my post-game defensive grades, Hull had his ups and downs throughout the year. Let's give Hull credit for a few things -- he's a walk-on who was pressed into action when Sean Lee went down in the spring, he's an Academic All-American, and he's an absolute credit to the program as a whole. All of that is completely true. On the field, when he was good, he was very good. When he was bad, he was very not good.

Mark Rubin also struggled to start the year, mainly in pass coverage. As the year progressed, however, Rubin truly grew into the position and made it his own. When the Lions rolled into Columbus, many analysts focused on Rubin as the soft spot in the Penn State defense. Then, this:

Penn State at Ohio State - Fumble recovery (via ddhawk5364)

And Mark Rubin will never have to pay for a drink in State College again. He finished the season in strong fashion, quickly evolving into a sure tackler -- even in the open field. The skinny wide receiver who attempted to save the Nittany Lion passing [sic] offense [sic] in 2004 turned in the biggest defensive play in Penn State's 2008 Rose Bowl run. The guy who beat Michael Phelps in the pool as a kid let loose with one last freestyle stroke against Terrelle Pryor, catapulting the Lions into the BCS.

Well played, sir. Well played.

I Am So Smart! S-M-R-T!

Run Up The Score — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:24:10 -0000

Congratulations, nerds!

Having seen a school record 10 Nittany Lions earn first team All-Big Ten honors on Monday, Penn State has landed a program record five players on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team, with four earning first team honors.

Senior tackle Gerald Cadogan (Portsmouth, Ohio), junior linebacker Josh Hull (Millheim), junior kick snapper Andrew Pitz (Bettendorf, Iowa) and senior safety Mark Rubin (Amherst, N.Y.) earned first team accolades. Sophomore guard Stefen Wisniewski (Bridgeville) was a second team choice. Cadogan is a two-time first team honoree.

Penn State's four first team selections and five overall selections led the nation. Brigham Young, Dayton and North Dakota State were the only other schools with more than two honorees. Penn State is the first school to have five Academic All-America football players since Nebraska in 1997.

The Nittany Lions were the only Big Ten Conference team with more than one Academic All-American. The five Academic All-America selections give Penn State 43 all-time, with 41 under Coach Joe Paterno. Twenty-seven Nittany Lions have earned first team Academic All-America honors a total of 31 times under Paterno. The Nittany Lions' total of 43 Academic All-America football players ranks third among all Division I-A institutions.

Grading The Defense: College Avenue Freezeout

Run Up The Score — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:37:20 -0000

Another great performance from the Nittany Lion defense. For its deficiencies, it must be said that this unit has not only overachieved this season, but dominated. Looking only at Big Ten games, Penn State was in the top two in the following categories: scoring defense, pass defense, turnover margin, rushing defense, total defense, pass efficiency defense, and first downs allowed.

(And a fun thing I just noticed? Your Big Ten leader in assisted tackles is James Laurinaitis. Seriously.)

She received four Buckeye stickers and one tackle for loss.

And while we're on the subject, let's bring in ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg:

James Laurinaitis is a future College Football Hall of Famer and a sure-fire first-round NFL draft pick. He's an excellent football player. He should not have been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. That award should have gone to Penn State defensive end Aaron Maybin. No one else is really in the discussion. Maybin was flat-out dominant this season. I don't care if he's just a sophomore. Base the award on merit, not on reputation or name recognition or having a nice back story.

Not sure Maybin is the best player on PSU's defense this year -- that honor goes to Jared Odrick, in my opinion -- but it's nice to see Laurinaitis knocked down a peg or two in a widely-viewed forum. He's a good player. He is not that good. Anyone who watches an Ohio State game with a semi-critical eye knows this. There's been a lot of argument between Ohio State and Penn State fans over who has produced the better linebackers over the past few years, and there's really no losing side. A.J. Hawk was simply awesome. Same with Paul Posluszny and Dan Connor. James Laurinaitis isn't remotely close to any of them.

In the spirit of being Fair And Balanced, Rittenberg also says that Joe Paterno should not have been Big Ten Coach of the Year, which I happen to agree with.

If there was an award to give an entire coaching staff, than Penn State's staff should get it. But it's a single award, and one that should have gone to Michigan State's Mark Dantonio or Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald. You can't tell me Paterno had as much influence in shaping his team as Dantonio or Fitzgerald. This vote was based on sentimentality, not by looking at what each man actually accomplished.

Given that Dantonio has officially cemented his status as The Jolly Green Douchebag, my vote would be for Fitzgerald. And while the college football world will continue to pay tribute to Paterno over the next few weeks, nobody can legitimately argue that working from home and silently sitting in the press box qualifies as coaching, not when other guys are busting their asses every day and trying to win nine games at freakin' Northwestern. They had one hiccup against Indiana, otherwise they'd be a 10-2 team and this vote wouldn't be remotely close.

Anyway, the game.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A+

Tremendous all day long. They were able to generate a pass rush with four players, something that the scheme depends upon for success. When it works, it's usually a long day for the opposing offense. They also received a little help from Sparty. Down 14-0 halfway through the second quarter, Michigan State was moving the ball on the ground and reached the PSU 45 yard line. They tried to get cute with a playaction pass, and Maurice Evans blew by the tackle and fullback for a sack of Brian Hoyer. With 21 yards to go for a first down, they went with another useless playaction pass -- nobody in the stadium believed it for a second -- and a screen pass which even I called in Section NC ten seconds before the snap.

Jared Odrick was great again, and was in Brian Hoyer's face when he threw an interception to Anthony Scirrotto before halftime. As Todd Blackledge noticed, Josh Hull also provided great coverage on that play.

Also, if you spotted #71 on the field during MSU's final offensive efforts, your eyes weren't deceiving you. That was Devon Still.

LINEBACKERS: A-

As you might expect from the previous paragraphs, their jobs were made exceptionally easy by the defensive line. Hull was surprisingly good in pass coverage, not only on the play mentioned above, but he also tipped a pass that led to Anthony Scirrotto dusting a guy across the middle in the first quarter. Tyrell Sales had a great tackle for loss against Ringer in the first half. Special mention for Navarro Bowman absolutely sawing Brian Hoyer in half on Sparty's third quarter trick play.

Personally, I ragged on this group throughout the year, although I don't think it was unwarranted. When they were bad, they were really awful. When they were good, the defense was just killing dudes out there. Still, they generally played well in the biggest games (at Ohio State, especially), and there's plenty to be said for that.

(Oh, and we get Sean Lee back next year.)

SECONDARY: A-

Held Hoyer to five yards per attempt, and never really allowed him to settle in. Now, go back a few months ago and imagine me writing this: I have no idea how we're going to replace Mark Rubin next year. Scary, but true -- he's gone from utter liability to one of the most dependable players on the Penn State defense. Nice to see Anthony Scirrotto have some great plays in his final Beaver Stadium game, and let's show some appreciation for Tony Davis' effort this season. How many times did you hear his name throughout the year? Good sign for a cornerback. Also, Lydell Sargeant vastly improved this season. After a while, people just stopped asking, "Why isn't A.J. Wallace in the game?"

And poor D'Anton Lynn thought he had his very first interception on the last play of the game, but the pass was ruled incomplete.

COACHING: A

Was there a more entertaining sight than Sean Lee trying to get Tom Bradley to accept the rose during Sparty's last drive? Give all of the defensive coaches a ton of credit for Penn State's dominant defense. They were thin along the defensive line after the knuckleheads were sent packing before the season. The secondary that I personally thought would be a disaster held up pretty well.

Your Sparty drives:

That's one meaningful drive while the game was actually in question. Excellent work, all around.

Grading The Defense Against the Indiana Hoosiers

BSD — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:00:06 -0000

The first rule of Project Mayhem is you do not ask questions.

After giving up 24 points and getting beat up on the final drive in Iowa, the defense was looking to regain some of that swagger before going into the Big Ten Championship game next week. Let's see how they graded out.

Defensive Line

If there is a single word to describe the play of Aaron Maybin, it's mayhem. In fact that should be his name. Aaron Mayhem. No...Project Mayhem. Indiana tried everything to contain him including double teams, but his speed was too much to handle. I watched one play where Indiana called a running play to go between the right guard and tackle. They had a tight end lined up next to the tackle across from Project Mayhem. They snapped the ball and Project Mayhem ran outside the tight end, so the tackle released to the second level thinking Project Mayhem had run himself out of the play, but Project Mayhem just ran around the tight end like his shoes were stuck in quick sand and tackled the running from behind just as he was hitting the hole. Mayhem was wreaking havoc like that all day long and even managed to get a sack on the elusive Lewis.

Jared Odrick and Ollie Ogbu dominated the middle of the line of scrimmage. Odrick in particular had an outstanding game disrupting everything Indiana was trying to do. Josh Gaines tried to go on his injured ankle but had to shut it down after the first series. Eric Latimore and Jack Crawford platooned during the game at his vacated spot. They each held their ground but weren't very spectacular.

Maurice Evans showed signs of returning to his 2007 form, but he was practically invisible outside of a play or two. I may be wrong, but it's an observation of mine that he doesn't seem very interested this year. There is no bounce in his step, and when someone makes a big play like Rubin's interception or Hull's sack he doesn't celebrate or congratulate his teammates. Maybe it's nothing, but his uninspired play is undeniable.

In all the defensive line played a great game getting two sacks and holding Indiana to 123 yards rushing on the day (with 57 of those coming on one play.)

Final Grade: A

Linebackers

Outside of one play they were very good. You can blame that one play on Bani Gbadyu who blew containment by running inside and then completely whiffing on the tackle. This is why Bani Gbadyu doesn't play much.

Every week we wonder if the good Josh Hull or bad Josh Hull is going to show up. Bad Josh Hull showed up in the first half. He blitzed up the middle and disappeared somewhere in the mush of 300 lb. men never to be seen until the next play. He was futily diving at the ankles of Kellen Lewis as he ran past him up the sideline. He was hitting Thigpen five yards down field, and then getting dragged another three yards. But the good Josh Hull showed up in the second half. The coaches sent him on some delayed blitzes with success. I think this is good for him because he can pick a hole and attack it rather than hitting a gap that isn't there and getting swallowed up. Hull still wasn't getting to Lewis, but he rushed a few throws and forced Lewis to throw the ball away on a few occassions. He did get there once for, believe it or not, his first career sack.

Bowman was his usual stellar self always around the ball. I watched one play where he blitzed around the right tackle, but the play was a designed sweep to the left. Bowman ran across the field and tackled Thigpen along the sideline for a short gain. He along with Project Mayhem give the defense two disruptive players unlike any I've seen since the LaVar Arrington/Courtney Brown days.

Final Grade: B

Defensive Backs

It's hard to argue with the stats. Indiana only completed nine passes on 23 attempts for 57 yards and one interception. But in fairness, Indiana is struggling with injuries and doesn't really have many weapons on offense.

Mark Rubin may be our best defensive back. How many people thought you would read that on this blog before the season started? Time and again this year he has come up with big plays on defense, and Saturday he stepped up again. He made a great read and jump on the intereception. And later in the game on a crucial third down play he made an outstanding open field tackle on Kellen Lewis. Honestly, he tackles better than most of our linebackers, which is awesome and sad at the same time.

Tony Davis also played an excellent game making a few crucial open field tackles. I didn't notice anyone else, which is usually a good thing when you are a defensive back.

Final Grade: A

Special Teams

If there is an unsung hero on this team it's Nate Stupar. He's a one-man special teams wrecking crew. He got another blocked punt this week. And at the end of every kickoff you saw #34 getting off the bottom of the pile along with #42 Mike Mauti. It's going to be a fun spring watching these two guys fight it out for the outside linebacker spot vacated by Ty Sales after this season.

Go for the ball? Protect the junk? Go for the ball? Protect the junk?
F&%k it. This is going to hurt.

Jeremy Boone averaged 51.5 yards on his two punts. Kelly missed a field goal but had a nice pooch punt down to the Indiana two-yard line. The kick return game was meh, but admittedly only got two attempts, and one of those went to Dan Lawlor.

Final Grade: B+

Defensive Coaching

There was a little feeling of "Oh crap, here we go again" in the early going, but they settled in nicely. Indiana only recorded nine pass completions and six first downs. The defensive line was very effective in their mush-rush to contain Lewis. Once he realized Indiana wasn't much of a passing threat, Bradley let the defensive backs play some man-to-man and cut the linebackers loose to blitz. Say it with me now, WHERE WAS THAT LAST WEEK? The stat sheet speaks for itself.

But there were still situations in third and long where they trotteed out the nickel back and backed the corners eight yards off the line of scrimmage. Like smoking in public and clubbing baby seals, this should be banned by the international community. But the end result was just seven points on a fluke play, and outside of that Indiana never really threatened to score. But considering the opponent, that isn't saying much.

Final Grade: B

What does all this mean for Michigan State?

Unfortunately not much. The Spartans are much more talented and physical than the Hoosiers. You can expect a steady diet of Javon Ringer left, Javon Ringer right, Javon Ringer up the middle next week. They're not quite one dimensional though. If Brian Hoyer is on his game you can call them one-and-a-half dimensional. If I had to compare them to a team we've played so far, it's Iowa. So, yeah.

Grading The Defense: Ohio State

Run Up The Score — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:09:34 -0000

Beanie's favorite meal.

It's been well-documented already, but the amount of holding by Ohio State's offensive line was beyond comical. Aaron Maybin was held practically all night, and the interior linemen didn't fare much better. We're talking blatant stuff here -- grabbing fistfuls of jerseys and whipping defensive linemen to the ground. It was happening in the very plain view of multiple officials, and guess what? Not one holding flag against Ohio State all night. Sometimes, it truly does feel like 11 vs. 18 on the field in this conference.

Need an unbiased opinion? Allow me to quote Mr. Orson Swindle, during Ohio State's final drive:

And then there's this picture.

Anyway.

Defensive Line: A

Okay, one last example as long as we're on the subject. On Pryor's first scramble, no less than three Penn State defensive linemen (Odrick, Okoli, and Evans) were clearly held. The good news? If holding is such a widespread problem throughout a game, at least defensive line is raising hell. The PSU defensive line was in the right place virtually all night. Beanie Wells ate spoonful after heaping spoonful of stuffing. Pryor made a few plays with his feet but didn't change the game in any meaningful way. Maybin and Odrick were the stars of this unit.

Linebackers: A-

Josh Hull and Tyrell Sales got the starts, and both played rather well. Hull was getting a little more downhill than in previous efforts, and was more than eager to take on Beanie Wells. Still, he keeps getting stoned on blitzes. The defense may as well play with ten players instead of forcing Hull to awkwardly dance with a random offensive lineman.

Sales made two especially great plays. The first was sniffing out a screen pass to Robiskie and making a great open field tackle. The second was throwing Beanie Wells to the ground after Mark Rubin knocked the ball away from Terrelle Pryor. Oh, and then he poked the ball toward his teammates.

Navorro Bowman, as always, was everywhere. In the backfield taking down Wells, deflecting passes. Truly awesome. Now, imagine him and Sean Lee on the field together next year.

Secondary: A-

They all played pretty well, but let's face it. This is about Mark Rubin, who was tough from the very beginning. He fought off a block on the first screen pass and stuck his nose between Beanie's numbers. Then made the next tackle. After a while, you expected Mark Rubin to always be the last guy in the dogpile to be peeled off Beanie Wells. Rubin was occasionally lost in pass coverage, but against such a run-heavy, one-dimensional offense, he was outstanding.

Coaching: A+

Stop Beanie Wells and let the chips fall where they may. Not the most complicated gameplan you'll ever see, but it didn't have to be exotic. Just effective.

Oh, and waaaaaaaah, holding!

Poll

The defensive player of the game was...

Jared Odrick

39 votes

Mark Rubin

355 votes

Navorro Bowman

213 votes

Aaron Maybin

43 votes

650 votes | Poll has closed