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

LVS — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:07:03 -0000

about 1 month 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)

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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)

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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.]

Special Teams Coach: Located And Free

Run Up The Score — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:52:39 -0000

Well, this wasn't difficult. God bless the internets.

Lost in yesterday's crapfest -- Navorro Bowman has likely played his last game at Beaver Stadium. As for injuries, Brandon Beachum sustained what appeared to be a very serious knee injury on the second half kickoff. A.J. Wallace left the game with a concussion, and Chaz Powell left the game with what was preliminarily described as a sprain of his AC shoulder joint.

Despite Penn State's lazy performance, they're likely to nudge even closer to the magical top 14 of the BCS standings. Penn State started the day ranked #18 in the rankings, but #9 USC, #10 Iowa, #14 Miami, #15 Houston, #16 Utah, and #17 Arizona all lost.

Senior Day Haiku

BSD — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:33 -0000

by Carlos Osorio - AP

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This Saturday will mark the fourth senior day in the history of this fine blog. Tomorrow afternoon 18 seniors will run out of the tunnel for the last time wearing the Blue and White. Some of them will go on to try to earn a roster spot in the NFL. Others will go on to lead successful careers in business and life. Some are stars. Some are little known walk ons. They got up every day at 5 AM for four years to lift weights and run sprints so they could put on a show for us twelve Saturdays a year. They are heroes. They are legends. They are Penn State football.

If you're new to BSD this season, we have a tradition where we honor all of the senior players, from the All Americans to the third string long snapper, with a little ditty we call Senior Day Haiku. Feel free to add your own Haiku in the comments. We'll go in alphabetical order.

P - Jeremy Boone

He must hate the ball
Holy Cow did you see that?
He just hit the moon!

QB - Daryll Clark

Roll out and go deep
Never good enough for some
Just short of legend

TE - Brennan Coakley

You might have been good
Just too many injuries
We will never know

DE - Tom Golarz

Did you notice that
Golarz rhymes with solarz?
That is all I got

DE - Jerome Hayes

I still remember
You sacking Jimmy Clausen
Man, that was awesome

LB - Josh Hull

Went from suck to good
It must have been the mustache
Bow-chicka-bow-bow

OL - Dennis Landolt

Quiet performer
Right or left doesn't matter
I got your back, Clark

LB - Sean Lee

Your torn ACL
Brought you back another year
We're thankful for that

WR - Patrick Mauti

Sorry ‘bout the knee
Wait, you're not the linebacker?
Your brother is good

OL - Nerraw McCormack

You waited your turn
Got your chance but hurt yourself
Wasn't meant to be

CB - Shelton McCullough

Ran out the tunnel
I would kill to do that once
Gradulations, dude

DT - Jared Odrick

You know I own you
Double team? Doesn't matter
Running back is mine

LS - Andrew Pitz

The unheralded
Long snappers are people too
You did a good job

OL - Ako Poti

Please don't let Clark die
Nightmares of Heyward haunt me
Please, God, make it stop

TE - Andrew Quarless

Crossing the middle
Missed a block and dropped a pass
Joe's dog house must suck

TE - Mickey Shuler

Like father like son
All you did was play steady
Paterno likes that

CB - Knowledge Timmons

What was that blue streak?
Knowledge gunning the sideline
Look out return man

CB - A.J. Wallace

High expectations
Joe says too loosey goosey
Cover-3 just blows

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.

Penn State Freezes Minnesota 20-0

BSD — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:00:19 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

2 months ago: Penn State wide receiver Derek Moye (6) catches a pass in the end zone for a touchdown as Minnesota cornerback Marcus Sherels (24) moves in on the play during the first half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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It was a cold and wet day for mid October with several inches of snow on the ground from the day before. The homecoming crowd was subdued from the cold drizzle falling on their faces, but their hearts were warmed by a dominating performance by the Nittany Lions as Penn State turned in a rare shutout over the Golden Gophers of Minnesota.

The Penn State defense set the tone for the day on the opening series when Josh Hull intercepted an Adam Weber pass, giving the Lions excellent field position at the Minnesota 34 yard line. Though the offense sputtered and couldn't advance the ball, the Gophers were put on notice that every yard would have to be earned.

Evan Royster ignited Penn State's second drive with a 35 yard gain down the right sideline out of a Power I formation. But a few erratic throws by Clark and a sack on third down stalled the drive. Collin Wagner salvaged the effort with a career long 47 yard field goal that looked like it wouldn't have been good from 47.5 yards.

Starting from their own 20 on their next drive, Penn State methodically drove down the field in 13 plays, but the drive stalled at the Minnesota 10 yard line where Wagner punched in his second field goal in as many drives. Though Penn State was dominating, it was a nervous feeling to only be up by six points.

But six points would prove to be all the defense needed. Minnesota failed to find success in the running game or the passing attack. As a team they rushed for only 37 yards and a 2.1 yard per carry average. Adam Weber only threw for 101 yards with his star receiver Eric Decker only catching one pass for 42 yards late in the third quarter when the game was comfortably in hand. For the day the Gophers only ran 40 offensive plays and managed only seven first downs.

Penn State's fourth possession was killed by a holding penalty on Lou Eliades and an offsides call on Chaz Powell. Collin Wagners 49 yard field goal attempt fell short by two yards, so it's safe to say his range has been officially established at 47 yards.

Penn State's final drive of the half started at their own nine yard line. Ten plays, later they found themselves facing a 3rd at 2 play at the Minnesota 13 yard line. Clark dropped back to pass and faced heavy pressure. He dumped the ball off to Graham Zug who had to go low to make the catch. The play was originally called incomplete, but video replay showed that Zug managed to get his arm under the ball and make the catch, so Penn State was awarded a first a goal. Even still, it looked like a holding penalty on Wisniewski was going to stall another drive. But on 2nd and goal from the 13 Clark threw to Moye in the endzone. The officials ruled the catch out of bounds, but again the play was reviewed, and again the call on the field was overturned. Replays showed Moye indeed caught the ball and dragged his right foot inbounds for the touchdown. Penn State would take a 13-0 lead into the half.

Both teams traded insignificant possessions to start the third quarter. Then the Penn State offense got in gear again. Starting from their own 15 yard line they marched on a 13 play drive that consumed nearly eight minutes off the clock. Daryll Clark punched the ball in the endzone on a quarterback sneak to give the Nittany Lions a 20 point lead to end the scoring.

But there was still work to be done to protect the shutout. Minnesota responded with a drive of their own, highlighted by the 42 yard pass to Decker over the middle. A few plays later the Gophers had a 1st and goal at the PSU 8 yard line. But some stellar play by the cornerbacks would prevent Minnesota from scoring. On first down, D'Anton Lynn blanketed Brandon Green in the endzone forcing an incomplete pass from Weber. On second down Stephon Morris showed good aggressiveness in breaking up a wide receiver screen for little gain. An Adam Weber scramble on third down came up short setting up a fourth and goal play from the half yard line. Weber handed off to Kevin Whaley who raced toward the right pylon. Jerome Hayes got up field taking on two blockers and forcing the play to the outside. Then Navorro Bowman and A.J. Wallace converged on the play and stopped Whaley for no gain. The shutout was safe, and the celebration began. Minnesota never threatened to score again.

Overall it was a solid performance by Penn State. They dominated the Gophers on offense and defense. The final score may look disappointing to those just cruising the headlines, but considering the weather conditions and the fact that Penn State started most of their drives deep in their own territory I think Joe Paterno will be pretty happy with this performance.

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)

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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

Depth Chartin': Last Clan Standing

Run Up The Score — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:44:41 -0000

It's been said here at BSD that depth charts are part information, part motivation. Perhaps now, we can just split it in thirds, because trickeration may have just walked into the bar.

Your starting linebackers, according to this week's Game Notes from GoPSUSports.com:

Outside Linebacker
45 Sean Lee (6-2, 236, Sr/Sr)
9 Michael Zordich (6-1, 225, So/Fr)
33 Michael Yancich (6-2, 223, So/Fr)
Inside Linebacker
43 Josh Hull (6-2, 236, Sr/Sr)
48 Chris Colasanti (6-2, 238, Jr/Jr)

Outside Linebacker
11 Navorro Bowman (6-1,230, Sr/Jr)
34 Nate Stupar (6-1, 236, Jr/So)
15 Bani Gbadyu (6-1, 231, Sr/Jr)
54 James Van Fleet (6-0, 216, So/Fr)

Lee and Bowman are listed as "possible" on the injury report. Possible. Anything is possible, right? Without Lee, we're probably looking at Gbadyu | Hull | Bowman. If Bowman is also out, expect Stupar to get the start in his place. And hold on, baby. Hold on. For now, Bowman is expected to play. Colasanti burned his redshirt last week, so he's available for duty if necessary.

Elsewhere, Johnnie Troutman is the starter at left guard. The left cornerback is Knowledge Timmons OR A.J. Wallace. James Terry has nudged his way up to second team DT. Graham Zug has been cleared to play on Saturday.

Iowa has its own share of injury news, as stud left tackle Bryan Bulaga, perpetually brittle tight end Tony Moeaki, and all-around villainous turd Derrell Johnson-Koulianos are missing from the Hawkeyes' depth chart:

Here’s what Ferentz said about the three after Saturday’s 27-17 victory over Arizona:

"Day to day. We talked about it a little earlier. Realistically we thought that they would have a shot, outside of Bryan. We knew he was out because he missed practice on Thursday. We were hoping to get some good news sooner or later. The injuries that Tony and Derrell have, they could be fine this week or they might not be. We will know more by Tuesday."

Marc Morehouse, Hawkeye reporter/blogger and BHGP fave, thinks the three will play.

Update: Lee has a possible ankle injury, too?

Joe Paterno Press Conference Recap

BSD — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:30:03 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

3 months ago: Penn State coach Joe Paterno waves to the crowd as he takes to the field before an NCAA college football game against Syracuse, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, in State College, Pa. Penn State won 28-7. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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The folks at BWI were kind enough to post the transcript of Joe Paterno's press conference today. Since they were the first to put it out, they get the link. Here are some bullet points of interest.

The first question came from some reporter who must be on his first day covering Penn State football. He asked Joe if the team had a sense of urgency about the Big Ten opener against Iowa coming up next week. I'll give ten BSD bucks to anyone who can guess the answer Joe gave without peeking at the link.
Navorro Bowman has not practiced this week and probably will not play on Saturday unless he practices today. Evidently Bowman is still having pain in McGloin.
Joe is comfortable with a pass heavy offense if that's what they need to do to win. He would rather see more balance with the running game.
Syracuse stacked the safeties and brought a lot of blitzes while stiffled the running game. Joe was stubborn and kept running the ball because he felt they needed the work. He says Temple runs a different scheme on defense, so we'll see what happens.
Johnnie Troutman has improved. He has lost about 20 lbs since the summer and he's getting better. He'll probably see some playing time on Saturday.
Joe likes the poise of the team outside of the fumble on the goal line. He wishes the defense could force more turnovers. He's disappointed in that.
Great question about Penn State's approach to walk ons. Joe says there are two types of walk ons. There are the kids they recruit, but just don't have room for so they ask them to walk on and promise to try to get them a scholarship if one opens up. Then there are the kids nobody knows about where the high school coach sends them some tape and asks them to take a look at the kid because he really loves Penn State. Then when the semester starts they have two days where anyone in the student body can come try out for the team. They usually get one or two kids that way.
Joe says that Andrew Quarless has "grown up" and he's a good football player on the verge of being very good.
Joe doesn't think shifting Wisniewski to center and Landolt to left tackle have contributed to the offensive line woes. It's more to do with three new guys who haven't played much.
Joe is not pleased with the kickoff coverage team in allowing two big runbacks against Syracuse. He says they had a freshman on the outside who did not do his job in containing the play and let it get outside. They have to do better.
Joe was asked if switching personnel around on the offensive line is keeping it from coming together. He says they switch personnel all the time in practice. You have to be ready if a guy goes down so you can plug in the backup and keep going.
Joe thinks the offensive line has a lot of good players who are pretty even in talent. Things will work out if they just stop listening to the media.
Ollie Ogbu is a solid player. Joe calls him his "Staten Island Ferry"...whatever that means. (He's big as a boat? I really don't know.)
Chima Okoli is playing well. Tom McEowen is hurt. Joe says he will probably redshirt (but I'm pretty sure he already had a redshirt year.)
A.J. Wallace and Knowledge Timmons are even at the top of the depth chart, and both are going to play for awhile. (BSD - I find it interesting that D'Anton Lynn appears to be the only corner that has locked down a starting position.)
There was a question on Hull's mustache which is quickly approaching legend status.

I was curious what your take on Josh Hull's mustache was, facial hair?

Paterno: Has he got a mustache?

You haven't seen it?

Paterno: I guess I've seen it but I haven't noticed it. As long as it's not coming down to his neck, is it?

No.

Paterno: Then he's all right. Geez, you guys must think I go around...it's like that old Nash guy, the guy that was a major mash, call him out and have him review every morning. No. Good kid. Great kid. Doing great. Playing well. Heck of a student. He's an engineer, 3.5 grade point average. If he wants a mustache, that's okay.

They always had passing plays to Royster in the system, but it's hard to send him out in the passing game when the opponent is blitzing a lot. They need to keep him back there to help protect. Says Royster has good hands. Green does not, but when he catches the ball he's as fast as anyone on the team.
Another rookie reporter asked Joe how his team compared to the other teams ranked in the top five. Which prompted this hilarious monologue.

I imagine you don't pay attention to rankings too much, national rankings, but being No. 5 in the country do you ever compare your team's development to other teams?

Paterno: No, don't get me into that. I don't know what we are, for crying out loud. Geez, that's the same thing -- hey, I honest to God, are we No. 5 is that what you're telling me?

Yes.

Paterno: I don't know that we're No. 5. You guys don't seem to understand, I don't pay -- I don't read anything about us. I get the paper. I go to the bathroom. I take the paper in there and I scan it. I look at it. The first thing I do is look at who died. All right. Second thing I look at are headliners, something that says Paterno is the greatest, I read it. (Laughter) If it says I'm a bum, I don't even look at it.

Grading the Penn State Defense Against Akron

BSD — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:00:33 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

3 months ago: Penn State's Eric Latimore, left, sacks Akron quarterback Chris Jacquemain during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in State College, Pa. Penn State won 31-7. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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It was a thoroughly dominating performance by the Nittany Lions for the first 30 minutes of play. Akron failed to register a first down until the third quarter. Penn State held the Zips to 8 total yards in the first half with minus 15 yards rushing. The second half was a different story, but we'll get into that. Let's grade out the defense.

Defensive Line

This was as dominating performance I can ever remember by a Penn State defensive line. Ollie Ogbu set the tone on Akron's first snap when he dropped Zips running back Norman Shuford for a three yard loss. Jack Crawford followed that up on the next play by blowing up a sweep to the right for a four yard loss. And so it was all afternoon for Akron. They couldn't open any holes to run through. and Jacquemain couldn't find any time to throw getting sacked four times.

Odrick and Ogbu were particularly dominating. Ogbu recorded 2.5 TFL while Odrick had 2 TFL and half a sack. There were also numerous times when they flushed Jacquemain into the arms of the outside pass rush.

The defensive ends had solid days. Jack Crawford looked good in his debut with 2 TFL and a sack. Eric Latimore also had a sack. But perhaps the best sight of the day was Jerome Hayes just being on the field and making plays again. He finished the day with 1.5 TFL.

They looked pretty sluggish in the second half of the game, but then so did the entire defense. A lot of young guys got to play including Devon Still, Chima Okoli, and Sean Stanley, and the coaches called off the dogs and played straight up basic defense. So I'm not going to count the second half against them.

Final Grade: A

Linebackers

It was The Nate Stupar Show on Saturday. The redshirt sophomore was forced into action early when Navorro Bowman was shut down to rest a nagging groin injury and made the most of the opportunity with a game high 12 tackles and a sack to go with them. Stupar had a huge play midway through the third quarter. Akron was attempting to get on the scoreboard by going for it on fourth down at the Penn State two-yard line. Jacquemain hurried the offense to the line and tried to catch the Penn State defense off guard. Jacquemain faked inside and tried to bounce it off tackle. Stupar met him there and shut him down one yard short of the goal line to keep Akron off the scoreboard. His play yesterday makes me feel okay about resting Bowman up for Big Ten play. We'll be just fine with No. 34 in there.

Man, was it great to see Sean Lee back in there. I think he looked faster than I remember him. And he looked as sharp as ever in anticipating the play and reacting. He had seven tackles and two TFL almost recording a safety down on the goal line.

Josh Hull wasn't spectacular, but he wasn't a liability either. As I suggested somewhere in the comments before the game, it's easy to play middle linebacker when you have Odrick and Ogbu lining up in front of you. It was rare that Akron could get a runner past those two, so Hull was never really called upon to make plays.

Final Grade: A

Secondary

It's really hard to judge the secondary in this game. Jacquemain couldn't find any time to throw in the first half, so they were never really tested. In the second half Penn State called off the dogs and sat back in deep zone coverages giving up a lot of yards in the process. But there were some key plays of note.

A.J. Wallace worked himself out of the doghouse a few weeks early and saw considerable playing time. Akron challenged him a few times and he got his hands on a few balls to break them up. But he could have had an interception or two if he had softer hands. I guess that's why he's on defense.

Andrew Dailey was Johnny on the Spot when Jacquemain sailed a first quarter pass deep over the middle and pulled down his first career interception.

Nick Sukay blew a coverage and gave up Akron's lone score on a 40 yard bomb.

Other than those two guys the secondary was pretty invisible all day.

Final Grade: Incomplete

Special Teams

It was a mixed bag on special teams. Everybody wants to focus on Colin Wagner shanking two field goals. One was admittedly bad missing from 28 yards, but in his defense it was a tough angle in close from the left hashmark. The other miss was a perfectly excuseable 49 yarder. Even the pros miss those more often than not.

Jeremy Boone was once again a terrific weapon averaging 43 yards on his two punts.

Nate Stupar absolutely blew up a kick return in the second quarter. He's easily my favorite player to watch on kick return coverage. But the kickoff coverage gave up a big return to open the second half giving Akron the ball at midfield.

Andrew Dailey and the entire punt coverage team executed a perfect fake punt to pick up 37 yards and a first down.

Final Grade: C

Defense Coaching

It's hard to fault anything with what the coaches did in the first half. The results speak for themselves. But they didn't just call off the dogs in the second half. They left them in the lockerroom and came right out in the BBDS defense. Jacquemain picked them apart with a nice drive to start the half. And then he torched them getting behind Sukay. I would have liked to have seen the defense keep the foot on the gas until the fourth quarter. I blame that on the coaches for letting the pressure off.

What was up with the pooch punt on 4th and 1 from the 35 late in the third quarter? Wagner booted it in the endzone for a touchback and a net 15 yard exchange of field position. I would have preferred going for the first down there since the offense was sputtering and Akron was picking up momentum. My next choice would have been trying the long field goal. I understand you are trying to boost the confidence of your new kicker. I'm not sure giving him a bunch of chip shots is the way to do that. Imagine the confidence boost he would get from hitting a 50 yarder. Just seems the reward outweighs the risk there in my opinion. And my third option would have been sending Boone in there to pin it deep. Don't leave it to your place kicker. Read my lips: Some team later on is going to anticipate this move again and have a return man back there waiting. And Penn State is going to pay for it.

Final Grade: B-