SB Nation - Kevin Kelly

Potential Penn State Problem #5: Can I Kick It?

Run Up The Score — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:00:13 -0000

"Above all, we must abolish hope in the heart of man. A calm despair, without angry convulsions, without reproaches to Heaven, is the essence of wisdom." -- Alfred Victor Vigny (French poet, dramatist, and novelist, 1797-1863)

"Despair is the conclusion of fools" -- Benjamin Disraeli (British Prime Minister and Novelist. 1804-1881)

Maybe it's the fact that I was born in Philadelphia, grew up rooting for Philadelphia teams, and inevitably had my hopes and dreams crushed in the most horrifying and heartbreaking ways. (But hey, we care.) Despite this scarred past, I tend to be more optimistic when it comes to Penn State. College games are just a happier atmosphere and lend themselves toward good vibes, as opposed to the lurking dread and threat of physical injury that accompanies any Philadelphia sporting event from the NFC Championship to Wing Bowl.

Still, I remain a natural skeptic. So when we kicked around the idea of who would perform the duties of OH NOES WE SUCK AGAIN, I was the obvious choice. Without accounting for the pastry-laden schedule, does this Penn State team feel like a 12-0 or 11-1 team? No, not to me. There are crucial losses to graduation, position changes along the offensive line, and any number of other concerns. When I look at this year's Penn State team, my first instinct isn't "OMG 12-0!". But the schedule does lend itself to a memorable season if a few crucial elements come together. One of those elements is the replacement for record-setting placekicker, Kevin Kelly.

History will appreciate Kevin Kelly more than Penn State fans seemed to throughout his career. To get a sense of what Penn State needs to replace, here are Kelly's career stats at a Lion:


YEAR	TEAM	G	FGM	FGA	PCT	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	LNG	XPM	XPA	PTS
2005	PSU	0	16	23	69.6	0-0	10-12	4-7	2-3	0-1	47	49	50	97
2006	PSU	0	22	34	64.7	1-1	8-8	8-12	5-10	0-3	49	30	30	96
2007	PSU	0	20	26	76.9	0-0	14-14	4-4	1-5	1-3	53	44	45	104
2008	PSU	0	20	24	83.3	0-0	8-8	8-8	2-5	2-3	52	60	60	120

After a shaky sophomore year, Kelly was quite dependable inside of 40 yards and even managed to hit a few longer field goals in his senior season. For his career, he missed only two extra points in four years and converted 73.7% of his field goal attempts, which places him among the most accurate kickers in Penn State history:

Nick Gancitano (1981-84): 77.5%

Travis Forney (1996-99): 74.6%

Brian Franco (1980-81): 73.9%

Brett Conway (1993-96): 73.7%

Kevin Kelly (2005-08): 73.7%

Source: nittanyanthology.com

Also, Kelly's 83.3% (20-for-24) conversion rate in 2008 equalled the best single season percentage by any PSU kicker (Conway went 10-for-12 in 1994, who needed field goals that year?). So there's room for concern now that Kelly is gone.

If you believe Joe Paterno, Collin Wagner will get the first shot at nailing down the job:

"He was very close to Kevin last year. He may have a little stronger leg. I don’t think he’s as consistent as Kevin was. We’ll have to see, but I think he’s got a chance," Paterno said.

Wagner sat down with BWI after the Blue-White game for an interview. If Wagner fails, it's generally thought that true freshman Anthony Fera would be next in line, followed by David Soldner. Fera likely has the strongest leg of the group. If you really care, there's YouTube footage of Fera booming kickoffs through the uprights in high school and making 55+ yard field goals during his summer workouts.

As a result, we may see Fera handling kickoff duties while Wagner does the placekicking. You already know how much Joe Paterno harps on the kicking game. If Penn State is going to make a run at another BCS appearance, Wagner and Fera will have to be a big part of the team's success.

A Way Too Early Look At The 2009 Schedule - Week 7 - Penn State

JG2112 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:30:12 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

6 months ago: Penn State football coach Joe Paterno pauses after he talked to media, Thursday, June 11, 2009, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Browse more photos »

Penn State: At a glance:

Location: University Park, Pennsylvania
Stadium: Beaver Stadium (size: 107,282)
Expected Attendance: about 109,000.
Undergraduate population: 44,512.
First season: 1887
Number of Big Ten Titles: 3
All-time record: 800-349-32
All-time bowl record: 26-13-2.

Most awesome alum: undoubtedly Jonathan Frakes, better known as William T. Riker and "#1" on the new Star Trek series.

Most awesome Penn State fan site: Red, er, Black Shoe Diaries of course.

And here comes the Big Ten buzzsaw.

Much has changed since the last time these two teams played in 2006, a referee-assisted 28-27 overtime victory for the Nittany Lions at Metrodump. The Gophers have a new coach, a new stadium, and have switched offensive philosophies twice. For Penn State...errr......Joe Pa...errr....Darryl Cla......good linebac......okay, so much has changed for Minnesota since 2006.

This year Indiana and Michigan drop off the Gophers' schedule. It looks pretty bad, however, when one realizes that Penn State (11-2 in 2008) and Michigan State (9-4 in 2008) rotate on to the schedule. The Gophers get the "good" fortune to play their seventh game in 2009, and their second conference road game, in the pale fury of University Park, PA against the Fighting Paternos.

Why good? Well, Minnesota should be 5-1 or 4-2 going into the game (um, right?). If so, perhaps a repeat of the stirring victory over then #2 Penn State in 1999 could be in the offing. Whether that happens depends a lot upon injuries, morale, and players. Speaking of players, we're going to fly solo and analyze the Nittany Lions, starting with....

More after the jump.....

Penn State on Offense - You may have heard of Darryl Clark. Heck, your grandparents may have seen him play in the ‘40s. Clark returns as a fifth-year senior, but is six years' removed from high school, so he's closer to legally renting a car than he is to gaining the right to vote. In 2008, he completed almost 60% of his passes, throwing 19 TDs against only 6 INTs. He also ran for 10 TDs. His backup, Paul Devlin, transferred to Joe Flacco U., so true freshman (as well as Michigan and Virginia de-commit) Kevin Newsome backs him up. Seeing how Newsome struggled in the Lions' spring game, Penn State is an injury away from quarterbacking incompetence.

Penn State's five top rushing threats return, highlighted by Evan Royster and Stephon Green. Royster gained 1236 yards at 6.47 ypc, and Green gained 578 yards at 5.50 ypc. This will be the obvious focal point for the Gophers' defense, because.....

.....Penn State's three senior receivers (Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams) all graduated, taking a majority of the receptions with them. Top returning wideouts include Graham Zug, Brett Brackett, and James "DUI" McDonald. This part of the offense will likely be functional but non-threatening at the time of the Gopher game. The wideouts' inexperience should allow Traye Simmons to help the run defense, hopefully neutralizing Royster and Green.

The Lions also lose three all Big Ten offensive linemen, though they have Stefen Wisniewski moving to center and Dennis Landolt at right tackle. New 6'5", 313-pound left tackle (and gloriously named) DeOn'tae Pannell will have to step in and perform at a high level to ensure the rushing game does not stall.

Bottom Line - Penn State's Offense: The offense will likely take a step back from its production in 2008. If Clark, Royster, and/or Wisniewski spend any significant period of time out injured, the offense will have significant production issues. Minnesota's large defensive line and mobile linebackers should be able to at least hang with the rushing attack, and the defensive backfield should handle the Lions' inexperienced wideouts. Due to Tramaine Brock's departure, however, we can count on at least one video replay with Ryan Collado trailing a wideout into the end zone.

Penn State on Defense: Linebacker U., right? Shane Conlan, Paul Pozlusny, Leapin' LaVar Arrington. Lately, Penn State has also churned out a number of solid defensive linemen, including 2009 draftees Aaron Maybin and Maurice Evans.

Well, wait a moment. Evans wasn't drafted, which begs a couple of questions. Was the NFL correct in determining Evans made a mistake in coming out early? Did Evans consider himself too good for college? What is left in State College? Well, Jared Odrick for one. Odrick had 41 tackles last year, 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. Also, Jack Crawford is new to the sport, being British and all (check that name), but he is highly regarded in Pennsylvania (as well as Portsmouth, for that matter) and will be expected to contribute. Ollie Ogbu and Abe Koroma are also returning linemen.

As for linebackers, well, if you follow a police blotter, you may have read some stuff about Navorro Bowman this off-season (all the action should serve Bowman well: he's a Crime, Law and Justice major, which I presume is University-Speak for "Wants to Be a Cop or District Attorney if he tears his knee up"). It seems JoePa is satisfied Bowman is ready to play football instead of smoking spliffs or beating up coeds. This is too bad for Duane Bennett, et al, as Bowman had 106 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, and 4 INT's last year.

Also returning after a year out due to injury is LB Sean Lee. He was all Big Ten in 2007 before tearing his ACL, and will undoubtedly be a tough block for the Gophers' O-line.

Wide receivers are the big question mark on offense. On defense, it's the defensive backfield. All starters have moved on, leaving CBs AJ Wallace and (really?) Knowledge Timmons and Ss Drew Astorino and Cedric Jeffries, as well as a cavalcade of 2009 signees, to take their place. This is where Gophers Offensive Coordinator Jedd Fisch should be picking on the defense, if he is the offensive genius Coach Brewster has made him out to be.

Bottom line - Penn State's Defense: The defense will step back this year from their dominating 2008 performance. Odrick, Bowman and Lee form about 40 % of a solid front seven. However, the defensive secondary is untested and has little experience. The Gophers should abandon any pretense of balance in their offensive attack in this game, spread five wideouts, get Pittman, Stoudermire, Brandon, McKnight, Kuznia, Decker, and Carpenter in space against the untested secondary, and pick them apart.

Penn State on Special Teams: 4-year starter Kevin Kelly departs, with either (Michigan de-commit) Anthony Fera or Colin Wagner assuming the kicking duties for Penn State's all-time leading scorer. Jeremy Boone, a senior returns as punter with a 43.03 ypk average from 2008.

One additional point bears mentioning regarding PSU's special teams. The youngest and most inexperienced areas of Penn State's team are their wideouts and defensive backfield. Kickoff return teams normally field some reserve players from these units. As the starters for Penn State are younger, the backups are even younger. Troy Stoudermire should be able to exploit these players' inexperience and youth and have some big returns at Beaver Stadium.

Bottom Line: What to Expect

Minnesota is Penn State's Homecoming opponent. We are sandwiched between a home game against Eastern Illinois (heh?) and a road game against Michigan. We could be the beneficiary of a team which wasn't really tested the prior week. Also, if the Wolverines improve, Minnesota could be the beneficiary of a team looking ahead to a 3-game stretch including Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State.

As for the Gophers, this is the start of what looks to be a bad stretch of games, including a road game at Ohio State, home games against Michigan State and Illinois, an off week against South Dakota State, and then the battle for the Pig. This is the best chance to beat one of those scheduled "rough games." Penn State has little experience at wideout, even less in the defensive backfield, and is exploitable in special teams. If the Gophers spread the field and pick on Penn State's defense, the Gophers could walk out of Pennsylvania with a victory.

Minnesota 38
Penn State 34

Your say....

Poll

Who will win on October 17th?

Minnesota

41 votes

Penn State

369 votes

410 votes | Poll has closed

MU Football Records Chase (updated 11/17)

The Beef — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:00:06 -0000

Lots of fun movement this past week in the list as Chase got back to pretty much normal for him and Maclin and Saunders continued to benefit from the unfortunate injury to Chase Coffman. We have new lists as well, I know you all are terribly excited. I was also able to better intergrate other active NCAA players on to the national lists. Get ready, since I wont be updated the list next week (obviously), so let the goodness take you through the Thanksgiving holiday.

As always, thanks to MUTigers.com for their record keeping, as well as this ridiculously long file from the NCAA

National Passing Yardage:

6. Kevin Kolb_________''03-'06______12964

7. Tim Rattay_________'97-'99______12746

8. Luke McCown_______'00-'03_____12666

9. Chris Redman______'96-'99______12541

10. Kliff Kingsbury_____'99-'02______12429

11. Chase Daniel______'05-'08______11772

Appeared I short-changed Chase after last week, as he came into this week at 11,444, which still would have had him in 15tth spot. A very solid (especially given the weather) effort and he flies quickly up the list to #11. With three (and I can stop saying "likely" now), I dont think he will do enough to get past Rattay, but I suppose he has an OK shot at it, so I will throw Kevin Kolb on there. Speaking of Kolb...did you see that Houston hung 70 on Tulsa this weekend? Eeek. Anyway, Chase is not going to pass anyone in the next game, so 11th is where he will stay before becoming the #2 passer in Big XII history.

National Completions:

1. Timmy Chang________'00-'04________1388

2. Graham Harrell_______active________1293

3. Kliff Kingsbury________'99-'02________1231

4. Philip Rivers_________'00-'03________1147

5. Colt Brennan_________'05-'07________1115

6. Luke McCown________'00-'03________1063

7. Chris Redman________'96-'99________1031

8. Chase Holbrook_______active________1017

9. Tim Rattay___________'97-'99________1015

Chase Daniel_________'05-'08_______1015

I put this one together myself, but I feel pretty confident about the information in it. I looked into doing an attempts one, but there really is not a lot of need since Chase's career completion percentage of 68.5 right now means he would be pretty far down the list. However, another fun list to see him move up on, with an outside shot at Colt Brennan (and hopefully passing Holbrook along the way). Also fun to track Harrell, who should break this record against Baylor in a couple of weeks.

National Passing Efficiency: (500 completions or more)

14. Chad Pennington_____'97-'99_______156.2

15. Donovan McNabb_____'95-'98_______155.1

16. Tim Rattay___________'97-'99______154.3

17. Duante Culpepper_____'96-'98______153.1

18. David Carr__________''97-'98_______152.9

19. Jason White_________'99-'04_______152.7

20. Max Hall_____________active_______151.9

21. Ben Roethlisberger____'01-'03______151.3

22. Chase Daniel_________'05-'08______151.2

This game finally moves Chase up the list...but I did finally find where the active folks fall on this, so the numbers have changed. Active career wise, Chase is actually 9th, but only three others have the necessary 500 completions (though Bradford of OU is within 39, and will blow the record by 20 points once he gets there and Keenum of Houston is within 9). So, the numbers will change, but still some pretty darn good company for Chase.

National TD Passes:

6. Danny Wueffel________'93-'96______114

7. Chad Pennington______'97-'99______100

8. Matt Leinart___________'02-'05______99

9. Kliff Kingsbury_________'99-'02______95

Philip Rivers__________'00-'03______95

Brady Quinn__________'03-'06______95

12. Chase Daniel ________ ‘05-08 _____ 92

Two more TD's for Daniel (I never mind seeing us rush for four TD's, especially two for Jimmy Jackson). moves him into 12th by himself. A real nice game against kU could give him 9th to himself. I am still hopeful for the 100 TD mark, though his two TD's in this game were numbers 101 and 102 he was responsible for in his career, moving us to this new list....

TD's Responsible For:

1. Chase Daniel_________'05_'08________102

Brad Smith___________'02-'05_________102

Not entirely sure why or how MUTigers.com missed this one, but I heard it on the TV broadcast so I thought I would throw it on here. Nationall, Daniel ranks third active behind Chase Clement of Rice (109) and Graham Herrell (137). This does not appear to be a record the NCAA keeps...

Total Offense:

1. Brad Smith _________ ‘02-05 ____ 13088

2. Chase Daniel _______‘05-08 _____12597

3. Jeff Handy __________ ‘91-94 _____ 6640

4. Phil Bradley _________ ‘77-80 _____ 6459

5. Corby Jones _________‘95-98 _____ 6230

It is funny that I had Chase's total passing yardage wrong, but this number was correct...go figure. Anyway, Chase is running less these days, so this number is all on passing yards of late. Looks like this should fall hopefully in the Big XII Championship game.

All-Purpose Yardage:

1. Jeremy Maclin_______'07-'08_____4983

2. Brad Smith _________ ‘02-05 _____ 4419

3. Devin West _________ ‘95-98 _____ 3824

4. Brock Olivo _________ ‘94-97 _____ 3475

5. Zack Abron __________‘00-03 _____ 3426

6. Darrell Wallace ______ ‘84-87 _____ 3303

7. Joe Stewart _________‘74-77 _____ 3256

8. James Wilder _______‘78-80 _____ 2769

111 yards of receiving and rushing and 111 return yards give Maclin a tidy little 222. The 5000 mark falls probably on the opening play of the game when we take the ball. Right now, Maclin is averaging 199.3 yards per game for his career, which actually would be good enough for 3rd all time, and just out of 2nd place (205.8)

(National and Mizzou) Receptions:

27. John Standeford_______'00-'03_____249

28. Nate Burleson_________'00-'02_____248

Eric Deslauriers_______'02-'06_____248

30. James Jordan_________'98-'00____246

31. David Williams________'83-'85_____245

1.Chase Coffman (TE) ____'05-08______ 230

2. Martin Rucker (TE) ______ ‘04-07_____ 203

3. Justin Gage __________ ‘99-02______ 200

4. Jeremy Maclin________'07-'08______159

5. Kenny Holly __________ ‘90-93_______151

6. Will Franklin __________ ‘04-07______ 143

7. Tommy Saunders______'05-'08______132

8. Victor Bailey___________'90-'92______128

9. Thomson Omboga______'01-'04______127

10. Brian Sallee___________'91-'94______119

11. Sean Coffey__________'02-'05______118

Another eight catches for Maclin gives him 4th place all to himself, and this is where he likely finishes (since I do not see him catching 13 balls per game in his last three). And I could not be more thrilled to see Tommy Saunders moving up this list like he is. Very few people deserve to be remembered for their on and off the field achievement more than Saunders, and with an outside shot to pass Holly, nothing would please me more. Obviously, no movement for Coffman...and I really do hope we don't mess around with him and just make sure he is 100 percent (or as close as he could possibly be) when we bring him back. Clearly, Andrew Jones is proving pretty capable right now.

(National and Mizzou) Receiving Yardage:

1. Ibn Green (national TE)____'96-'99_____2830

1. Justin Gage ____________‘99-02_____2704

2. Chase Coffman (TE) _____ ‘05-08_____2491

3. Martin Rucker (TE) _______ ‘04-07_____2175

4. Victor Bailey ____________ ‘90-92_____2144

5. Will Franklin ____________ ‘04-07_____2125

6. Jeremy Maclin__________'07-'08_____2107

7. Linzy Collins ____________ ‘89-90_____1760

8. Kenny Holly ____________ ‘90-93_____1708

9. Sean Coffey ___________ ‘02-05______1596

10. Mel Gray _____________ ‘68-70______1491

11. Tommy Saunders_______'05-'08_____1447

12. Hank Burnine __________ ‘53-55_____1445

Maclin stands to make a big move during the next game and should land in 3rd place. Coffman has obviously just about lost his chance to pass Gage for the all time Mizzou and National TE record, but that is alright. And look who is sneaking on to the list past Mizzou great and RMN favorite Hank Burnine....Mr. Tommy Saunders. Decent shot at Kenny Holly, but should at least two more spots here before it is all said and done.

Receiving TD's:

1. Chase Coffman (TE) _____ ‘05-08_______ 27

2. Jeremy Maclin__________'07-'08_______19

3.. Martin Rucker (TE) _______ ‘04-07______ 18

Justin Gage ____________ ‘99-02______ 18

5. Mel Gray _______________68-70_______ 14

6. Will Franklin ____________ ‘04-07______ 13

Sean Coffey ____________ ‘02-05______ 13

8. Victor Bailey ____________ ‘90-92______ 12

Dwayne Blakley _________ ‘98-01______ 12

One more for Maclin on the gorgeous slant, giving him 2nd spot all to himself. MUTigers.com is not tracking anyone else. As best I can tell, Saunders has 8 TD's in his career now (including 5 this season), so a couple more would tie him for 10th at 10 with Gibler, Marshall and Winslow.

Kicker Scoring:

24. Jeff Jaeger____________'83-'86_____358

Dusty Mangum_________'01-'04_____358

26. Justin Medlock_________'02-'06_____357

27. Pat McAfee____________active______356

28. Garrett Rivas__________'03-'06_____354

29. Kevin Butler___________'81-'84_____353

John Lee_____________'82-'85_____353

Max Zendajas__________'82-85_____353

32. Derek Mahoney________'90-'93_____351

33. Martin Gramatica_______'94-'98_____349

34. Colt David____________active______342

35. Brett Jaekle___________active______341

36. Jeff Wolfert__________ ‘06-08_____ 340

With Mizzou's 52 points, Wolfert is back to his standard 10 point effort he had for much of the early season. So...let's go ahead and move this over to a national list. And we get to see some fun names on this list, so why not. Also interesting to see so many names from the 80's on here...before video games made all coaches stupid and always going for it on 4th downs. He will actually be a little further down the list, as there are four other active kickers in front of him, including Kevin Kelly from Penn State who is now 3rd all time. Wolfer is the active leader in points per game of the kickers with 8.9 per game and has on average 11 fewer games (obviously) as anyone else who is active is also a senior.

Sacks:

1. Brian Smith__________'03-'06_____31.5

2. Justin Smith_________'98-'00_____22.5

3. Lorenzo Williams_____'04-'07_____19

4. Stryker Sulak________'05-'08_____18.5

5. Rick Lyle____________'90-'93______18

6. Bobby Bell___________'81-'83______17
Steve Martin__________'92-'95______17

Antwaun Bynum_______'00-'02______17

9. Xzavie Jackson_______'03-'06______16.5

10 C.J. Mosely__________'02-'04______15.5

11. Ziggy Hood_________'05-'08______14.5

No sacks in the game...something the Mizzou defense has been sorely missing the past few weeks.

Interceptions:

1. Adrian Jones________'86-'89________15

2. Ken Baston_________'63-'65________14

Bill Whitaker_________'77-'80________14

4. Erik McMillan________'84-'87_________13

5. Eric Wright__________'78-'80________11

William Moore______'05-'08_________11

7. Roger Wehrli________'66-'68________10

Harold Piersey_______'95-'98________10

Kevin McIntosh_______'91-'94________10

Willy Mo finally ties Eric Wright. Let's hope he makes a late charge here. If he does, I have to like our chances in our last three games.

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 Against Wisconsin

Kevin HD — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:47:04 -0000

The word of the day was balance. And domination. The word of the day was dominalance. Penn State's defense baladominated.

Defensive Line

After not getting much pressure last week against Purdue, the D-line showed up gangbusters, completely running over the much heralded Wisconsin offensive line and stopping Hill short of three yards over and over again. The very first series set the tone as the Badger power run game was stopped on 2nd and 3rd down and forced to punt after a quick three-n-out. The linebackers consistently showed up in the backfield in large part because this unit was doing their part to occupy (roughly) 1700 pound offensive line.

Special space needs to be devoted to Aaron Maybin's performance. He showed up in the backfield early in the game and it was clear from the start Bielema and his staff had no answer for him. Paterno said after the game:

“He’s doing really well. I just wish I could put weight on him. He doesn’t eat. He’s doing very well. He’s so quick and he loves to play. You can see that. I have to sit him down and tell him never mind all of the jumping around. He’s going to get us a 15-yarder,” Paterno said.

How about this: if it's not broken don't fix it. He recorded 3.5 tackles for a loss and forced two fumbles, including what turned out to be the game sealing recovery by Hull that lead to the third touchdown of the game. He does seem a little underweight but his speed is what made him so effective on Saturday night.

Final Grade: A

Linebackers

The linebackers were able to do pretty much as they please; the d-line jammed up their assignments and allowed the next line of defense to either move in against the run or cover what short passes weren't knocked down at the line of scrimmage; Hull followed up on last weeks solid performance with another respectable game that included a right place/right time fumble recovery. Navorro Bowman was filling holes all day and led the team (along with Scirrotto) with eight tackles. Not to take anything away from the other non-Lee linebackers, but Bowman appears to be the air apparent.

I don't know if this group strikes as much fear as those in past years, but to be honest every season there are big shoes to fill at linebacker and I think things are progressing just fine.

Final Grade: A-

Secondary

Wisconsin isn't a major passing threat but it was important that the secondary be able to defend against any cheap passes or home run plays. We talked before the game about how difficult it would be for the Badgers to come from behind and that ended up being the case. Sargeant had a great game, sticking to his receiver and intercepting two passes.

The two major issues were the missed tackles on Evridge TD scramble and, of course, the long slant that set up Wisconsin's only score. After looking back on that play I'm not quite as upset; it was a good play call to counter an aggressive defense and Penn State had some tough luck with what effectively was a pick on Davis, who stumbled and wasn't able to catch up to Beckum.

This unit was supposed to be a major liability yet I'm starting to think they are better than last year despite the significant personnel losses. Very few receivers are getting wide open down field and they are doing a good job of keeping the damage of the short passes to a minimum.

Final Grade: A-

Special Teams

It couldn't have been a totally dominating performance without this group. Nathan Stupar set the tone on the opening kickoff with a big tackle inside the 20. He also had an important block on the kicker that allowed Williams to go untouched into the end zone on his big punt return. Speaking of Williams, I'm more than happy to take the good with the bad, but I'm both excited and terrified to see him back on kicks. He seems to want to start running before he gets the ball secured and the first Wisconsin punt was almost devastating. He is too good a weapon to simply not use, and for today we can simple say "no harm, no foul" on the bobbles; besides I have to think the coaches will address it as he is simply too good to not have back there every time.

Kevin Kelly, who has a terrible time with 40+ kicks last year (2 of 8), seems to have correct that; he is 1-1 in the 40s and 2-3 in the 50s. The offense got off to a slow start and Kelly's 50 yarder was important in establishing some momentum. He added a shorter, less meaningful kick in the second half and went 6 for 6 on extra points. It's happening quietly, but Kevin Kelly is having a great season and might be one of the better kickers in the nation at this point.

Boone had another strong day, averaging almost 45 yards per kick on four attempts. He boomed on into the end zone early but was otherwise very effective at the pin-back, putting Wisconsin inside their own 20 three times.

Final Grade: A-

Defensive Coaching

Bradley, with the added pressure of being the "de facto" head coach, might have executed the perfect game plan this weekend. That really can't be understated. I made a comment before the game that Bradley seemed content to let opposing offenses take 4 or 5 yards at a time so long as they don't break anything for a big gain. As such, I expected a very conservative rush with lots of players stacked in the box. Instead, the defense played ultra aggressive and neutralized Hill from the get-go. When Wisconsin realized that they needed to start opening it up, the defense was in the face of the quarterback almost immediately with the pass rush. They were utterly dominant in no small part to countering everything Wisconsin was doing before the ball was even snapped. I'm not endorsing any candidate, I've always maintained that I want an open process, but I think the administration needs to make sure they understand what they are doing if the option they chose involves giving up Bradley.

Final Grade: A

Grading the Defense Against Purdue

BSD — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:07:20 -0000

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are intercepting in space
(Photo via PennLive.com)

It was a gritty win on the road against an opponent that admittedly has more questions than answers. Let's go through the defense and see how they did.

Defensive Line

Once again it was a solid performance by everyone in the trenches. Kory Sheets was held to half his season average and pretty well contained all day with one or two exceptions. Jared Odrick was a monster in the middle clogging the inside running lanes all day. Abe Koroma was also very impressive.

In the passing game I felt like the line wasn't consistently getting good pressure on Painter. But they had a few moments here and there and Maybin got another sack while Gaines and Odrick split another. But Maybin pretty much disappeared after that early sack and we didn't really hear for him the rest of the day.

Final Grade: B+

Linebackers

Josh Hull easily had his best game of the season recording 11 tackles, all solo. He looked much more decisive than he did against Illinois and had two tackles for loss to show for it. But then, last week you had to guess whether the option was going to Juice Williams, Daniel Dufrene, or Arrelious Benn. This week the option was between Curtis Painter or Kory Sheets. It's a safe bet to assume Sheets was getting the ball 90% of the time. But regardless, Hull played a great game.

The coaches rested Navorro Bowman a few days during the week leading up to the game to allow him to heal up some bumps and bruises. Maybe he was a bit rusty because of it since he didn't seem his explosive self. But he did manage a few big tackles.

Bani Gbadyu was flying all over the field like a pinball...fast and out of control. He ran by a few plays and missed a few tackles. But every once in a while he hits his target and it's pretty impressive when he does.

Final Grade: B

Secondary

I was really afraid that Curtis Painter was going to torch us for 350 yards in this game. I'm pleasantly surprised to admit I was wrong. The secondary looked a lot more like the group we saw in 2006 rather than 2007. They held the highly efficient Purdue passing attack to just 158 yards. It's great to see Tony Davis out on the wing making plays again. We really missed him last year. His counterpart, A.J. Wallace, is coming together nicely in pass coverage, but when asked to tackle someone he misses more than he hits. After dropping an interception in the third quarter he was yanked in favor of Lydell Sargeant. But I think it's safe to say Wallace has a firm grasp on the starting job going forward.

Anthony Scirrotto looked like his old self laying out people crossing the middle and crashing the line hard in run support. And while we're on the topic of crashing run support, how about Drew Astorino. The redshirt freshman was flying all over the field sacrificing his body and making hits that could be heard from Nebraska. He also forced the only turnover of the game in reading Painter perfectly to make an interception. He did get a little too aggressive in drawing a pass interference penalty, but personally I didn't think the ball was catchable.

Final Grade: A

Special Teams

Kevin Kelly was solid, even if a hobbled Joe Paterno could have made those chip shots from 20 and 25 yards. His kickoffs, however, are completely unpredictable. You never know if they are going to go out the back of the endzone, land on the 20, or go out of bounds. This week he had one go in the endzone for a touchback while the others landed at the 9, 8, and the 5. Not bad.

Is it me or does Jeremy Boone not look as good as last year. Granted he's not getting as many chances, but his kicks seem to be noticeably shorter. And he's been terrible at landing kicks inside the 20 all season. This week he had two kicks land in the endzone. Remember a few weeks ago they had Kelly pooch punting when they had a short field? I'm starting to wonder if something is up with Boone.

The return game was awful. Chaz Powell replaced Wallace on kickoffs and returned his one chance just eight yards to the 22 yard line. Derrick Williams wasn't much better. He returned his kickoff chance just ten yards to the 14 yard line. He also fair caught a punt he probably could have gained some yardage on. Annoying, but after the recent mishaps I think it's smart to just catch the ball and let this high powered offense do their thing.

Final Grade: C

Defensive Coaching

To all those who claim the coaches are loyal to their seniors to a fault, take note that A.J. Wallace (junior) started ahead of Lydell Sargeant (senior) and Drew Astorino (redshirt freshman) played the entire game. They are getting their best talent on the field and for this they deserve credit.

The coaches played nickel defense almost exclusively on first down with Bowman and Hull as the linebackers, Astorino at Hero, and Rubin in the nickel. They rarely blitzed and asked the front four to provide all the pressure. Sometimes they did, and sometimes they didn't. Painter had some success here and there finding the holes in the zone between the linebackers for seven or eight yards. This led to some frustrating moments in the first half when the defense kept finding itself in 2nd and 3 and 3rd and 1 situations. But they came in with the classic Penn State "Bend-Don't-Break" philosophy hoping Purdue would make mistakes. A good bet against Purdue. Their biggest mistake was trying to run the ball on first down. When they did, they often got stuffed for little or no gain forcing long yardage on second down. When Painter is asked to gain five or six yards through the air he can be an effective quarterback. Ask him to gain you 15 yards on third and 10 and he's awful. The coaches realized this and formed the perfect gameplan to beat them.

As for the long drive surrendered to Elliot, Penn State switched to their base 4-3 defense when he came in the game. Perhaps thinking they could rattle the new kid they called a few blitzes and he made them pay with short passes over the middle that gained yards after the catch. It was like Purdue was waiting for us to blitz all day and finally got their chance when Painter came out of the game. We should probably not do this anymore. But I'm willing to give the coaches a break here since the game was in hand and I'm always in favor of pressuring young quarterbacks.

Final Grade: A

Poll

Who was the defensive MVP of the Purdue Game?

Josh Hull

216 votes

Jared Odrick

60 votes

Navorro Bowman

29 votes

Anthony Scirrotto

15 votes

Drew Astorino

161 votes

481 votes | Poll has closed

Grading the Defense Against Temple

BSD — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:13:09 -0000

Lions always run in packs

Defensive Line

Everyone keeps harping on how thin the defensive line is. You could have fooled me. Penn State used ten different guys on the defensive line on Saturday. But it didn't matter who Larry Johnson sent in because the results were always the same. The Temple offensive line could not open any holes for the running backs to slip through. I suspect Temple knew this was going to be the case coming into the game since the runningbacks Jones and Liverpool only had eight running attempts. And once they fell behind the Owls had to abandon the running game. Quarterback Chester Stewart was the leading rusher for the Owls with 15 yards on 18 attempts. As a team the Owls only recorded 16 rushing yards on 28 attempts. That is domination.

Aaron Maybin came ready to play getting two sacks in the opening quarter including a vicious hit on DiMichele knocking him out of the game and ending any slim hope Temple may have had of being competitive. Looking at the picture of the hit below you can kind of see how Maybin had his arm tucked under DiMichele's armpit as he drove his shoulder into the ground. Then leverage took over.

Pop! Goes the Shoulder Socket

Josh Gaines had another all around great day. He was highly effective in stopping the run and also recorded two sacks. All-in-all it was a great performance for a defensive line supposedly short on bodies. The front four got good pressure on Stewart allowing the linebacker to just focus on their pass coverages.

Final Grade: A

Linebackers

Temple came out determined to test our linebackers with short passes and screens. A wise strategy in my opinion, and it worked early as Temple got a few first downs in the first quarter to shift the field position in their favor. But once the Penn State scoring machine got going in the second quarter Temple was forced to open things up and test the secondary by throwing deeper. That's when the interceptions started coming.

Hull and Gbadyu were ok, but not great. Gbadyu flies to the ball, but often misses the tackle or gets run over by the ball carrier. Hull is a sure tackler, but he always seems a bit slow in getting to the ball and often got dragged a few yards before bringing the ball carrier down.

But the good news is we have a young linebacker elevating his game and standing on the verge of becoming great. Navorro Bowman got his first career start and made the most of it. He was flying all over the field on defense and special teams seemingly always around the ball. Check out this stat line.

vs Temple / 9.20.08	Tackles						Sacks		Interceptions
	Solo	Ast	Total	TFL	TFL Yds	FF	Sacks	Yds	Int	Yds	IntTD
Navarro Bowman	8	3	11	5	17	1	3	13	1	29	0

If he doesn't win Big Ten Player of the Week honors it will be a travesty.

Navorro Bowman's Grade: A+
Everyone Else: C

Secondary

Overall I thought it was a good performance by the secondary. Last season Temple threw for 238 yards against Penn State. This year the same secondary, minus Justin King, held the same group of receivers to just 122 yards.

Tony Davis came up with a huge interception. After a shakey first quarter the Penn State offense was finally starting to get things going. After scoring a touchdown to take a 14-0 lead, Travis Shelton returned the kickoff 74 yards down to the PSU 26 yard line. But on their first offensive play Stewart badly overthrew a ball and Davis picked it off at the PSU 16 yard line keeping the Penn State momentum going. Temple wouldn't threaten again until the game was well in hand.

Drew Astorino continues to see his playing time increase. He played a solid game with seven tackles and a pass broken up. Knowledge Timmons stepped up with a late interception at the end of the game as well.

Final Grade: B+

Special Teams

The kickoff coverage was awful. It started on the opening kickoff when Kelly shanked the kick and Shelton returned it 33 yards to the PSU 43 yard line. Shelton's next return went 74 yards and nearly scored. They tried kicking away from him after that, but Schulters had returns of 33 and 29 yards, so they kicked it to Shelton one more time and he returned that one 42 yards. Just terrible. We need to put our best athletes on the field in these situations. I know there is a higher risk of injury, but kickoffs and punts are so important to control field position for the defense. We can't keep giving opponents the ball at mid field to start.

I mentioned that Kelly shanked a kickoff. He only had one touchback out of seven kickoffs, but Shelton's big return was four yards deep. He hit his one field goal attempt from 44 yards. It was true down the middle and would have easily been good from over 50. He seems to have made significant strides over the summer which has me feeling a whole lot better.

Jeremy Boone had one sensational punt that stopped dead at the Temple 2 yard line. He did ok on his other punts. Only one was returned, but it seemed like his kicks aren't quite as deep as he was booming them last year. Maybe it's just a lack of attempts. Maybe it's just me.

Derrick Williams fumbled a punt return and was lucky to have Scirrotto back with him to pick it up. Even after that play he ran up under a lot of short punts and had to make some awkward catches. He needs to just let those bounce and let the offense take possession. The important thing for this team is to just get the defense off the field and let the offense do its thing. We don't need a hero taking chances on the punt returns.

Please no more of this

Final Grade: C-

Defensive Coaching

It's hard to complain when you hold your opponent to three points and only 138 yards of total offense. But, it's Temple. They didn't blitz much and mostly just sat back in coverage playing the classic "bend-but-don't-break" defense. It was definitely an improvement over last year when the Owls seemed to move the ball at will just to turn it over in the redzone and shut themselves out. This year Penn State didn't get the shutout, but it was a better defensive performance that the shutout from last year. The defense looked prepared and focused and actually carried the offense in the early going for a change. They struggled a bit with the short passes over the middle, but made adjustments and took them away forcing Temple into throwing three interceptions.

I like that the corners appear to be more aggressive this year. And the defensive line rotation is more than covering for the losses of Evans, Koroma, Hayes, Still, Baker, and Taylor. But I imagine Bradley is pulling his hair out wondering how to cover for his linebackers. He has a slow guy in the middle that can't blitz and will get picked on by Big Ten teams. He has a senior starting outside who can't point to a memorable play in his career. Another linebacker flies all over the place but he lacks instincts and the probability of him making the tackle is slightly better than a coin flip. Bowman appears to have the most star potential of the group when he's able to stay out of Joe's doghouse.

Final Grade: B

Poll

Who was the PSU Defensive Player of the Game?

Aaron Maybin

76 votes

Josh Gaines

17 votes

Navorro Bowman

266 votes

Tony Davis

2 votes

Drew Astorino

17 votes

378 votes | Poll has closed