Hindsight 2020: PSU Defense vs. Indiana
One Last Look at Saturday’s Mess – This Time With an Eye on the Nittany Lions Defense – Before We Bury The Ball, Burn the Tape, and Convince Ourselves the Season Can Still be Salvaged.
Just let this sink in…if Devyn Ford does the right/smart thing and belly flops on the 3-yard-line, Penn State’s defense would have held Indiana to less than 150 total yards of offense.
(Stares into space for 3 minutes…)
I’m too tired/still-not-over-Saturday to type something clever about that stat, so let’s just get to the damn review.
FORMATIONS
Oh, Brent Pry, you sly fox! The Pennsylvania native who inexplicably sounds like NASCAR driver Cartman from that one South Park episode pulled a few noteworthy rabbits out the hat beyond his standard 4-3 front with one-high/two-high looks split almost evenly.
Last year on 3rd and Longs, Pry moved Yetur Gross-Matos inside to DT, subbed in Jayson Oweh to occupy the vacant DE spot, and kept Shaka Toney as the other bookend.
On Saturday, however, Pry lined up with THIS a 3-man front (NT in a 0 Tech, WDE in a 9 Tech, and the SDE in a 7). With one less lineman, Pry brought in a sixth DB (mostly Daequan Hardy) to help in coverage.
Penn State didn’t wait long to flash this new wrinkle…and it worked to perfection. On Indiana’s initial 3rd down, Oweh stunts inside, flashing across the face of Indiana’s 76-Matthew Bedford. This unexpected rush route blinds the Hoosiers’ right side as oncoming blitzer Joey Porter Jr. closes in and hammers the lefty QB.
But not everything Fry called turned to gold. On Indiana’s first touchdown, Penn State lines up in a bizarre, exotic front that we’re not even sure what to label. Oweh and Antonio Shelton are both standing up outside the TE Wing. Shane Simmons is upright on the other side. PJ Mustipher is the only down lineman. The funky formation leaves Lance Dixon unprotected and out of position as the Indiana right tackle simply uses the 5-star’s momentum to usher him out of the screen on replay.
Poor Ji’Ayir Brown. Haven’t seen a flattening like that since Frogger.
Pry also touched the stove and almost got burned when he went Cover 0 on the Hoosiers’ second drive of the game. After 1-Whop Philyor got a clean release and blew right by Lamont Wade with zero difficulty, Pry learned his lesson and didn’t really mess with this coverage, anymore.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Lots of rotation, per usual.
Of the backup defensive lineman, Hakeem Beamon spelled Antonio Shelton a bunch, especially on passing downs when Pry stuck with four linemen. The most baffling decision is why Adisa Isaac and Shane Simmons played the first four plays of the post-Ford TD drive considering Shaka Toney broke Indiana’s entire offense the previous drive. Maybe they needed a rest? THEY GOT A REST! Big Ten replay officials wasted two minutes checking to see if Wade targeted on the previous 4th down. That’s enough time to drink Gatorade and breathe.
Linebackers consisted of Dixon, Luketa, Smith and Brooks. No true freshmen. No other backups.
The biggest mystery concerning the defensive backs is which coach’s Cheerios Keaton Ellis spit in…because he was MIA. Marquis Wilson didn’t make an appearance until the Hoosiers’ third drive. Daequan Hardy played meaningful snaps for the first time and looked really green. Porter and TCF played a lot and played lights out.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Before we gush over Toney and Oweh – the Bookends of Doom – and hang posters on our walls like they’re JTT or something (super contemporary reference there), let’s clear the stage and put some respect on Antonio Shelton’s name. The big guy (Grade: +12.5/-2.5) absolutely wrecked the Indiana running game all while managing to keep his saliva in check.
What impressed us most was Shelton’s hiccup-quick first step and ability to regularly split lineman, thus giving linebackers untouched access to meet 8-Stevie Scott III in the hole. On this play, Luketa gets credits for the tackle, but Shelton makes it all happen. Shelton splits the center and right guard, causing both to turn their hips and not reach the second level. Luketa takes Shelton’s alley-oop lob and slams it home for a measly one yard gain.
Want more Shelton? OK, here you go. After assisting others for most of the first half, Shelton finally decided to get greedy and record his own TFL for a change. Shelton’s helmet is beyond the Indiana center’s hip in a blink. Shelton exhibits elite athleticism by keeping his balance, keeping his feet, and hitting Smith. The tackle itself won’t be used in any coaching clinics (I’ve seen better wrap jobs by rookie holiday hires at Macy’s) but it got the job done.
Going into this season, I never really considered Shelton an NFL prospect. Per usual, I was wrong.
As good as Shelton performed, hype-train P.J Mustipher never really left the station. The junior wasn’t the disruptive force many pundits expected and finished the ho-hum day with 1 solo tackle and 1 assist. We expect (hope for?) a lot more this week.
Oweh (Grade: +13.5/-2.5) and Toney (Grade: +14.5/-4.5) might be the best Penn State DE tandem since 1998 Brad Scioli and Courtney Brown. That’s going way back. The duo always possessed speed, but what caught our eye Saturday is how their physicality leveled up in the 10 months since they last saw the field. Yes, Shelton was superb and the linebackers didn’t miss many tackles, but Toney and Oweh definitely played a major role in holding the Hoosiers to 41 yards rushing on 26 attempts.
Oweh didn’t record a sack, but his pressure on the edge rattled 9-Michael Penix Jr. from start to finish. Wade’s third quarter INT happened because Oweh forced an early, nervous throw.
Toney took the game over on what should have been the final drive. Not much else to say about these two sacks except the need to remind you that the tackle Toney beats like a drum is on scholarship, too.
Rounding things out, Shane Simmons isn’t ever going to live up to his lofty recruiting ranking, Adisa Isaac got hosed out of a sack, and the backup DTs showed why they’re backups.
LINEBACKERS
Solid, not spectacular…because spectacular decided mastering the 3-cone drill for 8 months and doing sponsored-virtual tailgates is more beneficial to his overall football development than actually playing football.
Though it wasn’t obvious, especially when examining the box score, Penn State missed Micah Parsons a ton on Saturday. When Penn State linebackers blitzed, they never got home. Parsons always seemed to get home. Ask Memphis. Here Lance Dixon and Ellis Brooks twist but end the play properly socially distanced from Penix Jr.
Dixon got thrust into more playing time than expected when Luketa’s afternoon ended prematurely thanks to a targeting foul. The 5-star provided glimpses of greatness on the first play after the ejection, tipping away a pass intended for the Indiana TE.
Indiana’s funky Shotgun Empty formation – where they sandwiched three receivers between the RB and TE both hugging the sidelines – put Penn State’s linebackers in some unfamiliar portions of the field, but they never flinched. On this play, Luketa keeps his cool in man coverage, doesn’t freak out, and makes the play with minimal damage done.
SECONDARY
Tariq Castro-Fields gets a lot of crap (some of it deserved) from the fanbase but he showed up Saturday in a big way, especially in man coverage. For all the talk about Indiana’s receivers, TCF (Coverage Grade: +8/-1) owned them.
TCF – and really the entire Penn State secondary, in general – flexed their muscles on the edges and neutralized Indiana’s quick passing game, evidenced here:
Besides Sean Clifford, no other player experienced higher highs and lower lows than Lamont Wade. The senior from Western Pa. did recover a fumble that should have resulted in three points, and ushered in the Turnover Thank You Card Era with a decent interception in the second half.
But man, he got beat a lot in coverage.
We do wanna stick up for Wade, though, on one play – the overtime touchdown pass to Whop Philyor and Zapruder Film the heck out of a missed call no one is talking about! Watch the play. Slow it to 0.25 if you need. We’ll wait:
THAT’S OPI! It’s not just that Indiana’s receiver runs into Wade, it’s that he lowers his shoulder and slightly extends his arms in a push that warrants the flag. We admit it’s a helluva play design, sneaky and crafty as sin, but it’s illegal the way it’s executed here. What’s the difference between this shove and the Daniel George OPI that wiped out Journey Brown’s angle-route catch at the Minnesota 2-yard-line last year? The answer: nothing!
A flag here makes it 3rd and Goal from the 24-yard-line. I’d like our chances in that scenario…although I also liked our chances up 1 with the ball with 1:47 remaining, too.
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