Hindsight 2020: PSU Defense vs. Iowa

If Only Brent Pry’s Squad Could Skip the First Half and Just Play Two Second Halves…Man, That’d be Sweeeeet. 

FTB CHARTING FIRST HALF – BOX SCORE 

Lazy Writer’s Note: We tried not to rehash stuff covered in today’s Film Study, so if you want the full scope of Penn State’s defensive woes read this first then click here.

Same song, different station.

Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry further cemented himself as the Master of Second Half Adjustments when he figuratively threw a Dixie cup full of warm water from the Gym Class drinking fountain (always the worst) upon the weekly inferno of ineptitude that ignited once again during the initial 30 minutes of action.

Seriously, how the hell does this keep happening? 

Better question: Why are we still angry and surprised when it does?

Coverage breakdowns. Players out of position. No gap integrity. Pop Warner tackling against thick-ankle athletes. A thimble’s worth of organic pass rush. Big boys getting bullied. Blitzes from Altoona that pre-pee test Ben Johnson wouldn’t be fast enough to get home on. 

Inexplicably, THIS is the 2020 Penn State defense. 

FORMATIONS

RIP Dirty Thirty. The mostly ineffective 3rd and Long 3-down linemen set with the NT in a 0 Tech that we wrote so much about in Weeks 1 and 2 looks like it’s been shipped to a nice farm upstate, Timmy. Every play vs. Iowa – well every play that we scouted, because after Iowa went up 31-7 we turned off the TV and started writing – Penn State used 4 defensive linemen. 

A lot more man coverage this week. And much more single-high safety looks. 

SUBSTITUTIONS

No TCF for the second straight game. Safety 16-Ji’Ayir Brown didn’t step on the field, either. Not sure why. 8-Marquis Wilson finally escaped the preseason doghouse and played a bunch of snaps. 

On the defensive line, 77-Judge Culpepper earned significant snaps in the second half when starting defensive tackle PJ Mustipher left the game with apparent discomfort. Backups Shane Simmons and Adisa Isaac filled in admirably while 18-Shaka Toney nursed an injury before eventually returning. 

Starting linebackers 40-Jesse Luketa, 13-Ellis Brooks and 12-Brandon Smith hogged playing time, even though their performance didn’t warrant it. 23- Curtis Jacobs flashed glimpses of what might be when he subbed in for the hurt Smith in the 2nd Quarter.

On Jacobs’ first play, the 5-star freshman from Maryland instantly diagnoses what’s happening, sets the edge and maintains outside leverage even when a high-fructose fueled lineman tries to cut him. With nowhere to go, the runner cuts inside where he trips over Jacobs’ defeated blocker for a TFL. 

On a day ruined by dark clouds, Jacobs’ brief appearance and 51- Hakeem Beamon’s revved motor on passing downs (more on this later) offered a welcomed bit of sunshine.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Reputations are hard to shake. And unfortunately word is getting around that Penn State can’t adjust to pre-snap motion.  

On the first play of the Ohio State game, Ryan Day opened up a gash – thanks to Penn State’s poor communication along the defensive line – when he pre-snap motioned twin tight ends, thus shifting the strong side of the formation from the boundary to the field. Ever since that monster gain/mood deflator, opposing playcallers have repeatedly picked at that scab and won’t stop until Penn State proves it’s fully healed.

Here All-Traps-No-Neck First-Teamer 38-Monte Pottebaum suddenly shifts from a wing back to an I-form fullback, thus making this a balance look at the last second. You can see 55-Anotnio Shelton remind 97-PJ Mustipher to adjust – he even taps him on the side – but PJ doesn’t move until it’s way too late. Unfilled gap. Big Hole. The non-shift allows Pottebaum free run at 13-Ellis Brooks. Credit 38-Lamont Wade for triggering quickly and limiting the damage. 

Line of the Afternoon goes to Friend of the Blog Jesse Crosson, who after watching our latest Film Study wrote in the comments section: “… our blitzes and rush schemes are about as creative as Macaroni Art Day at the senior center.” 

Not only is it funny, it’s also true.

Penn State isn’t getting organic pass rush sending four guys, and it’s blitz packages are slow-developing and don’t create confusion. The biggest flaw, right now, is the lack of interior pass rush. 

NO push from Shelton or Mustipher. Not only that, they’re also escorted out of the quarterback’s passing window entirely! Unobstructed view. Toney’s  ridiculously wide speed rush almost takes him out of the TV screen – no threat there. 28-Jayson Oweh – who played above-average within this disappointing collective – chalks up a personal “win” on this play, but because everyone else is social distancing, Iowa QB 7- Spencer Petras isn’t fazed. The talented but raw Hawkeyes QB calmly steps up and fires a strike.

Same problem on this almost-TD. 

Iowa in shotgun. Obvious pass. Pin your ears back and GO! Toney and Oweh create decent pressure on the edge, but Shelton and Mustipher (double-teamed, to be fair) get stoned. Operating within a muddle-free pocket, Petras neatly fits a ball to the tight end a microsecond before the slow-to-react safety can knock it down.   

Is interior pass rush really THAT important, asks the fictitious person I created to prove a point and set up these next clips. 

YES!

49 out of 50 times, this is an interception. And the reason why Petras threw this unforgivable, shoulda-been pick is 51-Hakeem Beamon’s interior pass rush. Watch him get under Iowa’s center, drive him backwards and battle through a late double team to mess things up…in a good way. According to the Snap Counts chart compiled by Roar Lions Roar, Beamon played approximately 1/3rd of all snaps. We’re guessing the rationale behind that low percentage is Penn State’s coaches consider the redshirt freshman a liability in the run game – as if the starters are Gilbert Brown 2.0. Can Beamon really be that much of a downgrade? PLAY HIM MORE! 

Here’s more Beamon:

Beamon freaking treats Iowa’s guard like a greased-up blocking sled, riding him from the 35 to the 26 yard-line. Toney gets credit for the sack, but it’s Beamon’s push that keeps the QB from escaping – a.k.a. complementary football. 

LINEBACKERS

Wisely, Iowa exploited Penn State’s desperation and took full advantage of the winless Lions’ overanxious desire to spark something, ANYTHING, positive by countering with plenty of old school play fakes that created plenty of confusion. 

40- Jesse Luketa and 13-Ellis Brook flip flop position right before Iowa checks out of the TE Twin look, creating a balanced line when No. 84 motions to the wing. This is man coverage. Because of that, we’re assuming Luketa is responsible for the unmoved TE No. 42 – he’s the guy at the bottom who unsuccessfully chip blocks Oweh before running this ugly banana-ish route. 

It appears Luketa, who shifted at the last second remember, didn’t realize there was another eligible receiver on his side of the field after the other TE motioned to the left. It’s a lazy play fake, but Oweh bites HARD, charging the Iowa back long after most would have deduced the ball was elsewhere. Luketa ignores his coverage responsibility. Petras almost blows this by throwing a high ball, but the TE handles it and gets 10+yards.

Another Dog-SQUIRREL! Play. Penn State bites hard on this counter step. 

The RB’s  hard first step to the right – coupled with nice blocking – causes the stacked Penn State box to flow away from the backside run. Luketa, though, stays disciplined, doesn’t chase, and is in IDEAL position to register a TFL. But Luketa doesn’t inside-out the runner and doesn’t use the sideline as an extra defender. Instead, he commits way too early and whiffs in space.  

SECONDARY 

Iowa’s leather-helmet formations caused a lot of confusion in the secondary, as well. Example:

Man coverage. 1-Brisker tags along and trails 2-Keaton Ellis’ assignment – the tight end – leaving Iowa fullback Neck Roll Jones wide open in the flat for this graceful first-down completion. Blown assignment.

Ellis missed the first three games of this duct-taped-together season – presumably because of injury – and doesn’t quite look back up to speed. Ellis got dinged with DPI early in the 3rd quarter after he was beaten badly off the line and simply reached and grabbed the receiver after falling for a meh outside jab step. Then, here, Iowa speedster 6-Ihmir Smith-Marsette popped the top of zone coverage, splitting Ellis and Wade on this wide open one-man route.