Hindsight 2020: PSU Defense vs. Maryland
Tale of Two Halves for the Nittany Lions Defense vs. Maryland. Therefore, We’re Focusing on the First Half Because That’s Where This Sad Story Was Truly Told.
For those of you who ducked out at halftime and found something better to do than listen to Matt Millen (who we LIKE, so don’t get it twisted) sing George Clinton lyrics, Penn State’s defense actually showed up in the final 30 minutes vs. Maryland.
No, seriously. Yeah, we were shocked, too.
Six Terps drives concluded in five punts and a kneel. Maryland ran 25 plays for 55 yards: 2.2-yard average. Penn State recorded 2 sacks and 4 TFLs not counting the knee.
But guess what?
We’re not going to include any second half clips in this scout, because doing so would be the equivalent of telling your wife you ate pretty healthy today since you had a kale salad for dinner after downing an entire tub of Crisco with a serving spoon at lunch.
FORMATIONS
We’re gonna moan and groan about the labor before we show you the baby, so just let us rant a little. BTN’s production value stinks and it makes scouting more difficult than it needs to be. Pre-snap shots are too tight. They often don’t get back from replay in time. And they LOVE close-ups of the QBs face as the ball is being snapped…like it’s dramatic, or something.
Moving on.
In an attempt to create havoc and confusion along the offensive line, a lot of Brent Pry’s blitz schemes against Maryland dropped defensive linemen into coverage more than we’re used to seeing. The wrinkle never really worked – dropping DLs never clogged Taulia Tagovailoa’s passing lanes or caused him to hold the ball, and seldom triggered blown assignments on the offensive line.
Case and point:
As we’ve seen a few instances through three weeks, Penn State switches out of its standard 4-down lineman look right before the snap. 97-PJ Mustapha moves over the center in 0 Tech, 18-Shaka Toney stands upright like he’s a 3-4 outside backer while 51-Hakeem Beamon occupies the DE spot Toney vacated. The ball is snapped. All 3 DL drop, replacing blitzers 13-Ellis Brooks, 12-Brandon Smith, 25-Daequan Hardy. Toney also rushes.
But there’s no confusion. Because Penn State’s blitzers are so far from the LOS, and Penn State’s DL drops so quickly, it’s easy for Maryland’s OL to compute what’s happening and re-assign protection responsibilities. One wave retreats. Another wave attacks. Easy pickup.
Credit Maryland 5-star freshman Rakim Barrett for setting up camp in the lone soft spot amongst all that mass and giving his QB and big and clean target to hit. And credit Oweh for not giving up on the play, otherwise this might have scored.
Penn State struggled with tempo for the second game in a row. True, the mistakes last Saturday weren’t as egregious or plentiful as what we witnessed vs. Ohio State, but Maryland did scout that weakness on film and exploited it on this easy 3rd and 1 conversion:
NOTE: Not really a formation clip, but we’ve painted ourselves in a corner with these article headers, so we’re putting it here.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Before the game, I told a friend, “Hopefully, it’s a blowout so we can see some more of the young guys of defense.” Technically, I got my wish.
Third-teamers 77-Judge Culpepper (entered late 3rd Quarter. Grade: +2/-1) and 92- Smith Vilbert (entered late 4th Quarter. Grade: +0/-1) made their 2020 defensive debuts, although we were bummed freshmen Dvon Ellies and Coziah Izzard got kept on the shelf.
We’re starting to like linebacker 45-Charlie Katshir more and more, and apparently the coaches do too, because he entered the game in the 2nd Quarter this week…and not because of apparent injury to someone higher up the depth chart. Katshir (Grade: +1/-0) might be the most physical of the linebackers and leans on his instincts to fill holes and make tackles.
8-Marquis Wilson appears to be the backup for both TCF and Joey Porter, Jr., because he played in each of their spots when they got dinged with minor injuries this game. Keaton Ellis, who played more meaningful snaps than Wilson and Porter, Jr. as a true freshman last season is dressed (according to media at Beaver Stadium) but doesn’t play. We’re tired of typing that every week, so we’re done with it until his toes touch the grass.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Despite not posting a sack one-third of the way through this sick and twisted Twilight Zone season, Jayson Oweh (Grade: +13/-2) registered another impressive performance after a relatively ‘meh’ Ohio State game. Thus far, we’ve sort of gotten ‘Bizarro Oweh’ – no sacks from a guy many predicted would tally in the double digits even in a shorten campaign, but supreme run support from a raw prospect many NFL scouts labeled a pass rush specialist, Aaron Maybin 2.0.
Oweh topped Penn State with 10 tackles and 2 TFL against Maryland. Some NFL coach/GM/scout is going to fall in love with clips like this come next April:
And this one, too:
Of course, Oweh’s true importance and value comes into focus when he’s on the sideline sipping water and catching his breath. Because when he’s not out there, bad things happen. On Maryland’s third touchdown, Oweh watched his backup 34- Shane Simmons dip inside and lose contain on the edge on a simple sweep to the boundary, thus triggering an avalanche of suck:
Pin and Pull. Maryland Left Tackle pins 51-Beamon, allowing the center and left guard to pull without disturbance. Simmons voluntarily removes himself from the play, presumably guessing and jumping the B-Gap in hopes of providing a spark. 13-Brooks bails to replace 25-Hardy who is blitzing from Bellefonte, so he’s of no help. The left guard handles 1-Jaquon Brisker with ease. Then, the Maryland center gets a BOGO block on 40-Jesse Luketa who knocks TCF out of the play. Know what, that block is so damn good, let’s find this kids name. One second…it’s Johnny Jordan. The Maryland center is Johnny Jordan. Impressive stuff, J-Squared.
Oh, one last thing…Penn State’s defensive line didn’t know whether to shift or not on Maryland’s first touchdown. Obvious confusion. Not sure it would have made a difference, but it’s not a great look, especially on the first drive of the game.
LINEBACKERS
Got some good news and got some bad news.
The good news: Penn State’s linebackers avoided blockers, ran to spots, and put themselves in position to make plays.
The bad news: Once there, they didn’t make them.
Want proof? Look no further than the second play of the game. Brooks (-2 on this play) diagnoses the swing pass to 5-Jarrett behind the LOS in a flash. Smith (+1 on this play) fights off a block like a champ to maintain outside contain. If Brooks simply does his job and keeps the inside edge, this is a TFL and places Maryland in 3rd and Long. Instead, Brooks doesn’t breakdown and wildly over-pursues, which lets Jarrett break contain and spill back inside for 5 yards.
Here’s another great diagnosis – Luketa takes a good path and avoids blockers to beat the Maryland RB on the sweep to the edge – but poor finish.
More shoddy tackling. This time 5-star true freshman Curtis Jacobs misses on a routine one-on-one stop against a back who (judging a book by its cover) probably doesn’t juke too many defenders. Minimal gain or even no gain becomes 9 yards. Play is diagnosed but, again, it doesn’t matter.
Penn State’s linebackers did finally have some success blitzing in the second half…but when you’re down 3 or 4 touchdowns who really gives a rip.
SECONDARY
Can’t believe three weeks deep we’ve only done HINDSIGHTS about losses. What are the odds? How did we get here? Are we doomed to write about bad football forever? Hoping rum will help answers those questions tonight, so apologies for mailing it in from here to the bottom of your screen.
We’ll go through the final TD of the first half and call it a day. Cool? Well, too bad.
99 percent sure blame sticks to Joey Porter Jr. here, since it appears Penn State is in Match Quarters and responsibility falls on the corner if WR 1 – the receiver closest to the sideline – goes vertical. The out cut triggers 16-Brown to cover WR 2. But Porter jumps the out, as well, allowing the go route to bust wide open over his head.
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