Hindsight 2020: PSU Defense vs. Rutgers

Sure Took Long Enough, But That’s Now Back-to-Back Weeks Penn State’s Defense Played Penn State Defense 

FTB CHARTING – BOX SCORE

Spare us your “It’s only Rutgers” takes.  

Yes, it was only Rutgers.  And “Only Rutgers” entered Saturday averaging 30.8 points per game. “Only Rutgers” posted 27 vs. Ohio State (more than Penn State), 35 in regulation vs. Michigan (more than Penn State), and just lit up pre-COVID Purdue for 37 points and 400+ total yards seven days earlier.  

Through seven games “Only Penn State” has completely shutdown “Only Rutgers” – so let’s not flippantly dismiss the domination Nittany Lions defenders displayed in New Jersey, OK?  As you’ll read/see, the defense played really well this week…so let’s stick the negativity next to your novelty elf until we have something fresh to fuss about.  

FORMATIONS

Day 1 Friends of the Blog, remember our PSU D vs. Indiana HINDSIGHT? More specifically, remember us highlighting Penn State experimenting with a weird, exotic defensive front on the Stevie Scott touchdown run? You don’t have to nod politely. It’s cool. We know you don’t remember it…so here’s a refresher.

Jayson Oweh and Antonio Shelton are both upright, lining up outside the tight end. Shane Simmons is upright on the other side. PJ Mustipher is the only lineman with a hand in the artificial dirt. We weren’t sure what to label this alignment then, we’re not sure what to label it now, and we’re clueless what it’s trying to accomplish (other than giving us something to write about since Pry’s new wrinkles are pretty much BOTOX’d smooth seven weeks in)…but it’s back (sort of).

Slight variations, but similar DNA here. The “Flexed”, if you will, DT (Mustipher) and the different-area-code upright DE (Simmons) are again on the boundary side, which happens to be the weakside of this formation – it was the strongside vs. Indiana. Because of that, Penn State rolls a linebacker to the line of scrimmage to fill the extra run gap. As bad as this look did against Indiana, it reversed fortune vs. Rutgers – the Scarlet Knights ran wide for no gain.  

The other pre-snap look that caught our attention is how Penn State masterfully handled Rutgers’ 4th and 6 Monster Formation – for those of you who play Madden, Monster is featured in the Vikings and Titans playbooks. 

Guard-Center-Guard are lined up normally, but as you’ll see, the two Rutgers tackles are flexed wide in these bunch pods.  They’re still ineligible. Hard to tell with the director’s constant camera switches, but 13-Ellis Brooks appears to be in full command of the situation – positioning players like a seasoned symphony conductor. Luckily, the two youngest guys (and therefore the mostly likely to be confused) are both defensive tackles – 77-Judge Culpepper and 91-D’Von Ellies – so there’s not much that needs to be communicated to them. 20-Adisa Isaac and 28-Jayson Oweh cheat toward the bunches, so Rutgers QB 0-Noah Vedral pumps, then takes off. Problem is Culpepper occupies two blockers, so Penn State’s DTs win the 3 vs. 2 matchup in the middle. None of the Rutgers linemen can release downfield. 40-Jesse Luketa makes a sure tackle, but even if he whiffs, 13- Ellis Brooks is getting the QB well before the line to gain. 

Finally, for the second consecutive week, Penn State embraced Rutgers tendency to sporadically go up tempo and handled the hurried pace…except for one play. Hate to be a jerk, but here it is: 

SUBSTITUTIONS

Our first check-your-program (err…internet roster) game! 

Kind of weird – and perhaps a testament to what James Franklin gauged to be Rutgers’ offensive potency — that a two-possession advantage equaled garbage time, but whatever. Technically, 91-D’von Ellies – who hadn’t seen any action all season – made his PSU debut before halftime, but really showed up on the final play of the game, registering his first college sack – the perfect punctuation in Piscataway.

Ellies rips through some initial hand fighting, blows right past the Rutgers RG and hunts the normally-elusive 0-Vedral, who at this juncture is probably just plain tired of running for his life, so he let’s Ellies clobber him and accepts the inevitable pain.

Newark native 56-Amin Vanover entered the game late, as did true freshman 99-Coziah Izzard. FTB favorite 51-Hakeem Beamon didn’t see the field and didn’t appear to be injured vs. Michigan, so no clue what’s up there. 53-Fred Hansard – a no-show in Ann Arbor – returned to the fray and assisted in plugging up Rutgers’ initial 4th down failure. In total, Penn State used 11 defensive linemen vs. Rutgers – easily its deepest rotation all season.

10-Lance Dixon is getting 10x more playing time than 23-Curtis Jacobs…which we can’t quite comprehend. 40-Jesse Luketa moonlighted at MLB for a few plays, replacing 13-Ellis Brooks . When Penn State goes Nickel, 12- Brandon Smith sits, even though we’re not really sure how big of an upgrade a 5th DB is over Smith – who is stellar in pass coverage. 

5-TCF sat this one out, again. James Franklin indicated he might be good-to-go this weekend. 2-Keaton Ellis started and finally looked like true freshman Keaton Ellis – which is good, though it sounds bad. 9-Joey Porter Jr. played all but 3 snaps and gets to ride in the front seat this week, because he’s a good guy at sports. 

DEFENSIVE LINE

Thankfully, we’ve never experienced the misfortune of being locked inside a cookie-cutter Newark Airport Hotel, but judging by the beige social media posts from Penn State player accounts on Friday afternoon, it’s looks like hell…if hell had an in-suite TV channel promoting Happy Hour at Slappy’s Gastropub in the lobby, that is. 

Anyway, 55-Antonio Shelton, no doubt bored as plywood (as were we), briefly engaged with us on Twitter to pass the time:

Despite Antonio’s terrible taste in nicknames – Antony Shelprano is a winner, man – the fifth-year senior nonetheless played like a Kingpin/Boss. 

Our Wednesday In-Depth Film Study (check it out HERE if you missed it) covered all of the Shelton plays we clipped for HINDSIGHT, so we won’t get repetitive and clog this blog (sweet rhyme) with stuff you might have already seen, or can go see on our YouTube page. We’ll just leave you with this – Shelton finished with one (yes, ONE) tackle yet COMPLETELY dominated the game, whipping up complete havoc and serving up statistical success for others on a silver platter. 

On second thought, screw it. Here’s a clip of Antony Shelprano treating Rutgers QB 0-Vedral like the poor guy disrespected him on the day of his daughter’s wedding:

Shelton’s neighbor, 97-PJ Mustipher, also established temporary residency in the Rutgers backfield on Saturday. 

On this play – the first of three failed Rutgers 4th down conversions – Mustipher swims past the right guard and holds his ground versus a shoddy double team while 53-Fred Hansard rudely occupies the cutback lane. By the end, PJ is getting held (no flag) but it doesn’t matter – he makes the play, anyway. 

Finally, 28-Jayson Oweh – The Jersey Boy. So yeah, our 2-plus sack prediction we tossed out in last week’s HINDSIGHT obviously didn’t stick to the wall. At this point — Irregular Season End Eve we’ll call it — the fact that Oweh doesn’t have a single sack on the stat sheet is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, dipped in batter, fried, and topped with a ladle-scoop of that questionable diner Disco Fries gravy.  

Even so, Oweh was an absolute terror on Rutgers’ opening drive, as you’ll soon see:

LINEBACKERS

A few Week 1 issues still linger – improper gap fits, bad pursuit angles, the occasional missed tackle – but there’s noticeable growth as collective unit, and an emerging 2021 All-American candidate in 12-Brandon Smith. 

Blessed with Go-Go-Gadget arms, an explosive first step (more explosive than Micah Parsons’ first step, in our opinion), elite top-end speed, and a grip no pickle jar can withstand, Smith’s physical gifts still tip the scales when measured against his on-field experience/”feel” for the position, but the levels are close to evening out.

That’s superhero closing speed, folks. When Rutgers 18-Bo Melton catches the ball, there’s a 8-yard cushion separating receiver and linebacker. But Smith pops that cushion. By the time Melton turns his head and takes his first post-reception step, Smith is breathing the same air as the dude dressed in black. And man, when Smith tackles guys, they go down. What should be a 4 to 5-yard pickup (minimum) dissolves into nothing in the flip of a switch. 

We only have one knock when it comes to Smith. 1. He needs to do a better job of finishing blitzes when sacks are obtainable but not spoon-fed like the 4th quarter Justin Fields sinus clearer vs. Ohio State. Like here: 

Really, 13-Ellis Brooks needs to take Vedral down but doesn’t. Still, Smith does a great job penetrating but lets Rutgers Tight End 10-Matt Alamio off the hook at the last second when he sort of gives up on the play – maybe he thought Vedral was already going down? IDK. If Smith keeps his foot on the gas, Vedral might still escape, but he probably doesn’t get the first down – a first down which extended Rutgers lone scoring drive.  

About Brooks…other than the aforementioned swing and miss on the blitz, Saturday might have been the redshirt junior’s best game of the season. Not only did Brooks force a turnover (which you’ll see in the montage below) he played fast and physical – two traits largely absent in the first five games of this abbreviated season.

SECONDARY 

Brent Pry sure knows how to take advantage of a situation. Last week, when Michigan starting quarterback Cade McNamara’s zip got zapped because of a bum shoulder, Penn State’s DC kept creeping his safeties closer and closer to the line of scrimmage. This week, during the second and third quarters when a stiff breeze flowed in the face of the Rutgers offense, Pry stationed his safeties a mere 8 yards from the LOS.

Extreme weather conditions considered, it’s still a risky move…but the Nittany Lions defensive backs rewarded Pry’s trust in them with competent tackling and penalty-free coverage. 

It’s been nearly two decades since a Penn State defensive back got drafted in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft (Bryan Scott, No. 55 Overall Pick in 2003) but man, 9-Joey Porter Jr. fits the modern cornerback mold – tall, long, physical, not a blazer but fast enough to let his elite length and reach shave .10 seconds off his 40-time when tracking a receiver.

Plus, he “gets” football – which makes sense considering his bloodline. Here’s Porter Jr. stuffing the same screen pass twice as his quick diagnosis allows him to beat the blocker to the spot  and make the tackle. 

Finally, let’s wrap things up with 1-Jaquan Brisker breaking up a deep ball. It’s Cover 1 and Brisker is the high safety. Actually, this is really good coverage by 2-Keaton Ellis, but it’s an even better throw. On the original angle, it’s not easy to determine whether Brisker or Ellis breaks this potential big play up…but upon further review, it’s Brisker’s CLEAN hit (A+ effort not going for the head) that separates ball from receiver.