Sunday Column: Defense Puts Clamps on Rutgers and Puts Out Enticing Offer to Recruits in the Process

TV analysts and other such folks who like to oversimplify football will often say that a defense will try to make an opposing offense “one-dimensional” – stack the box to gum up the run game and encourage the offense to pass, or (in fewer cases) flood the secondary with extra defenders to deter the pass and offering a clear path to run the ball.

Manny Diaz and Penn State’s defense, it seems, don’t seem to care which dimension their opponents choose, only that, whether they decide to run or to pass, they wind up losing yardage.

An aggressive and effective defense once again ruled the day for the Nittany Lions in a 55-10 stomping of Rutgers that did not seem headed for a stomping in the first quarter. While a Penn State offense missing Parker Washington and relying upon several young offensive linemen struggled to find consistent footing and the special teams followed up Nick Singleton’s scintillating 100-yard return by giving up a 66-yard return to Aron Cruickshank, the defense found itself in a mildly alarming 10-7 hole.

By the end of the evening, though, Rutgers had not scored again, and Penn State’s defense had scored twice, getting fumble return scores from Kobe King and Tig Brown, and saw a potential third score, John Dixon’s pick six, come off the board thanks to a penalty.

The method was one that’s been working pretty much since a spirited-but-kinda-discombobulated effort in the opener against Purdue – controlled aggression. Defenders flying into the backfield on pass blitzes or run blitzes and making plays on the ball when the quarterback had to throw it earlier than he would have liked or to players a bit more covered than he would have liked.

The Nittany Lions entered the game 14^th in the nation in tackles for loss and put 15 more on the board, two weeks after setting a program record with 16 TFLs against Indiana. They have 88 TFLs in 11 games after recording 85 in 13 games a year ago. They entered the game first in the country in pass breakups and added two more and now, with two games remaining, already rank second among all Penn State teams in passes defended (83 = 72 PBUs + 11 interceptions), trailing only the 1998 defense that included the first two picks in the 2000 NFL Draft (91).

Blowing up the play before it starts or cleaning it up on the back end are good ways to crush inferior opponents and to hang around in games in which the other guy has more talent (it’s worth noting that the Nittany Lions recorded 7 TFLs in both the Michigan and Ohio State losses, which was only a bit surprising). And, if the Nittany Lions both play their cards right and are able to retain Diaz, who will get more than a few calls during the next head coaching interview cycle, that could be a self-sustaining formula — fun defense leads to elite recruits leads to more fun on defense leads to … well, you get it.

Players like Brown, stud frosh Abdul Carter, and the savvy Kalen King would excel in most if not any defensive system. But Diaz’s system allows them to take advantage of their athleticism and their aggressive mindset and play downhill – and to showcase more of their abilities. Sure, game tape of covering wideouts or tight ends in space will be helpful once NFL Draft season rolls around, but if that tape also includes successful trips into the backfield, all the better.

What’s made Penn State so destructive and so hard to game plan against this season is that the pressure is not only coming from all directions, all positions, and on all downs, but from a wide variety of players. No Nittany Lion has more than eight TFLs (Adisa Isaac), but nine have at least four, and 27 players have at least one. That’s a reflection of the depth the defense has cultivated and the effectiveness of the defense when it’s blitzing and when it’s not.

Now, does this aggression leave the Nittany Lions open to the occasional big play? Of course, and we saw it on the opening play of the second half, when Dixon came off his receiver to charge the backfield and that receiver, Sean Ryan, got open, snatched a pass and picked up 55 yards. But three plays later, Penn State showed why this aggressive style is not only fun but also worth playing; Curtis Jacobs sacked Gavin Wimsatt and Brown had a scoop-and-score, and any thoughts the Scarlet Knights might have entertained about making this a game were erased.

Against better offenses, as we saw against Michigan and Ohio State, there is less margin for error, of course. And the blitzes get home with more success if the linemen are beating their blocks, too, which happens less often against those two particular offensive lines. And any mistakes or shortcomings by the offense, whether it’s a turnover in a bad spot or simply too many three and outs that leave the defense on the field too long, can make it tougher for the defense to consistently deliver.

But, again, if top-level defensive recruits are watching cornerbacks picking up sacks and linebackers doing end-zone dances, the very good aggressive defenses of today stand a better chance of becoming elite aggressive defenses of tomorrow. And that will mean it won’t be a big deal how many dimensions the opposing offense has each week.