finally getting around to the defense after posting on the offense several weeks ago. obviously, the team had issues, both from personnel and scheme standpoints. let's start with the personnel
the DLine this year was underwhelming. Windsor had a big game against Iowa, but otherwise was disappointing, and none of the other guys were consistent enough to make a difference. not having a Still, Hill, Jones or Odrick makes a huge difference to the entire defense. apart from the individual dominance, a player of that caliber impacts every other aspect of the defense. the d-ends are virtually guaranteed to get single coverage; the linebackers get clean runs because the interior lineman can't get to the second level and the db's benefit from the pressure. the recruiting misses at Dtackle have really, really hurt the last couple of years and unfortunately I don't see any of the current roster becoming that dominant tackle. maybe shelton or mustipher can develop over the next year. we need it.
Matos didn't play as well as I thought he would this past year but he still will be missed. none of the remaining players have the bulk i think we need at one of the end spots. if Toney is going to man one side, i think you need a guy 270-275 on the other side. Pry and James seem to like guys around 250 for the ends, but I'm not sure they are big enough to hold up. this team could not get pressure when it needed to , which exposed an already challenged secondary against good teams
we definitely need several players on the dline to make gigantic steps forward next year
Linebacker is and will continue to be the strength of the team. Parsons is the leader, but to be honest, i was disappointed in his play much of the year. he was solid, but he didn't make the spectacular plays that some of our previous greats would make, like Conlan, Poz, Lavar, Sean lee. and then came the bowl game. hopefully he builds on that performance and becomes a game changer next year. luketa is also very good and will play next year. he is the best returning backer in coverage and he is solid against the run. Ellis is also solid and smith should get significant playing time, though I'm not sure he is ready to start. smith made some big hits, but there were times when he was lost out there. haven't seen enough of the younger guys to comment on. one thing the entire linebacking corps needs to do is work on catching the ball. there were three or four instances where they had interceptions right in their hands but they couldn't make the play. our defense needs to come up with more turnovers in big games;you cant drop those balls.
like everyone else, i'm at a loss as to what is going on in the secondary. I remember in the first or second game when a receiver came open over the middle but dropped an easy catch for a first down. WAde was in coverage or at least near by and celebrated like he had made a great play to break up the pass. I thought to myself, "why is he acting like he did something great?' little did i know that was essentially the best our pass defense could do, hope they drop it. i cannot remember a PSU defense that had more open receivers running through the secondary than this team. and when they did manage to cover someone, the receiver still caught the ball because the db never turned around to find the ball. Reid and TCF showed a great deal of promise as younger players, but both have regressed significantly. we played some younger guys and they seem to have potential, but my fear is this will be coached out of them similarly to what happened to Reid and TCF. To me, this falls n the coaches for not teaching the right technique and running schemes that are either too confusing or just make no sense. if it is third and 6 you don't give a 10 yard cushion. you also don't expect a safety to run 30 yards across the field to cover a deep out because you decided to run a corner blitz. there were times when Taylor and/or Wade, both players who have been in the system for 4 years, were lost in coverage. that can't happen with senior safeties. either they shouldn't be out there if they don't know where to be, or the schemes are not allowing them to succeed. (one position change they might consider is TCF to safety. facing the play he might better use his ball skills.)
i think our db play is actually hurting our own passing game. i don't think we are able to provide the tight press coverage in practice that we come up against when we play certain teams like OSU. so our receivers aren't used to having to fight to get off the line of scrimmage.
the other aspect of our defensive scheme that I don't like is our blitz package. no matter where blitz from, we rarely get home, especially against the better teams. it seems to me that we telegraph instead of disguising our blitzes. if it is up the middle, the line reads it and picks it up. if it is from a corner, we give it away and the offense throws behind it. I'm just not sure what Pry is doing
Again I recognize this team that just finished 11-2 but if James wants to be elite, and I think we all want that, then things on the defensive side of the ball need to be fixed. with the talent he is recruiting, this team always shoiuld go 11-2 or 10-3. but if you want to play in the CFP, you can't have commit the types of defensive mistakes we saw repeatedly at the end of the year. .
the DLine this year was underwhelming. Windsor had a big game against Iowa, but otherwise was disappointing, and none of the other guys were consistent enough to make a difference. not having a Still, Hill, Jones or Odrick makes a huge difference to the entire defense. apart from the individual dominance, a player of that caliber impacts every other aspect of the defense. the d-ends are virtually guaranteed to get single coverage; the linebackers get clean runs because the interior lineman can't get to the second level and the db's benefit from the pressure. the recruiting misses at Dtackle have really, really hurt the last couple of years and unfortunately I don't see any of the current roster becoming that dominant tackle. maybe shelton or mustipher can develop over the next year. we need it.
Matos didn't play as well as I thought he would this past year but he still will be missed. none of the remaining players have the bulk i think we need at one of the end spots. if Toney is going to man one side, i think you need a guy 270-275 on the other side. Pry and James seem to like guys around 250 for the ends, but I'm not sure they are big enough to hold up. this team could not get pressure when it needed to , which exposed an already challenged secondary against good teams
we definitely need several players on the dline to make gigantic steps forward next year
Linebacker is and will continue to be the strength of the team. Parsons is the leader, but to be honest, i was disappointed in his play much of the year. he was solid, but he didn't make the spectacular plays that some of our previous greats would make, like Conlan, Poz, Lavar, Sean lee. and then came the bowl game. hopefully he builds on that performance and becomes a game changer next year. luketa is also very good and will play next year. he is the best returning backer in coverage and he is solid against the run. Ellis is also solid and smith should get significant playing time, though I'm not sure he is ready to start. smith made some big hits, but there were times when he was lost out there. haven't seen enough of the younger guys to comment on. one thing the entire linebacking corps needs to do is work on catching the ball. there were three or four instances where they had interceptions right in their hands but they couldn't make the play. our defense needs to come up with more turnovers in big games;you cant drop those balls.
like everyone else, i'm at a loss as to what is going on in the secondary. I remember in the first or second game when a receiver came open over the middle but dropped an easy catch for a first down. WAde was in coverage or at least near by and celebrated like he had made a great play to break up the pass. I thought to myself, "why is he acting like he did something great?' little did i know that was essentially the best our pass defense could do, hope they drop it. i cannot remember a PSU defense that had more open receivers running through the secondary than this team. and when they did manage to cover someone, the receiver still caught the ball because the db never turned around to find the ball. Reid and TCF showed a great deal of promise as younger players, but both have regressed significantly. we played some younger guys and they seem to have potential, but my fear is this will be coached out of them similarly to what happened to Reid and TCF. To me, this falls n the coaches for not teaching the right technique and running schemes that are either too confusing or just make no sense. if it is third and 6 you don't give a 10 yard cushion. you also don't expect a safety to run 30 yards across the field to cover a deep out because you decided to run a corner blitz. there were times when Taylor and/or Wade, both players who have been in the system for 4 years, were lost in coverage. that can't happen with senior safeties. either they shouldn't be out there if they don't know where to be, or the schemes are not allowing them to succeed. (one position change they might consider is TCF to safety. facing the play he might better use his ball skills.)
i think our db play is actually hurting our own passing game. i don't think we are able to provide the tight press coverage in practice that we come up against when we play certain teams like OSU. so our receivers aren't used to having to fight to get off the line of scrimmage.
the other aspect of our defensive scheme that I don't like is our blitz package. no matter where blitz from, we rarely get home, especially against the better teams. it seems to me that we telegraph instead of disguising our blitzes. if it is up the middle, the line reads it and picks it up. if it is from a corner, we give it away and the offense throws behind it. I'm just not sure what Pry is doing
Again I recognize this team that just finished 11-2 but if James wants to be elite, and I think we all want that, then things on the defensive side of the ball need to be fixed. with the talent he is recruiting, this team always shoiuld go 11-2 or 10-3. but if you want to play in the CFP, you can't have commit the types of defensive mistakes we saw repeatedly at the end of the year. .
