Penn State linebacker’s coach Brent Pry talked to the media on Thursday only days prior to Penn State’s season opener against Temple. Here are five things to know from that call.
Q: The 2014 defense set the bar high. How do those expectations impact this year’s team?
Pry: “You love those expectations. That’s what you want. I think they are here at Penn State anyways, but particularly with the year we had. We understand that when you watch the tape from last year, there are a lot of areas where there can be improvement. Statistics are one thing, but there is a winning formula for playing championship defense. There are some areas we fell short in, so there have been plenty of things for us to emphasize. It’s great to have those expectations, but at the same time, there are plenty of areas we felt we needed to improve in.”
Q: On Nyeem Wartman’s move to middle linebacker:
Pry: “I’ll tell you, Nyeem did fantastic. He was excited about the position change. He wanted it for himself. He saw it as a great challenge filling in for Mike Hull, taking that spot by the reins. He really worked at it. It’s very important for Nyeem. He had a great camp physically. Mentally, he learned the position. I feel good about where Nyeem is. And I’m excited about watching Nyeem play his first game at ‘Mike’ ‘backer.”
Q: Where did you see Brandon Bell improve during this camp?
Pry: “Brandon has improved significantly. He was a pleasant surprise to me last year. Brandon has what I would call game savvy and position savvy. His skillset is not off the charts. But he does a great job with angles. He’s a great tackler. He’s a very smart football player. Brandon’s improved. He’s gotten bigger; he’s gotten stronger. There are certain points in a game where I ask him to play ‘Will’ ‘backer when we go to some of our sub packages. He’s improved dramatically there. He’s a much better box linebacker this fall than he was going into last fall. That’s going to help our defense.”
Q: What types of challenges does Temple pose for the defense, especially the linebacker corps?
Pry: “They do a fantastic job in their play-action, run game. There are a lot of run-pass conflicts they put on the linebacker position. They do a very good job spreading you out to make you defend the pass, but still have the ability to run the football. I think they do as good of a job at that as anybody we play. That’s something that has been a big area of emphasis for us. The second part to that is how athletic their quarterback is. Anytime you face an athletic quarterback like P.J. Walker it is a challenge on your ‘backers and your d-line. Keeping that guy contained and casting the net over him to keep his running abilities in check is something that will be a challenge on Saturday for sure.”
