For seemingly every offensive action by the Nittany Lion offense against Kent State on Saturday — offensive, as in ‘giving painful or unpleasant sensations,’ according to Merriam-Webster.com — there was the Penn State defense with the perfect reaction.
In word…
‘Defense isn’t all that sexy,’ said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley with a wry smile. ‘We just like to do our job and get off the field.’
…And in deed.
Witness this drive chart that begins at the end of the first half, when Penn State led 14-0, and ends well into the second half — when PSU still led 14-0. The Nittany Lions held service, thanks to Bradley’s defense.
Drive No. 1 — Twenty-nine seconds to go in the first half, and from his own 28, Penn State quarterback Rob Bolden throws an interception. Kent State takes over, 45 yards from paydirt.
Bing — Two plays later Derrick Thomas of the Nittany Lion defense intercepts Kent State quarterback Spencer Keith.
Drive No. 2 – On the first play of the second half, running back Evan Royster continues to play in the fog, fumbling the football away on his own 43 after a three-yard loss.
Bang — The Penn State defense holds Kent State to 13 yards in five plays; then its kicker, Freddy Cortez, misses a 47-yard field goal.
Drive No. 3 – After the miss by Cortez, Penn State gets the ball back on its own 30. Four plays later PSU gives it away – again, on an interception by Bolden, and again by the Golden Flash’s Norman Wolfe, just 2:47 into the second half.
Boom – Three plays, six yards, one punt by Kent State. Penn State’s defense. Again.
SAME SIDE
It all goes with the territory. No hard feelings by the Nittany Lion D.
‘We have to do a good job getting the offense good field position, and give the offense a chance to do more things,’ said Bradley. ‘That’s opposed to us giving up three or four first downs and handing the ball over inside the 10 — which really limits what the offense can do.’
After he last stop by is defense, the Penn State offense came back with its best drive of the year, in both plays (17) and time (9:49), as it methodically marched down field for a 27-yard field goal by Collin Wagner and a 17-0 lead.
A lead that remained intact because of the Nittany Lion defense.
AN EM-BOLDENED DEFENSE
Now no one is saying it, but the Penn State defense needs to be on its best behavior with a young quarterback like Bolden around. Interceptions can come in bunches.
More cautious, more conservative, more mundane.
This season, with the rookie quarterback, the Nittany Lion defense is more focused on stopping the big play — the ‘explosion play,’ is what the insiders call it. Bolden’s good, but with Darryl Clark at the helm last season, the Penn State defense could take more chances.
Last week against Alabama the Nittany Lion defense surrendered 19 first downs, 229 yards passing by Tide quarterback Greg McElroy, 144 yards rushing by Terry Richardson (the first rushing game over a century against Penn State in 18 games), 17 red zone points and 7.1 yards per play.
BY THE NUMBERS
Although it was ‘just’ Kent State, the Penn State defense rebounded from the Crimson Red to compile some gaudy statistics:
–Zero points allowed.
–Two interceptions, one by D’Anton Lynn to set the tone on the game’s third play, and one by Thomas.
–Over the final three quarters, Kent State had 17 carries for 18 yards rushing and an overall paltry 3.2 yards per play.
–Only four of 14 third downs converted by Kent State.
–Just 3:35 possession time for Kent State in the crucial third quarter, when the Lions held KSU’s offense to 10 plays and 12 yards on three different drives – two three-and-outs and a four-and-out.
Nevertheless, Bradley and Paterno were still a little bit defensive. Defensive, as dictionary.reference.com puts it: ‘in excessively concerned with guarding against the real or imagined threat of criticism, injury to one’s ego, or exposure of one’s shortcomings.
‘Yeah, well, we’re still missing some tackles,’ said Bradley. ‘We’re still unhappy. Did you ever see a coach who was happy?’
Not Paterno. Not this week.
Paterno spent most of last week in practice with the Penn State defense, even though he usually devotees more of his time with the offense.
‘He comes over and prods the guys,’ Bradley said. ‘When Coach conveys the messages it’s a little better than other people conveying the message. He gets in there and tells them what he wants done.’
‘All week long,’ said hero Andrew Bailey, ‘Coach Paterno was yelling, ‘Tackle, tackle, tackle! Wrap up.’…He’ll get in someone’s face or put his hands on someone or punch someone in the gut and tell them to put their helmet right there.’
Normally, Paterno does not have to worry about the defense.
DEFENSE STAFF AND STATS
Why? Look at his staff:
Bradley, the coordinator, has been a coach at Penn State for 32 years.
Defensive line coach Larry Johnson has produced six first-team All-Americans in the past 10 seasons and has been at Penn State for 15 years.
And Ron Vanderlinden has been a college coach for 33 years, the last 10 at Penn State after six previous stops, include a four-year stint as head coach tat Maryland. Now he’s the tenured professor of Linebacker U.
Together, those three alone have 76 years of college coaching experience.
Now look at that staff’s stats:
Over the past six seasons (2004-09), Penn State is one of only two defensive units that rank among the top five in the nation in rushing defense (third, 97 ypg), scoring defense (third, 15.1 ppg) and total defense (fifth, 290 ypg). Ohio State is the only other team ranked in the top five in those three categories.
Definitely under-rated. Saturday, Paterno gave them a little bit of credit.
‘I think we made some progress,’ said Paterno. ‘We were a little sounder and hustled to the ball better. Our tackling was a little better.’
Bradley and Johnson shuffled the cards a bit on Saturday, starting Sean Stanley and Pete Massaro at defensive end in place of Jack Crawford and Eric Latimore.
‘Massaro is going to be a good football player,’ Paterno said. ‘Stanley played last year. We have to get Stanley a little more fire, but he’s a heckuva good athlete. He should be making more plays than he is.’
Bradley also featured a cast of thousands in the secondary, with everyone but Alan Zemaitis and Ray Isom getting a shot. Bradley was quick with the hook, pulling players who made a miscue.
‘A couple of things bothered me in the secondary,’ Paterno said. ‘A couple of guys didn’t play as well as I thought they could play. A couple of kids made some plays. We need to anticipate a little better and make some things happen for ourselves.’
Meantime, with Bolden at the helm and Royster having gone AWOL, Paterno knows that the best offense is a good defense.
Earlier coverage
