Defensive line needs
to establish its presence
By Neil Rudel
nrudel@altoonamirror.com
Penn State is averaging 40 points per game and has allowed just one touchdown in the last five quarters so today’s question is a bit of an exercise in splitting hairs.
But even at 2-0 with a nice comeback win on the road over Purdue and a domination of Ohio University, the Nittany Lions have room for growth.
To be the elite program James Franklin aims to build, the Lions must measure themselves not against Ohio U. or even Purdue but Ohio State and Michigan.
Which is why my top concern at this point is the defensive line.
Opposing quarterbacks have attempted 100 passes against the Lions so far, and the defensive line has not yet registered a single sack.
The team has managed just three, but they’ve been by cornerback Johnny Dixon (two) and linebacker-safety Jonathan Sutherland (one).
So the front four and really the front seven is not getting home.
The Lions lost elite pass rushers in the 2021 and 2022 drafts such as Shaka Toney, Odafe Oweh and Arnold Ebiketie along with swarming linebacker Micah Parsons and versatile Jesse Luketa, and they’re still working on replacing them.
Defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher injured his knee in the Lions’ sixth game of last season, at Iowa, and missed the remainder of 2021. He’s back and appears to still be on the mend.
Maybe he’ll get better, but this far, he has not been the difference maker the Lions hoped he’d be. Ditto defensive end Adisa Isaac, who missed all of last year after surgery.
The rest of the defensive line is inexperienced, and that’s one reason why the Lions’ defense hasn’t been getting turnovers, which Franklin noted Tuesday.
So far, the Lions’ defense has forced just one – an Ohio U. fumble in the end zone for a safety.
“I’m a huge believer that it starts up front with defensive line setting the tone, especially with inexperience behind them,” Franklin said. “It helps take pressure off.”
Let history serve as Exhibit A. The PSU single-season interception record is 10, shared by Neal Smith in 1969 and Pete Harris in 1978.
Who were the defensive tackles those years? Mike Reid and Steve Smear in 1969 and Bruce Clark and Matt Millen in 1978.
Aside from Mustipher, there are no household names up front so the Lions need Hakeem Beamon (51), Dvon Ellies (91), Jordan van den Berg (52), Amin Vanover (56), Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) and Maryland transfer Chop Robinson (44) to get this done by committee.
The unexplained absence of Smith Vilbert (92), who had three sacks in the Outback Bowl against Arkansas, is noticeable.
Penn State’s defensive line should get a better test Saturday against a hard-running Auburn team, and after that we’ll get a better idea about whether the defensive line is a liability or serviceable.
Rudel can be reached at 814-946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.
Run game must prove
itself against good ‘D’
By Cory Giger
sports@altoonamirror.com
A buddy of mine asked me a sensational question heading into the Purdue game: What would we think of Penn State if it goes out and rushes for 220 yards?
It was a terrific question because doing so would have made all of us re-evaluate everything we think about the Nittany Lions. Because hey, if they could get the running game going to that degree, then look out!
Well, my buddy was a week early. Penn State didn’t rush for 220 yards against Purdue (only 98), but did pile up 234 yards rushing in trouncing Ohio, led by freshman Nicholas Singleton’s 179 yards.
OK, so now the running game is fixed. Right? Let’s go ahead and pencil in 10 wins for the Lions.
Not so fast, my friend, as Lee Corso would say.
I still have concerns about the running game and am not close to being convinced things are just going to be hunky dory going forward.
There are a lot of reasons to still be cynical after the offensive line problems we’ve seen in recent years.
Yes, Singleton looks like a game changer. It’s easy to say he’s Saquon 2.0 and that the kid will become a superstar.
But let’s revisit Singleton’s big runs against the Bobcats. All three of them — the 70- and 44-yard touchdowns and the 48-yard gain — all came when Singleton broke free around the right side and just outran everybody.
The kid absolutely is fast, and those three runs accounted for 162 of his 179 yards.
But this is where we have to consider the realities that Ohio isn’t any good, didn’t contain the run well at all and doesn’t have enough speed to catch up with a guy like Singleton around the edge.
Auburn isn’t going to be the same.
Michigan isn’t going to be the same.
Ohio State isn’t going to be the same.
Those teams are going to game plan to keep Singleton between the tackles and make him earn yards up the gut.
Those teams are going to have fast guys on the edge who likely will be able to stop Singleton either before he turns the corner or shortly thereafter, preventing long runs.
Just because he looked sensational against a terrible Ohio defense doesn’t mean Penn State can count on Singleton doing that going forward. Until the youngster shows the grit and determination it takes to turn a carry up the gut into a nice 7-yard gain in the Big Ten, then we will have to keep wondering if he can indeed do that.
And look, that’s if the offensive line is able to do its job and get a good push up front on running plays. Can we really say the line will do that with any degree of confidence?
Not yet.
Maybe it will, and maybe the Lions truly have solved their running issues. If so, then this could be an outstanding season.
I just have to see it against someone other than Ohio to truly believe the running problems have been resolved.
Cory Giger covers Penn State for DK Pittsburgh Sports and hosts “Sports Central” weekdays from 4-5 on WRTA. He can be reached at cgsports12@gmail.com.
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