DDS

[PSUWrestlingFanSince2011]

Not sure what that performance was on Saturday but I also blame the coaches for not benching him. Either he’s hurt, or just playing that poorly but we were literally playing 11 vs 10 on Saturday.

I don’t care if he was a 5 star recruit and think that he can go pro this year. If guys aren’t playing up to standards then they need to be benched. I don’t care who they are.

 

[Ian]

Yikes… he ain’t going pro.

 

[PSUWrestlingFanSince2011]

Yikes… he ain’t going pro.

I agree, not sure he even gets drafted this year.

 

[Marylovesthelions]

Not sure what that performance was on Saturday but I also blame the coaches for not benching him. Either he’s hurt, or just playing that poorly but we were literally playing 11 vs 10 on Saturday.

I don’t care if he was a 5 star recruit and think that he can go pro this year. If guys aren’t playing up to standards then they need to be benched. I don’t care who they are.

LMAROFL ABC. GGU. KDG OPI, LMAROFL

 

[PSUWrestlingFanSince2011]

And it’s not just about him playing poorly, the effort was lacking as well. Once again if he’s that hurt, bench him.

 

[bcspsu]

Not sure what that performance was on Saturday but I also blame the coaches for not benching him. Either he’s hurt, or just playing that poorly but we were literally playing 11 vs 10 on Saturday.

I don’t care if he was a 5 star recruit and think that he can go pro this year. If guys aren’t playing up to standards then they need to be benched. I don’t care who they are.

That's the way that he's played all season. He hurt his groin four weeks ago against Wisconsin, and played a little the next week, so I doubt that his performance is injury related; his groin injury should be healed by now. He's just another undisciplined, fundamentally unsound player on this defense.

It's amazing that this defense hasn't given up a lot of points this season because this is the most undisciplined, fundamentally unsound defense I've seen at PSU maybe ever. They get by almost exclusively on athleticism.

 

[PSU Soupy]

This defense is frustrating. They have talent. They will play a quarter, a half really effectively and then give up an 80 yard drive. Not sure who the leaders of the defense are. The KJ injury hurt our talent on the field, but maybe even more so hurt our leadership.

Our corners are playing well. Safety play at times has been pretty good. Carter makes plays. Durant makes plays. King is pretty solid. After that we are lacking in play makers. Ford has become my favority DT, he and Durant make a good pair. Durant explosive and Ford perhaps more steady.

Thought that the cerebral approach that Allen was bringing to the table was going to work well after the Diaz defense, but Manny seemed to get the team to make more splash plays and limit bad plays. Having Chop and Adissa along with Carter coming from the middle really played havoc with the OL......plus Winston. Would have loved to have seen last years defense with this years offense...........

 

[BucksLion52]

And it’s not just about him playing poorly, the effort was lacking as well. Once again if he’s that hurt, bench him.

I rewatched the game again and focused on the D. Several players played really poorly and quite honestly we might be in trouble next year. Again tackling fundamentals do not exist in the defensive back field.
Here's my summary after watch the game nd isolating on key positions.

Best Players on D on a week to week basis. #11, #28, #91, #41, #4, #1

D-Line Overall good except for the play of #33 and #15. Not good against the run and zero QB pressure. In the case of #15 he takes himself out of many plays. He also looks very lite.
LB's - Thank God for #41 that's all I'll say. #13 takes the wrong angles consistently, over runs many plays, gets caught in the wash with Offensive Linemen and can't disconnect. #0 again too small, too slow but has good instincts. I hope we can develop some of the depth because this unit is average at best for PSU standards.
DB's Lets just say the corners have very good instincts. Many missed tackles on Saturday but it's that was every weekend all over CFB.
Like the play of #1 at times but he's out of position a lot on medium to deep throws. #6 is a real liability, especially tackling. We really miss K.Winston Jr. I do think #10 will be a very good safety in time.
I'm trying not to be too critical on individual players but I'm thinking about possible match-ups in the CFP. Every team except maybe Oregon has some deficiencies this year.
We Are!

 

[bcspsu]

I rewatched the game again and focused on the D. Several players played really poorly and quite honestly we might be in trouble next year. Again tackling fundamentals do not exist in the defensive back field.
Here's my summary after watch the game nd isolating on key positions.

Best Players on D on a week to week basis. #11, #28, #91, #41, #4, #1

D-Line Overall good except for the play of #33 and #15. Not good against the run and zero QB pressure. In the case of #15 he takes himself out of many plays. He also looks very lite.
LB's - Thank God for #41 that's all I'll say. #13 takes the wrong angles consistently, over runs many plays, gets caught in the wash with Offensive Linemen and can't disconnect. #0 again too small, too slow but has good instincts. I hope we can develop some of the depth because this unit is average at best for PSU standards.
DB's Lets just say the corners have very good instincts. Many missed tackles on Saturday but it's that was every weekend all over CFB.
Like the play of #1 at times but he's out of position a lot on medium to deep throws. #6 is a real liability, especially tackling. We really miss K.Winston Jr. I do think #10 will be a very good safety in time.
I'm trying not to be too critical on individual players but I'm thinking about possible match-ups in the CFP. Every team except maybe Oregon has some deficiencies this year.
We Are!

I agree with you about how many of our d-players this season just are too light, like Vanover and Rojas; they need to really add a lot of good weight this offseason.

Also, there are so many times when I see the d-players turn their backs to the play when it's coming towards them rather than fronting up like a basketball player who is guarding another player and fighting off a block; it's just such poor technique and I believe that a lot of that has to do with this defense not being physically big enough in too many positions.

 

[Obliviax]

I don't agree at all. We have to play DDS because of the injuries and exits by defensive players. We are thin right now. I thought DDS was nursing a bad groin pull and gutted it out. But I am not really concerned.

We gave up 281 total yards to UM. 106 on the ground and 175 in the air. I thought their QB played a really good game and they have a couple of WRs that would be starting for us. The RBs were as good as we've seen outside of tOSU and as good as USCs. Credit Minny for coming off a bye week healthy, fresh and motivated.

The bottom line was the blocked punt and block extra point. The extra point was an easy 3 point swing (didn't get the 1, gave up two). If you take that away, PSU has a 4 point lead late and a 7 point lead mid-way through the 4th quarter. If you take away the blocked punt, and that is a 10 point swing. If Minny is down by more than 7 going into Q4, that makes them one-dimensional as they now have to pass and the D doesn't care about the running game. Without those two awful mistakes by PSU, this could easily have turned into an easy win. (not to mention the psychological boost and PSU injuries in the first half which were substantial).

The other issue not getting enough attention is the affect of the new clock rules. PSU had 4, only FOUR, offensive possessions in the second half. Minny had four as well.

 

[LeatherHelmets]

I thought DDS had a nice game at WVU. Since then, it seems he hasn't been the same. Not sure if it's a nagging injury or what. But aside from the jersey numbers, he's playing at the same level and Smith Vilbert. I agree with whomever stated that Vanover is playing better.

 

[PSUWrestlingFanSince2011]

I thought DDS had a nice game at WVU. Since then, it seems he hasn't been the same. Not sure if it's a nagging injury or what. But aside from the jersey numbers, he's playing at the same level and Smith Vilbert. I agree with whomever stated that Vanover is playing better.

Yeah I think after watching the film the coaches are going to realize that they need to let DDS rest up for the playoff bc right now he’s hurting the team more than he’s helping. And we need him healthy for the playoff, I still think that he’s a pretty good player when healthy.

 

[bcspsu]

Yeah I think after watching the film the coaches are going to realize that they need to let DDS rest up for the playoff bc right now he’s hurting the team more than he’s helping. And we need him healthy for the playoff, I still think that he’s a pretty good player when healthy.

They only have to gut out one more game and then they'll have three weeks to rest for a playoff game. I don't care if it is Maryland, but you still have to play your best players to win; maybe Maryland has thrown in the towel, but they did play fairly well at Oregon just a few weeks ago.

 

[TheWizardofCamelot]

DE opposite of Carter, has been average at best. Vilbert/Vanover are depth pieces and asking them to provide anything more than a few snaps/game is asking for trouble.

DDS has definitely been nursing an injury the second half of the season so I don't want to discount that at all. But he's almost a tweener on DL - not athletic enough to be a true DE, but not big enough to play DT. He's incredibly strong and holds up well against the run, but his lack of athleticism/quickness give you nothing as a pass rusher. And when he's forced to play it space, it's brutal to watch. He will return, I'm sure, because he won't be drafted - but the staff has a decision to make on what to do with his conditioning/training in the offseason, what do we want him to be in 2025? Unless we expect a massive jump in trajectory from the FR DEs, we have to find a game changer at DE in the portal for next season.

There were too drives given up by the defense yesterday, but besides that, I thought they played well. 2.9 yards/carry and <300 yards of total offense from Minny. You can't ask much more. And special teams gift wrapped 9 points - otherwise you're looking at 16 points total. the defense doesn't always LOOK great, but the stats continue to back up that they're being very effective. Hard to explain, I guess.

 

[PSU Soupy]

DE opposite of Carter, has been average at best. Vilbert/Vanover are depth pieces and asking them to provide anything more than a few snaps/game is asking for trouble.

DDS has definitely been nursing an injury the second half of the season so I don't want to discount that at all. But he's almost a tweener on DL - not athletic enough to be a true DE, but not big enough to play DT. He's incredibly strong and holds up well against the run, but his lack of athleticism/quickness give you nothing as a pass rusher. And when he's forced to play it space, it's brutal to watch. He will return, I'm sure, because he won't be drafted - but the staff has a decision to make on what to do with his conditioning/training in the offseason, what do we want him to be in 2025? Unless we expect a massive jump in trajectory from the FR DEs, we have to find a game changer at DE in the portal for next season.

There were too drives given up by the defense yesterday, but besides that, I thought they played well. 2.9 yards/carry and <300 yards of total offense from Minny. You can't ask much more. And special teams gift wrapped 9 points - otherwise you're looking at 16 points total. the defense doesn't always LOOK great, but the stats continue to back up that they're being very effective. Hard to explain, I guess.

Your last line...... hard to explain is the best description about the defense. We are not getting a ton of sacks, we are not drawing a ton of penalties.....we are not getting a lot of turnovers.....but we do not allow a lot of points. There are some very high end players........ so maybe last year set a false expectation with a defense as good as PSU has had since 1986...... I firmly believed that we will be different but similar to last year, but it has not been the case. We are more bend but do not break, versus the blitzkrieg approach from last year.