With the injury situation as it is, especially the injuries on offense to Saquon Barkley and Akeel Lynch, and the mistakes that were made by Penn State's special teams, it would be easy to overlook anything positive that came out of yesterday's, 37-21, win over San Diego State. That, however, would be a big mistake.
The area in my opinion where Penn State made its biggest improvement in yesterday's game against the Aztecs was with the passing game. Penn State came into the game against San Diego State with its passing game ranked 13th in the conference producing just 124 yards per game. Christian Hackenberg had completed just 35 of 71 passes [49.3 percent] for 372 yards with one interception and two TD passes, but the most troubling statistic for Hackenberg and the pass offense was the fact Penn State was averaging just 5.2 yards per pass attempt and 10.6 yards per completion. Except for a 48-yard completion to DaeSean Hamilton against Rutgers and a 38-yarder to Chris Godwin, the next longest reception by a Penn State receiver against Temple, Buffalo or Rutgers was an 11-yard catch by Eugene Lewis against Buffalo. Penn State's passing game had essentially become one-dimensional failing to be able to vertically stretch the field.
With Hackenberg's performance against San Diego State, Penn State's passing game took on a completely different dimension. Hackenberg completed 21 of 35 passes [60-percent] for 296 yards with three TD passes and zero interceptions. But the statistic here that jumps out at me with the passing game is the fact Penn State averaged 9.1 yards per pass attempt and14.9 yards per completion.
But even more impressive than those two passing game statistics was the fact Penn State had six different receivers against San Diego State whose longest reception was 14 or more yards. Saeed Blacknall led the way with 4 catches for 101 yards [25.25 YPC] with his longest reception being 46 yards. Chris Godwin's longest catch went for 32 yards, Kyle Carter had a 35-yard catch, Saquon Barley had a 22-yard TD catch, Mark Allen had a 16-yard gain on a screen pass and Hamilton's longest reception went for 14 yards and a crucial first down.
James Franklin and John Donovan did their best job of the season giving Hackenberg a passing game blueprint that utilized the entire field both horizontally from from sideline to sideline and for the first time this year gave Hackenberg and his receivers the opportunity to vertically stretch the field against San Diego State. In reality if Hackenberg hadn't missed two completely open wide receivers downfield in Eugene Lewis and Godwin, Penn State's pass offense could have easily been for more than 350 yards and averaged close to 10.3 yards per pass attempt and 16.8 yards per completion.
The biggest benefactor of Hackenberg's passing performance was Blacknall. He totaled 4 catches for 101 yards and had receptions of 46 and 45 yards. Going into the game against San Diego State, Blacknall was still looking for his first reception of the season. Off his freshman performance last fall, when Blacknall totaled 11 catches for 112 yards averaging just 10.18 YPC, you would not have expected Blacknall to become Penn State's deep threat in the passing game against the Aztecs.
"Every day in practice, we always take our shots [downfield]," Blacknall said. "When we have the opportunity to get it, and the defense gives us that look, we take a shot. It gives the offense a spark. It could be any given receiver at any time."
With San Diego State blitzing and sending six players on almost every running and passing down, you have to give Penn State's offensive line a pat on the back for allowing Hachenberg to be sacked just two times and being hit just a hand-full of times. What clearly illustrates how improved the offensive line's pass protection was against the Aztecs is the fact both sacks on Hackenberg occurred after both Barkley and Lynch were no longer in the game after suffering injuries. In the first half alone the Aztec's blitzed and sent five and six players on 36 of Penn State's 46 offensive plays. The result was 297 yards of total offense for Penn State and a 27-14 halftime lead.
Penn State's offense at that point for most of the second half became one-dimensional with no running game at all. Don't get me wrong, Barkley is the stick of dynamite that sets off an explosion with Penn State's offense, but there was another element with Barkley's and Lynch's play that had an impressive impact on the success of Penn State's pass offense against San Diego State.
Barkley and Lynch did an effective and remarkably impressive job of pass protection and picking up San Diego State's 5th and 6th player in the Aztecs' blitz packages. Barkley threw key blocks on Blacknall's 45-yard and 46-yard receptions and Lynch was solid with his pass blocking responsibilities the entire time he was on the field. I'm sure it was the most overlooked aspect of both Barkley's and Lynch's performance against San Diego State, but it was one of the most important contributing factors to the success Hackenberg had throwing the football against the Aztecs.
The big question now with possibly Barkley and Lynch out of the lineup because of the injuries they suffered against SDSU will Penn State's new found balanced offensive attack disappear? It's a question only time will tell.
I'll look at some positives that came out of yesterday's game against San Diego State on defense despite of the injuries that took place to Jordan Lucas and Marcus Allen in another SDSU game analysis on Tuesday [Sept29] here in the Lions Den.
Sorry guys my bad back is killing me.
The area in my opinion where Penn State made its biggest improvement in yesterday's game against the Aztecs was with the passing game. Penn State came into the game against San Diego State with its passing game ranked 13th in the conference producing just 124 yards per game. Christian Hackenberg had completed just 35 of 71 passes [49.3 percent] for 372 yards with one interception and two TD passes, but the most troubling statistic for Hackenberg and the pass offense was the fact Penn State was averaging just 5.2 yards per pass attempt and 10.6 yards per completion. Except for a 48-yard completion to DaeSean Hamilton against Rutgers and a 38-yarder to Chris Godwin, the next longest reception by a Penn State receiver against Temple, Buffalo or Rutgers was an 11-yard catch by Eugene Lewis against Buffalo. Penn State's passing game had essentially become one-dimensional failing to be able to vertically stretch the field.
With Hackenberg's performance against San Diego State, Penn State's passing game took on a completely different dimension. Hackenberg completed 21 of 35 passes [60-percent] for 296 yards with three TD passes and zero interceptions. But the statistic here that jumps out at me with the passing game is the fact Penn State averaged 9.1 yards per pass attempt and14.9 yards per completion.
But even more impressive than those two passing game statistics was the fact Penn State had six different receivers against San Diego State whose longest reception was 14 or more yards. Saeed Blacknall led the way with 4 catches for 101 yards [25.25 YPC] with his longest reception being 46 yards. Chris Godwin's longest catch went for 32 yards, Kyle Carter had a 35-yard catch, Saquon Barley had a 22-yard TD catch, Mark Allen had a 16-yard gain on a screen pass and Hamilton's longest reception went for 14 yards and a crucial first down.
James Franklin and John Donovan did their best job of the season giving Hackenberg a passing game blueprint that utilized the entire field both horizontally from from sideline to sideline and for the first time this year gave Hackenberg and his receivers the opportunity to vertically stretch the field against San Diego State. In reality if Hackenberg hadn't missed two completely open wide receivers downfield in Eugene Lewis and Godwin, Penn State's pass offense could have easily been for more than 350 yards and averaged close to 10.3 yards per pass attempt and 16.8 yards per completion.
The biggest benefactor of Hackenberg's passing performance was Blacknall. He totaled 4 catches for 101 yards and had receptions of 46 and 45 yards. Going into the game against San Diego State, Blacknall was still looking for his first reception of the season. Off his freshman performance last fall, when Blacknall totaled 11 catches for 112 yards averaging just 10.18 YPC, you would not have expected Blacknall to become Penn State's deep threat in the passing game against the Aztecs.
"Every day in practice, we always take our shots [downfield]," Blacknall said. "When we have the opportunity to get it, and the defense gives us that look, we take a shot. It gives the offense a spark. It could be any given receiver at any time."
With San Diego State blitzing and sending six players on almost every running and passing down, you have to give Penn State's offensive line a pat on the back for allowing Hachenberg to be sacked just two times and being hit just a hand-full of times. What clearly illustrates how improved the offensive line's pass protection was against the Aztecs is the fact both sacks on Hackenberg occurred after both Barkley and Lynch were no longer in the game after suffering injuries. In the first half alone the Aztec's blitzed and sent five and six players on 36 of Penn State's 46 offensive plays. The result was 297 yards of total offense for Penn State and a 27-14 halftime lead.
Penn State's offense at that point for most of the second half became one-dimensional with no running game at all. Don't get me wrong, Barkley is the stick of dynamite that sets off an explosion with Penn State's offense, but there was another element with Barkley's and Lynch's play that had an impressive impact on the success of Penn State's pass offense against San Diego State.
Barkley and Lynch did an effective and remarkably impressive job of pass protection and picking up San Diego State's 5th and 6th player in the Aztecs' blitz packages. Barkley threw key blocks on Blacknall's 45-yard and 46-yard receptions and Lynch was solid with his pass blocking responsibilities the entire time he was on the field. I'm sure it was the most overlooked aspect of both Barkley's and Lynch's performance against San Diego State, but it was one of the most important contributing factors to the success Hackenberg had throwing the football against the Aztecs.
The big question now with possibly Barkley and Lynch out of the lineup because of the injuries they suffered against SDSU will Penn State's new found balanced offensive attack disappear? It's a question only time will tell.
I'll look at some positives that came out of yesterday's game against San Diego State on defense despite of the injuries that took place to Jordan Lucas and Marcus Allen in another SDSU game analysis on Tuesday [Sept29] here in the Lions Den.
Sorry guys my bad back is killing me.
