My pancakes, bacon and eggs were good. I have to give my wife, Priscilla, some much deserved recognition, but now back to the task at hand.
1] It seems that Penn State's defense was back to its old tricks. Jason Cabinda was the teams' leading tackler with 11 credited tackles, but Brandon Bell and Nyeem Wartman-White also ended up two of the top four Nittany Lion tacklers. Bell was credited with eight total tackles and he also had an interception that ended a promising Kent St. drive at Penn State's 13-yard line. Wartman-White was credited with five tackles and one TFL for four yards.
Probably the most surprising comment I heard about Wartman-White came from Coach Franklin. Not only did Franklin indicated that Wartman-White had an excellent preseason practice session, he indicated Wartman-White at 6-1, 248 still was able to post 4.65 40-yard times. That Franklin comment really caught my attention because I was concerned Wartman-White might lose a step because of his ACL injury.
Bell also appears to be 100-percent healthy and still can be Penn State's big-play specialist at linebacker [LB]. If Wartman-White and Bell stay healthy all season, Penn State in my opinion could have one of the top four LB groups in the Big Ten this fall.
2] Looks like Penn State has found its 4th CB behind John Reid, Grant Haley and Christian Campbell. Redshirt sophomore Amani Oruwariye [6-1, 205] appears to have beaten out Garrett Taylor [6-1, 196]. I'm told it was a real battle between those two.
Oruwariye's interception he returned 30 yards for a TD on the third play of the third quarter was thing of beauty. Penn State FS, Marcus Allen, wasn't at all surprised with the big play Oruwariye' made.
"It wasn't a surprise to me at all," Allen said. "We knew he was going to get it. He's been doing it all of camp [preseason practice]. He just showed it [throughout camp when he led the team in interceptions]."
The good thing here is that Oruwariye with his size [6-1, 205] can play three different positions in the secondary [CB, FS and nickelback] and maybe even the "star" OLB/SS position in Penn State's 4-2-5 defensive scheme.
3] Last season Penn State's secondary was ranked third in the Big Ten, but there was one statistical category where they came up short last fall. They only posted six interceptions. Their performance against Kent St. sent out a signal the secondary is going to be far mark aggressive going after the football. The team had three turnovers against the Golden Flash. The secondary was responsible for two of them. There was Oruwariye's pick-six interception and Marcus Allen's caused and recovered fumble that lead to Penn State's second TD.
Let's hope this aggressive approach continues against Pitt on Saturday.
4] I thought the play of the offensive line was improved. They allowed just one sack and for the most part gave McSorley plenty of time to throw the football. The area where they need the biggest improvement going into the game this Saturday against Pitt is with their run blocking. On Penn State's 38 rushing attempts the offense totaled 145 yards on the ground and an inconsistent 3.8 YPC.
I will give the offense line some slack with their performance because Coach Moorhead basically ran just between 30 to 40-percent of the offense with just three designed running plays. I'm sure against Pitt that won't be the case. At least I'm hoping that won't be the case. Penn State needs to open up the playbook on offense this coming Saturday against Pitt.
I did like the fact eight offensive linemen saw action against the Golden Flash.
5] Earlier in my first update here in the Lions Den this morning, I sang the praises of redshirt DE Shareef Miller [6-5, 250]. I meant every word of what I wrote about Miller, but that does not mean Miller doesn't have a lot to improve upon in his game.
When you remove the 47 yards Kent St. lost on its seven sacks the Golden Flash ran for a healthy 219 yards on 34 carries. Freshmen James Rankin gained 82 yards on 13 carries averaging a healthy 6.3 YPC. Many off those yards can on off tackle blasts to Miller's side of the field, when he used too wide of a rush into the backfield and created a seam for Rankin to do his damage.
Penn State's DEs, including Miller, lost contain on QB scrambles and didn't play QB draw plays well at all by both Kent St. QBs [Pat Agner and Mylik Mitchell]. Mitchell and Agner had runs of 14 and 16 yards. Penn State has not found. Penn State still struggles to conain scrambling QBs.
"One of the things we have to do a better job of with the scrambling quarterbacks is it was either a sack or a scramble for a first down," Franklin said. "So we got to do a better job with our rush lanes on the defensive side of the ball."
6] Barkley had a solid day rushing. He ended up gaining 105 yards on 22 carries with a 7-yard TD run and his longest rush being 28 yards. But too many times he had to do things on his own. What really hurt Penn State with the running game was McSorley's inability to hit the deep ball early, it allowed Kent St. to stack the box with seven and eight players with Penn State's game plan.
But you have to give Kent State's CBs, particularly Demetrius Monday, with their one-on-one man coverage. It was easy to see why Monday led the MAC last year with six interceptions I think Monday will play in the NFL.
7] I know people will disagree with me, but the player I liked the best on Penn State's defense was John Reid [5-10, 191]. He's become a lockdown CB, greatly improved his tackling and is capable of playing either CB position and the nickelback position in the secondary. That plus the fact he's a true student of the game and when he's on the field he's like a 10th coach on Coach Franklin's staff. He's going to be all-Big Ten before he graduates.
8] Well, I guess it's time to talk about McSorley's performance against Kent St. It was a solid job. He completed 16 of 31 passes for 2019 and ran the "read" option really well rushing for 47 yards on 14 carries. He's a competitor. He's a leader and he's tough as nails. I think he'll improve his performance in every game.
9] Finally, I want to make special notice of two additional players' performances. True freshman Connor McGovern [6-5, 305] is a much better athlete than I realized and he performs one task an offensive guard must be able to do. When he's part of a double-team, he does an excellent job of rubbing off the double-team block, betting to the second level and getting on a LB.
Also, when Kevin Givens [6-1, 275] gets more disciplined when he gets penetration into the backfield, he's going to become Penn State's most disruptive DT.
I'm tired that is all for now. I going to enjoy Labor Day.
1] It seems that Penn State's defense was back to its old tricks. Jason Cabinda was the teams' leading tackler with 11 credited tackles, but Brandon Bell and Nyeem Wartman-White also ended up two of the top four Nittany Lion tacklers. Bell was credited with eight total tackles and he also had an interception that ended a promising Kent St. drive at Penn State's 13-yard line. Wartman-White was credited with five tackles and one TFL for four yards.
Probably the most surprising comment I heard about Wartman-White came from Coach Franklin. Not only did Franklin indicated that Wartman-White had an excellent preseason practice session, he indicated Wartman-White at 6-1, 248 still was able to post 4.65 40-yard times. That Franklin comment really caught my attention because I was concerned Wartman-White might lose a step because of his ACL injury.
Bell also appears to be 100-percent healthy and still can be Penn State's big-play specialist at linebacker [LB]. If Wartman-White and Bell stay healthy all season, Penn State in my opinion could have one of the top four LB groups in the Big Ten this fall.
2] Looks like Penn State has found its 4th CB behind John Reid, Grant Haley and Christian Campbell. Redshirt sophomore Amani Oruwariye [6-1, 205] appears to have beaten out Garrett Taylor [6-1, 196]. I'm told it was a real battle between those two.
Oruwariye's interception he returned 30 yards for a TD on the third play of the third quarter was thing of beauty. Penn State FS, Marcus Allen, wasn't at all surprised with the big play Oruwariye' made.
"It wasn't a surprise to me at all," Allen said. "We knew he was going to get it. He's been doing it all of camp [preseason practice]. He just showed it [throughout camp when he led the team in interceptions]."
The good thing here is that Oruwariye with his size [6-1, 205] can play three different positions in the secondary [CB, FS and nickelback] and maybe even the "star" OLB/SS position in Penn State's 4-2-5 defensive scheme.
3] Last season Penn State's secondary was ranked third in the Big Ten, but there was one statistical category where they came up short last fall. They only posted six interceptions. Their performance against Kent St. sent out a signal the secondary is going to be far mark aggressive going after the football. The team had three turnovers against the Golden Flash. The secondary was responsible for two of them. There was Oruwariye's pick-six interception and Marcus Allen's caused and recovered fumble that lead to Penn State's second TD.
Let's hope this aggressive approach continues against Pitt on Saturday.
4] I thought the play of the offensive line was improved. They allowed just one sack and for the most part gave McSorley plenty of time to throw the football. The area where they need the biggest improvement going into the game this Saturday against Pitt is with their run blocking. On Penn State's 38 rushing attempts the offense totaled 145 yards on the ground and an inconsistent 3.8 YPC.
I will give the offense line some slack with their performance because Coach Moorhead basically ran just between 30 to 40-percent of the offense with just three designed running plays. I'm sure against Pitt that won't be the case. At least I'm hoping that won't be the case. Penn State needs to open up the playbook on offense this coming Saturday against Pitt.
I did like the fact eight offensive linemen saw action against the Golden Flash.
5] Earlier in my first update here in the Lions Den this morning, I sang the praises of redshirt DE Shareef Miller [6-5, 250]. I meant every word of what I wrote about Miller, but that does not mean Miller doesn't have a lot to improve upon in his game.
When you remove the 47 yards Kent St. lost on its seven sacks the Golden Flash ran for a healthy 219 yards on 34 carries. Freshmen James Rankin gained 82 yards on 13 carries averaging a healthy 6.3 YPC. Many off those yards can on off tackle blasts to Miller's side of the field, when he used too wide of a rush into the backfield and created a seam for Rankin to do his damage.
Penn State's DEs, including Miller, lost contain on QB scrambles and didn't play QB draw plays well at all by both Kent St. QBs [Pat Agner and Mylik Mitchell]. Mitchell and Agner had runs of 14 and 16 yards. Penn State has not found. Penn State still struggles to conain scrambling QBs.
"One of the things we have to do a better job of with the scrambling quarterbacks is it was either a sack or a scramble for a first down," Franklin said. "So we got to do a better job with our rush lanes on the defensive side of the ball."
6] Barkley had a solid day rushing. He ended up gaining 105 yards on 22 carries with a 7-yard TD run and his longest rush being 28 yards. But too many times he had to do things on his own. What really hurt Penn State with the running game was McSorley's inability to hit the deep ball early, it allowed Kent St. to stack the box with seven and eight players with Penn State's game plan.
But you have to give Kent State's CBs, particularly Demetrius Monday, with their one-on-one man coverage. It was easy to see why Monday led the MAC last year with six interceptions I think Monday will play in the NFL.
7] I know people will disagree with me, but the player I liked the best on Penn State's defense was John Reid [5-10, 191]. He's become a lockdown CB, greatly improved his tackling and is capable of playing either CB position and the nickelback position in the secondary. That plus the fact he's a true student of the game and when he's on the field he's like a 10th coach on Coach Franklin's staff. He's going to be all-Big Ten before he graduates.
8] Well, I guess it's time to talk about McSorley's performance against Kent St. It was a solid job. He completed 16 of 31 passes for 2019 and ran the "read" option really well rushing for 47 yards on 14 carries. He's a competitor. He's a leader and he's tough as nails. I think he'll improve his performance in every game.
9] Finally, I want to make special notice of two additional players' performances. True freshman Connor McGovern [6-5, 305] is a much better athlete than I realized and he performs one task an offensive guard must be able to do. When he's part of a double-team, he does an excellent job of rubbing off the double-team block, betting to the second level and getting on a LB.
Also, when Kevin Givens [6-1, 275] gets more disciplined when he gets penetration into the backfield, he's going to become Penn State's most disruptive DT.
I'm tired that is all for now. I going to enjoy Labor Day.
