It was a complete team effort and here are the players performances on offense, defense and special teams that caught my attention in last night's game against Rutgers.
1] Nothing more needs to be said about Saquon Barkley's performance, but almost as impressive as Barkley's performance on offense was the play of five or six different players on Penn State's defense, which now is second in the country 31 tackles for loss [TFL] for 159 yards and leads the Big Ten with 15 sacks.
Marcus Allen was Penn State's leading tackler with 11 total tackles and 7 solo tackles. Despite the fact Austin Johnson was given credit for just 6 total tackles, one solo tackle and five assists with 2 TFL and one sack, I think he was Penn State's leader on defense against the Scarlet Knights. Carl Nassib was disruptive as usual harassing Rutgers' QB Chris Laviano all night and totaling 4 tackles and 1.5 TFL for 14 yards. And then there was Jordan Lucas who seemed to be playing all over the field on defense in the secondary, plus his energetic play on special teams. Lucas ended up being Penn State's second leading tackler with 9 total tackles with one TFL for seven yards.
But the four players that caught my eye the most on defense in yesterday's game against the Scarlet Knights were MLB Troy Reeder, freshman CB John Reid, boundary CB Grant Haley and Sam OLB Brandon Bell. Reeder was Penn State's third leading tackler with 8 total tackles and one TFL for two yards. Bell had 9 total tackles tying him for second on the team in tackles with Lucas with 9 total tackles. Both Reid and Haley each had an interception.
Don't get me wrong Penn State is really going to miss Nyeem Wartman-White the rest of this season, But Reeder has played far beyond my expectations. In two games he's totaled 14 tackles and at 6-1, 241 he is an explosive, physical linebacker capable of playing both the Will OLB and Mike [MLB] positions in Bob Shoop's defensive scheme. He has excellent football instincts and has a real nose for the football and punishes people when he tackles them. At this point I like the combination of Reeder, Bell and Jason Cabinda as Penn State's starting LB unit.
But the real leader of Penn State's starting linebacker linebacker unit is without question Bell. Probably Cabinda said it the best after last night's game hat Bell means to Penn State's starting linebacker unit.
"He's our emotional leader," Cabinda said. "The energy is through the roof at all times [with him when he is on the field]. Normally, in camp, you have off days where the energy is lacking. Because of guys like Brandon Bell who really bring the energy, fortunately it didn't happen to us."
How could you not be impressed with the composure and athletic ability Reid displays in the secondary at his field CB position. Loved his 44-yard return with his interception and he is a real student of the game and he is always around the football. When Troy Apke caused that fumble with his hit, Reid was right there to recover it and take off.
Haley's interception caught my attention, but it's his ability to close on the ball in the secondary that is most impressive. His knockdown of a sideline down and pass attempt in the third quarter by Laviano was an NFL-style of ball reaction move by a cornerback.
"[Haley] played last year as a freshman, so he knows the defense," said Lucas. "He's very comfortable with it, and we are very comfortable out there with him because he knows how to communicate."
Finally one last person I have to make special mention about is sophomore punter Chris Gulla. Maybe next to Barkley, Gulla was the star of the game. He averaged 41 yards per punt and took Rutgers' star punt returner Janarion Grant completely out of the picture giving Rutgers terrible field position all night with his punts. Grant ended up returning one punt for minus[-] 1-yard.
And I can't argue with Nate Bauer's assertion that Franklin statement that Gulla's performance was the most valuable performance of the game. Field position can mean everything in a football game.
That's all for now.
1] Nothing more needs to be said about Saquon Barkley's performance, but almost as impressive as Barkley's performance on offense was the play of five or six different players on Penn State's defense, which now is second in the country 31 tackles for loss [TFL] for 159 yards and leads the Big Ten with 15 sacks.
Marcus Allen was Penn State's leading tackler with 11 total tackles and 7 solo tackles. Despite the fact Austin Johnson was given credit for just 6 total tackles, one solo tackle and five assists with 2 TFL and one sack, I think he was Penn State's leader on defense against the Scarlet Knights. Carl Nassib was disruptive as usual harassing Rutgers' QB Chris Laviano all night and totaling 4 tackles and 1.5 TFL for 14 yards. And then there was Jordan Lucas who seemed to be playing all over the field on defense in the secondary, plus his energetic play on special teams. Lucas ended up being Penn State's second leading tackler with 9 total tackles with one TFL for seven yards.
But the four players that caught my eye the most on defense in yesterday's game against the Scarlet Knights were MLB Troy Reeder, freshman CB John Reid, boundary CB Grant Haley and Sam OLB Brandon Bell. Reeder was Penn State's third leading tackler with 8 total tackles and one TFL for two yards. Bell had 9 total tackles tying him for second on the team in tackles with Lucas with 9 total tackles. Both Reid and Haley each had an interception.
Don't get me wrong Penn State is really going to miss Nyeem Wartman-White the rest of this season, But Reeder has played far beyond my expectations. In two games he's totaled 14 tackles and at 6-1, 241 he is an explosive, physical linebacker capable of playing both the Will OLB and Mike [MLB] positions in Bob Shoop's defensive scheme. He has excellent football instincts and has a real nose for the football and punishes people when he tackles them. At this point I like the combination of Reeder, Bell and Jason Cabinda as Penn State's starting LB unit.
But the real leader of Penn State's starting linebacker linebacker unit is without question Bell. Probably Cabinda said it the best after last night's game hat Bell means to Penn State's starting linebacker unit.
"He's our emotional leader," Cabinda said. "The energy is through the roof at all times [with him when he is on the field]. Normally, in camp, you have off days where the energy is lacking. Because of guys like Brandon Bell who really bring the energy, fortunately it didn't happen to us."
How could you not be impressed with the composure and athletic ability Reid displays in the secondary at his field CB position. Loved his 44-yard return with his interception and he is a real student of the game and he is always around the football. When Troy Apke caused that fumble with his hit, Reid was right there to recover it and take off.
Haley's interception caught my attention, but it's his ability to close on the ball in the secondary that is most impressive. His knockdown of a sideline down and pass attempt in the third quarter by Laviano was an NFL-style of ball reaction move by a cornerback.
"[Haley] played last year as a freshman, so he knows the defense," said Lucas. "He's very comfortable with it, and we are very comfortable out there with him because he knows how to communicate."
Finally one last person I have to make special mention about is sophomore punter Chris Gulla. Maybe next to Barkley, Gulla was the star of the game. He averaged 41 yards per punt and took Rutgers' star punt returner Janarion Grant completely out of the picture giving Rutgers terrible field position all night with his punts. Grant ended up returning one punt for minus[-] 1-yard.
And I can't argue with Nate Bauer's assertion that Franklin statement that Gulla's performance was the most valuable performance of the game. Field position can mean everything in a football game.
That's all for now.
