PSU rankings

[Obliviax]

• Total offense: 11th.
• Scoring: Tied for 30th.
• Rushing: 9th (1st in Big Ten).
• Passing: 53rd.
• Pass efficiency: 2nd (Drew Allar 5th).
• Total defense: 4th.
• Scoring defense: 7th.
• Rushing defense: 7th.
• Passing defense: 14th.
• Pass efficiency defense: 2nd.

Very balanced and good. Worst ranking is passing but I'd argue it is because our rushing is 9th and the best in the B1G so far.

Hat tip to Rich Scarcella

 

[tboyer]

The defense, I think we've learned not to take these early season rankings too seriously. We'll learn more about the D against USC. PSU's corners are solid, that helps a lot.

The rushing, I'm a believer. Looks like the best OL since maybe O'Brien's first year. And the combination of that OL and one of the best pairs of running backs PSU's ever had, plus contributors like Warren and Pribula -- it's a lot for defenses to prepare for. Still, I'm not sold on the passing game -- improved from last year for sure but last year's passing game was dreadful, so it's a low baseline.

On the other hand, having a running game like this makes a passing game so much easier. The way the line is dominating in the middle, the kinds of holes Singleton and Allen were getting -- that's going to force teams to bring a safety low, they'll have to play some Cover 1, and that opens up the middle of the field. Also puts Omari Evans into more single coverage situations that he can beat with his speed.

 

[Obliviax]

The defense, I think we've learned not to take these early season rankings too seriously. We'll learn more about the D against USC. PSU's corners are solid, that helps a lot.

The rushing, I'm a believer. Looks like the best OL since maybe O'Brien's first year. And the combination of that OL and one of the best pairs of running backs PSU's ever had, plus contributors like Warren and Pribula -- it's a lot for defenses to prepare for. Still, I'm not sold on the passing game -- improved from last year for sure but last year's passing game was dreadful, so it's a low baseline.

On the other hand, having a running game like this makes a passing game so much easier. The way the line is dominating in the middle, the kinds of holes Singleton and Allen were getting -- that's going to force teams to bring a safety low, they'll have to play some Cover 1, and that opens up the middle of the field. Also puts Omari Evans into more single coverage situations that he can beat with his speed.

yep. Each game stands alone. But looking at ILL's NE game, they had 166 yards rushing and gave up on 48. That is a good rushing defense. If you look at both their Kansas and NEB games, they were outplayed a little. Their game plan is very Paternoish: fundamentally sound, don't turn the ball over, put pressure on them, hope they make a mistake and pounce. NEBs Raiola was just not ready to shoulder the pressure of a close game against a good defense when you can't run the ball (few are) and made a lot of mistakes late.