First - quality of opponent:
Not a great effort from UMd… but not a team w/o talent (especially the run game on offense).
Not a win to hang your hat on as far as opponents go... but to shut them down and dominate (including shutting down a damn good run game) was impressive.
Couple odds and ends that may not have been noticed:
1) Parsons played some FIELD LINEBACKER (in addition to his normal box linebacker time)
2) Several snaps from center were a bit off kilter, more so than usual (probably to be expected with McGovern moving over for the first time this year.... but none so bad as to screw up the play completely)
3) 87 continues to do a fine job as a blocker (both run and pass game). Maybe it looks even better after watching Gesicki for four years
. Friermuth had a crushing block on the one counter toss PSU ran - effectively took out two defenders and opened up the entire side for the TB. Really nice to see that from the TE position.
4) Tompkins had 2 bad drops - and also was lousy wrt "catching the damn ball" on punt return. Tough season for #3.
5) Checwa (sp) had some lousy KOs.... not sure if most folks noticed he was replaced by Pinegar on KO duty mid-game.
6) Slade was in earlier than usual (and all the TBs played very well... IMO)
7) Not much impact from officials.... though the false start on Bates was ludicrous (shoulda' been defensive offsides) and I felt the running into the punter on Sutherland shoulda' been a 15 yarder - not a 5 (PSU caught a break)
Couple offensive notes:
O LINE:
Offensive line was very, very good.
PSU had just two TFLs against (IIRC), one was a flanker screen, so only one "charged to the OL".
The one OL FUBAR was a sack allowed on a bad beat to the outside (it hardly even needs to be said - - - but it was on Fries )
That was the only OL complete FUBAR, and there were only a handful (4) of what I marked as "negative" plays (bad beats) on the regular OL - - - - 3 on McGovern (2 in Pass Pro, 1 in run game), 1 on Miranda in run game.
Also on the OL... Walker had two series of play (more or less "garbage time", but I wanted to take a close look - since he could be an important guy down the road, and it was his most meaningful game action)
Walker was in one 9 snaps:
6 Run Snaps: I had him graded at 3 "+" plays, and 3 "ok"
1 RPO Pass: I had him as a "+"
2 Pass Plays: 1 he was beaten badly to the outside (Stevens stepped up and completed the pass), and 1 where he was "ok"
Skill Guys:
Not a lot to say.... all RBs did very well (and their job was made relatively easy by the OL)
Tompkins - as noted earlier - had a more or less forgettable day.
Couple "scheme" notes:
1) Only two pure QB run calls (one worked well, one was stoned at LOS). Glad to see less stress put on #9.
2) After being nearly absent for the first 2 1/2 months, we again saw a decent number of RPO passes.... 5 in all. 3 were completed for nice gains (including the short TD to Friemuth), one was a nice play that was dropped by Tompkins, 1 was a flanker screen that was dropped for a short loss.
I thought the scheme for UMd was better then we had seen throughout the year - - - - - including a sighting of the switch route (that had been so effective the last couple years) that had also been in moth balls for most of the year - - - - that produced Juwanson's big gainer (and coulda' been thrown to either JJ or Friermuth - both were wide open.)
BTW... Juwanson, IIRC, didn't play in the first half... but was in quite a bit from early on in the second half (I couldn't swear to his snap distribution, but I think that is correct). makes one think his absence was NOT due to any type of injury situation. What the reason was? Who knows?
Defensively:
Overall, great job in shutting down the UMd run game (UMd's pass game is crapola ).
One of the keys to dealing with that motion/misdirection run game was clearly the support from the DBs.…. and I had 8 "+" plays noted in DB run support
- 3 for Taylor
- 2 for Amari
- 2 for TCF
- 1 for Reid
GREAT job in the run game by the PSU DBs.…. IMO
Other "+" plays on defense:
- 5 for Givens (2 run game, 2 pass rush, 1 collecting QB on a scramble)
- 5 for YGM (4 in run game, 1 pass rush)
- 2 for Miller in run game
- 1 for Windsor in pass rush
- 3 for Parsons (2 in run game, 1 in corralling a QB scramble)
- 2 for Brooks (1 in run game, 1 tackle on a pass reception)
- 1 for Brown and JJohnson (combo blitz in pass rush... resulted in sack/fumble)
- 1 for Luketa in run game
LBers had a fairly non-descript game - - - - maybe due to playing a little more "contained" against all of the UMd misdirection.
Not as many stellar plays, but very solid - without a lot of negative efforts.
Negative efforts I noted:
- 3 for Farmer in run game
- 1 for JJohnson in run game
- 2 for Parsons (1 run game, 1 on pass receiver)
- 3 for Brown (1 run game, and 2 whiffed tackles on pass receivers)
- 1 for Luketa in run game
Parsons maybe had his LEAST "plays that make you sit up and take notice" game in a while - but was plenty solid enough (and it is really something how quickly he can close - even on plays where he doesn't end up making the play)
Overall - DLine, especially all FOUR starters, did a heck of a job up front.... and the LB play was solid... and the DB run support outstanding..... That is a good recipe against a team like UMd.
Not a great effort from UMd… but not a team w/o talent (especially the run game on offense).
Not a win to hang your hat on as far as opponents go... but to shut them down and dominate (including shutting down a damn good run game) was impressive.
Couple odds and ends that may not have been noticed:
1) Parsons played some FIELD LINEBACKER (in addition to his normal box linebacker time)
2) Several snaps from center were a bit off kilter, more so than usual (probably to be expected with McGovern moving over for the first time this year.... but none so bad as to screw up the play completely)
3) 87 continues to do a fine job as a blocker (both run and pass game). Maybe it looks even better after watching Gesicki for four years
. Friermuth had a crushing block on the one counter toss PSU ran - effectively took out two defenders and opened up the entire side for the TB. Really nice to see that from the TE position.4) Tompkins had 2 bad drops - and also was lousy wrt "catching the damn ball" on punt return. Tough season for #3.
5) Checwa (sp) had some lousy KOs.... not sure if most folks noticed he was replaced by Pinegar on KO duty mid-game.
6) Slade was in earlier than usual (and all the TBs played very well... IMO)
7) Not much impact from officials.... though the false start on Bates was ludicrous (shoulda' been defensive offsides) and I felt the running into the punter on Sutherland shoulda' been a 15 yarder - not a 5 (PSU caught a break)
Couple offensive notes:
O LINE:
Offensive line was very, very good.
PSU had just two TFLs against (IIRC), one was a flanker screen, so only one "charged to the OL".
The one OL FUBAR was a sack allowed on a bad beat to the outside (it hardly even needs to be said - - - but it was on Fries
)That was the only OL complete FUBAR, and there were only a handful (4) of what I marked as "negative" plays (bad beats) on the regular OL - - - - 3 on McGovern (2 in Pass Pro, 1 in run game), 1 on Miranda in run game.
Also on the OL... Walker had two series of play (more or less "garbage time", but I wanted to take a close look - since he could be an important guy down the road, and it was his most meaningful game action)
Walker was in one 9 snaps:
6 Run Snaps: I had him graded at 3 "+" plays, and 3 "ok"
1 RPO Pass: I had him as a "+"
2 Pass Plays: 1 he was beaten badly to the outside (Stevens stepped up and completed the pass), and 1 where he was "ok"
Skill Guys:
Not a lot to say.... all RBs did very well (and their job was made relatively easy by the OL)
Tompkins - as noted earlier - had a more or less forgettable day.
Couple "scheme" notes:
1) Only two pure QB run calls (one worked well, one was stoned at LOS). Glad to see less stress put on #9.
2) After being nearly absent for the first 2 1/2 months, we again saw a decent number of RPO passes.... 5 in all. 3 were completed for nice gains (including the short TD to Friemuth), one was a nice play that was dropped by Tompkins, 1 was a flanker screen that was dropped for a short loss.
I thought the scheme for UMd was better then we had seen throughout the year - - - - - including a sighting of the switch route (that had been so effective the last couple years) that had also been in moth balls for most of the year - - - - that produced Juwanson's big gainer (and coulda' been thrown to either JJ or Friermuth - both were wide open.)
BTW... Juwanson, IIRC, didn't play in the first half... but was in quite a bit from early on in the second half (I couldn't swear to his snap distribution, but I think that is correct). makes one think his absence was NOT due to any type of injury situation. What the reason was? Who knows?
Defensively:
Overall, great job in shutting down the UMd run game (UMd's pass game is crapola
).One of the keys to dealing with that motion/misdirection run game was clearly the support from the DBs.…. and I had 8 "+" plays noted in DB run support
- 3 for Taylor
- 2 for Amari
- 2 for TCF
- 1 for Reid
GREAT job in the run game by the PSU DBs.…. IMO
Other "+" plays on defense:
- 5 for Givens (2 run game, 2 pass rush, 1 collecting QB on a scramble)
- 5 for YGM (4 in run game, 1 pass rush)
- 2 for Miller in run game
- 1 for Windsor in pass rush
- 3 for Parsons (2 in run game, 1 in corralling a QB scramble)
- 2 for Brooks (1 in run game, 1 tackle on a pass reception)
- 1 for Brown and JJohnson (combo blitz in pass rush... resulted in sack/fumble)
- 1 for Luketa in run game
LBers had a fairly non-descript game - - - - maybe due to playing a little more "contained" against all of the UMd misdirection.
Not as many stellar plays, but very solid - without a lot of negative efforts.
Negative efforts I noted:
- 3 for Farmer in run game
- 1 for JJohnson in run game
- 2 for Parsons (1 run game, 1 on pass receiver)
- 3 for Brown (1 run game, and 2 whiffed tackles on pass receivers)
- 1 for Luketa in run game
Parsons maybe had his LEAST "plays that make you sit up and take notice" game in a while - but was plenty solid enough (and it is really something how quickly he can close - even on plays where he doesn't end up making the play)
Overall - DLine, especially all FOUR starters, did a heck of a job up front.... and the LB play was solid... and the DB run support outstanding..... That is a good recipe against a team like UMd.
