 |
| If Carl Nassib can continue his dominance, the Penn State defensive line might end up being the best in the conference. |
There are always different numbers coaches will look at
after a game; one of the most important numbers is how many times their
quarterback gets sacked. In the case of Penn State quarterback Christian
Hackenberg against Temple 2 weeks ago, that number was ten. Last week against
Buffalo that number was zero. Big difference. Hackenberg was hit 2 times in the
67 plays that the Nittany Lions offense ran. Granted that it was against
Buffalo, it’s still meaningful for an offensive line that is considered by many
to be one of the worst in the conference, maybe the country. That same
offensive line was able to open up holes for freshman running back Saquon Barkley to the tune of 115 yards and 1 touchdown. Barkley was a spark for an offense that had struggled for most of the game; the true freshman should hear his number called a lot
Saturday as the team hosts its second of five games at home as Rutgers
comes to town.
As I previously mentioned the offensive line was able to
keep their quarterback upright against Buffalo. While Hackenberg’s stat line
didn’t reflect that of a quarterback who didn’t get sacked (11-27, 128 yards),
he was still able to stand in the pocket and scan the field. Andrew Nelson got
the start at left tackle replacing Paris Palmer whose performance against
Temple looked like someone who was still in junior college mode. When Nelson
went down as the first half ended Palmer was the next man up and played ‘well’
in Nelson’s absence. Akeel Lynch got the start at running back and played a
majority of the game until Barkley came in with fresh legs and sparked the
offense, which included this pretty awesome run.
Defensively the Nittany Lions allowed just 274 yards against
Buffalo. Former walk-on Carl Nassib led the charge with 3 tackles for loss, 3
sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 interception. You’ll hear that title of former
walk-on a lot with him. Yes, that’s just one game. If he can continue that
against Rutgers the rest of the country will have to take notice. At linebacker
the Nittany Lions are thin having lost Nyeem Wartman-White for the season and
Brandon Bell not playing against Buffalo (he is expected to play this weekend)
so that meant redshirt freshman Troy Reeder made his first career start. He
tallied 7 tackles in the win.
 |
| Penn State's primetime match-up with Rutgers has been deemed a 'Stripe Out'. |
The Nittany Lions special teams might be on the rise with
the emergence of two young speedsters, DeAndre Thompkins and Nick Scott look to
be the game changers James Franklin needs in that area. A big-time returner is
something Penn State has lacked since Derrick Williams.
This week marks the first 'Stripe Out’ Penn State
will have which should provide a little extra juice for the crowd. And as head
coach Kyle Flood brings in a very depleted Rutgers team having multiple issues
going on both on and off the field Penn State hopes to carry whatever momentum
they had last weekend into this primetime match-up.
Penn State will win a laugher Saturday night, 31-10 as the
offense finally gets going.
No comments:
Post a Comment