There are obvious concerns on defense this season in Happy Valley.
A major one is Penn State\’s secondary, where four new starters will take over for cornerbacks Allen Zemaitis and Anwar Phillips and safeties Chris Harrell and Calvin Lowry.
Then there\’s the defensive line, which loses ends Matt Rice and Tamba Hali, as well as tackle Scott Paxson.
Those players were a major force behind the Nittany Lions\’ defense in 2005, when the Nits were ranked second in the Big Ten in total defense, and first in pass efficiency defense, and they\’re all currently on NFL rosters.
In fact, the linebacker position is the only spot where defensive coordinator Tom Bradley knows exactly what he\’s getting, with veterans Dan Connor and Tim Shaw returning, along with All-American and Butkus Award winner Paul Posluszny.
With that much to go on, Bradley made few predictions to the media at PSU\’s annual Media Day in August, save one.
“We\’re going to get to the ball, I guarantee that,” Bradley said. “There might be a lot of other things we don\’t do well, but that isn\’t going to be one of them. We can run. If we know where it is, we\’ll get there.”
Like last season, Penn State\’s defense will be fast, aggressive and talented. The only thing lacking will be experience.
“We have a lot of guys that can play,” said Posluszny.
“We have a tough job ahead of us,” said coach Joe Paterno. “Tom Bradley and the defensive coaches have to be careful that we don\’t ask these guys to do as much as we asked the kids last year until they get comfortable. I keep telling the guys to make sure they can play fast. When we get to that point with the kind of speed we have, I think we have a pretty good defensive football team.”
Bradley said speed in attacking the ball has been the trademark of every great Penn State defense, which was certainly the case last season, when it contained Ohio State\’s highly regarded receiver corps in a regular season thriller and then stymied always-quick Florida State in the Orange Bowl.
“That\’s something we take pride in – speed and tempo,” said Connor, who made 76 tackles last season. “It\’s the same thing this year. There\’s speed everywhere. That\’s one of the biggest things about football on this level now. You have to have speed at every position. We\’ve got that and I think we\’re taking advantage of it.”
Certainly, the things the Lions want to accomplish this season begin with Connor and State\’s other linebackers, who have demonstrated remarkably over the last two seasons just the point Connor made. Since Connor, Posluszny and Shaw emerged in 2004, what the Lions have done best is attack the football, contain the corners, and cause havoc with their ability to cover the field from sideline to sideline.
But while the group could be remembered as one of the best linebacking units in school history, its job will be more difficult this season without players like Paxson, Hali and Rice demanding double teams and plugging up holes to allow linebackers to run free and do their thing.
Similarly, they won\’t have the kind of experienced secondary that is guaranteed to play the run well, and know enough to cover its own mistakes.
In short, Bradley said, that may mean Penn State\’s linebackers will have to do even more than last season, when the trio combined for 268 tackles, including 23 behind the line of scrimmage.
“They may have to take on a few more of those 300-pounders,” Bradley said. “They\’re going to miss some of those big guys up front keeping people off of them, which allowed them to run and do what they do best.”
But Bradley is confident in the players stepping in. Right tackle Ed Johnson played in every game at defensive tackle in 2003 and 2004 and 47 career tackles before being dismissed from the team last season. Left tackle Jay Alford earned second team All-Big Ten honors last season, recording 37 tackles and 8.5 sacks. Paterno said Elijah Robinson and Chris Baker were also in the mix for a spot on the defensive line.
“If you said to me, ‘Are you comfortable?’ No, we\’re not there yet,” said Paterno. “I do think we have the potential with those guys if they just go to work and make up their minds that they are going to be good, tough and ready to play in the fourth quarter.”
Senior Jim Shaw is at the top of the list to take over at left end, where Hali ran wild in 2005, on his way to a selection in the first round of April\’s NFL draft. Shaw played in nine games last season, most notably the Orange Bowl, when his pass rush forced FSU quarterback Drew Weatherford into an intentional grounding call in the endzone, which resulted in a safety.
Sophomore Josh Gaines is set to emerge as the Lions\’ next great pass rusher after playing in every game last season, spelling for Hali and Rice.
“We have some good people there that will be good football players,” Bradley said. “How soon? I can\’t tell you that. But I like our guys on defense. They hustle, they run to the ball, they\’re attentive, they work at it. So those are all good places to start. It\’s just a matter of getting some experience.”
But while there is scattered experienced along PSU\’s defensive front, the secondary will be almost entirely new, with four new starters stepping in. Again, the bright spot will be athleticism and speed, led by sophomore Justin King, who saw action on both sides of the ball a year ago – playing mostly offense after the injury of receiver Derrick Williams – and now is ready to focus solely his position at cornerback.
“He\’s more comfortable now because he\’s spent more time (at corner),” Bradley said. “He got all spring at the corner and didn\’t have to flip-flop.”
Sophomore Tony Davis and redshirt freshman Knowledge Timmons will battle it out for the left cornerback spot opposite King, while senior Nolan McCready and Anthony Scirrotto fight for the position.
Senior safety Donnie Johnson will be the most experienced player in Penn State\’s secondary, having played in every game for the last three seasons.
“We have a lot of good athletes in the secondary,” Paterno said. “The big question mark is experience. They are going to have to get in there and different things are going to happen to them and the pace of the game changes. Once they get the feel of things, we\’ll be all right.”
As on the defensive line, depth is Bradley\’s biggest concern in the secondary, where he said the team will go only six deep. However – like with the rest of the defense – speed will most likely not be an issue.
“The guys stepping up (in the secondary) are unbelievable,” Connor said. “You don\’t want to overhype somebody, but Tony Davis and Justin King are great corners. It\’s not a step down – they\’re players. Safety-wise, it\’s the same thing with McCready and Donnie Johnson. I don\’t think that\’s going to be a problem at all.”
Unfortunately for the Lions, the one thing that cures any lack of experience – time – is something they have little of. PSU opens the season with Akron, before going on the road to face Notre Dame and Ohio State in two of the following three weeks. That will put a heavy burden on the defense in hostile situations, but it\’s a challenge Posluszny says the team is looking forward to.
“We have a lot of confidence,’ he said. “If the team calls on us, we\’ll respond. We\’ve got an opportunity to continue the momentum we started last year, when we got a taste of success. We don\’t want to lose that.”
