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Penn State rewind: Why wasn't the starting d-line on for TD drives, dishing out deep balls and more

By Audrey Snyder/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 8 years ago

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s offense continues searching for an identity and if the Lions had a two-minute drive with the game on the line really who knows if they’d throw the ball or not?

Three of their home games have been played in the rain, but this is the Big Ten and it’s only October, which means what happens when more rain, sleet or snow enters the equation? Yes, the offense looks completely different without freshman RB Saquon Barkley (see the Temple game where he had one carry as another example of that) but Saturday Penn State went to their third, fourth and fifth-string running backs more than QB Christian Hackenberg’s strong right arm.

Hey, Penn State is +8 in the turnover margin, but grinding out a win against Army isn’t pretty, no matter how many times the Lions wanted to pound home the old cliche that they went 1-0 last week.

So, let’s revisit a few plays in this week’s installment of the Penn State rewind:

End of the 3rd quarter: Setting up the Gesicki TD

Penn State started playing the hit song ‘Let it Go’ from the movie Frozen at one point during the game and really there couldn’t have been a more fitting song for the lack of Penn State’s vertical passing threat. The Lions remembered that Hackenberg has a big arm late in the third quarter and the results were a 49-yard catch by Chris Godwin and then a 33-yard touchdown catch for TE Mike Gesicki.

Back-to-back plays, back-to-back deep balls seemed to settle things down a bit from fans who by the looks of it on social media and in the stadium have more than a few questions about the play calling.

So what happened on the Godwin catch?

“I got lined up and saw the safety was a little bit low and the cornerback he was in man-to-man coverage so with the play that we had running, I was running a post route and was able to get over top of the corner and Hack gave me a great ball,” Godwin said after the game. “In that point and time it’s just me making a play. [Wide receivers] coach [Josh] Gattis has us each and every day working on our ball stills to that we can come down with the 50-50 balls and I was able to do it that time.”

Godwin was slow to get up after landing on the ball and went to the sideline after it knocked the wind out of him. The sophomore is Penn State’s top receiver thus far (23 catches, 349 yards) and has become a reliable deep threat, especially with those 50-50 balls.

Gesicki’s first career touchdown

Following up the deep ball to Godwin Penn State went to tight end Mike Gesicki for his first and only catch of the game.

Hackenberg had time on both these passes —which hasn’t always been the case this season or last— so him dropping back, setting his feet and delivering to the 6-foot-6 tight end left Hackenberg a little more animated than usual. It was also a big play for the sophomore tight end who continued rebounding after having two drops on one series against Buffalo, one of which he was headed right for the end zone.

“Christian gave me a great ball, the o-line blocked well and really the guys that got me open were Saeed and I couldn’t tell you the other receiver who was out there,” said Gesicki. By the looks of it appeared DaeSean Hamilton was also out there. “But they ran great routes and I was able to make the catch and get in the end zone. I’m just happy for that opportunity.”

After having 43 passing yards in just about the entire the three quarters prior to this three-play 91-yard drive —all of which came through the air— No. 14 celebrated with Gesicki, who he hosted just a couple years ago during the tight end’s official visit.

Where’s the starting d-line?

Penn State ranks 15th in the nation in total defense and second with 18 sacks. With a 20-7 lead in the fourth quarter and Army’s tricky triple-option reeling off 21 yards on six plays, after a 7-yard rush on 3rd and 2 moves the chains Penn State makes a wholesale change up front. Gone are starters Carl Nassib, Anthony Zettel, Austin Johnson and Garrett Sickles (who were all in on the third-down play) and in comes redshirt freshman Torrence Brown, redshirt freshman Anotine White, senior Tarow Barney and redshirt sophomore Curtis Cothran. Backup senior linebacker Ben Kline — who was running the scout team just a couple weeks ago after being out of action since the Minnesota game in 2013 due to various injuries — also stayed in on this drive.

White picks up the fullback, Kline doesn’t read it quickly and or correctly and takes on the wrong guy and just like that in one play —with missed tackles along the sideline— the Lions are burned for a 56-yard touchdown run and the next thing you know it’s a 20-14 game with 10:59 remaining.

Now, Penn State subs up front quite a bit and I asked d-line coach Sean Spencer about this philosophy last week.

“I have it written out prior to the start so I actually know exactly what I want to do for every particular series,” Spencer said last Thursday on a conference call. “They know it going into the game so it’s not really a shock. Obviously if a drive extends then I’l rotate guys in and I kind of get a feel for the game too. … I want those guys to remain fresh.”

Penn State likes the depth and talent they have up front, Spencer said he’s been doing it this way with rotations his whole career and said he goes into the game with an idea of who and when he’s going to mix up and then lets the flow of the game dictate substitutions to try and keep players fresh. They don’t always sub four players at once though and keep in mind DE Evan Schwan, who usually subs for Sickels, was inactive due to an injury. So, essentially there was a third-string defensive end out there with a third-string tackle (DT Parker Cothren backs up starter Austin Johnson. Barney and White are tackles two and three behind Zettel).

“It’s what I tell every recruit when they come here that I’m going to rotate and I’m going to play a lot of guys so it’s really not a shock,” Spencer said. “It’s a little dramatic at some points in time and I probably drive coach Shoop crazy when he sees guys running off — sometimes he’ll make the reference that we just made a hockey substitution — but I’m on it and it’s something I pay great attention to and detail throughout the game.”

Penn State’s back-up defensive line — this time with ends Cothran and Brown and tackles Barney and Cothren in the middle— also was on the field for Army’s third-quarter touchdown drive, which made it a 13-7 game.

Army went 76 yards on eight plays that time, complete with an A.J. Schurr three-yard rushing touchdown. 

How did they miss this?

It’s pretty obvious when sitting in the press box, watching the game live and you see Army shuffling players on and off the field, not realizing for several seconds that they indeed have 12 men on the field. Hey, I could even see that clear as day and my vision isn’t great.

QB Christian Hackenberg has to snap this ball and capitalize on the penally. He’s looking the other way, but why wasn’t anyone on the headset or the sideline relaying that information? Army’s 12th man took about four seconds to get off the field and Penn State just missed it. I know one of the reasons Franklin said offensive coordinator John Donovan prefers calling the game from the box as opposed to the sideline is so he can see the whole field.

Somehow, someway nobody up top or down below was able to capitalize on this in the first quarter. Penn State ended up getting a touchdown out of the drive, but it’s still a missed opportunity that they can learn from. 

Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.