Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1138762
2 0 1 9 S E A S O N P R E V I E W Lions blew double-digit fourth-quar- ter leads in both of those games, and last year's losses to Ohio State and Michigan State fit that same pattern, furthering their reputation as a team that couldn't close the deal against quality opponents. There was a mitigating factor, though: The offense produced a combined total of only 43 points in those two losses – fewer points than the Lions had pro- duced in the first three quarters of the Rose Bowl. So yes, if the defense had been a little bit better in those games, Penn State probably would have won both of them. But if the offense had been a little bit better, had left fewer points on the field, those leads might not have been quite so precarious at the end. This year's defense should be a little bit better. Maybe more than a little bit. The Lions appear faster and deeper than they've been in a long time. The front seven is anchored by disruptors like Gross-Matos and defensive tackle Robert Windsor. The linebacker corps boasts three experienced starters, in- cluding rising star Micah Parsons, and the secondary should continue to be a strength. What's more, the backups ap- pear solid, too, alleviating some of the depth concerns that contributed to the late collapses against Ohio State and Michigan last year. This could very well be the best defense of James Franklin's tenure at PSU, and let's not forget, he had a couple of pretty good ones his first two years. If the program's recruiting and player development continue down the path they've been on lately, Penn State may eventually start to rekindle memories of a time when its defense was a strength pretty much every year. During their glory years of the 1960, '70s and '80s, the Nittany Lions were known for fea- turing tough-as-nails defenders like Jack Ham, Mike Reid, Matt Millen, Bruce Clark and Shane Conlan, and for con- taining Heisman Trophy winners such as Marcus Allen, Herschel Walker and Vinny Testaverde. The last of those three names is the one that still gets cited when Penn Staters reminisce about the glories of Linebacker U. The Nittany Lions baited Testaverde, a future No. 1 overall draft pick, into throwing five interceptions, including the game-clincher, in a 14-10 victory over Miami for the 1986 national championship. We tend to remember that game as a three-hour parade of big hits and even bigger picks. What's often forgotten is that Miami threw for 285 yards and out- gained the Lions 445-162. Testaverde and his fellow Hurricanes, who included future Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin, were at the vanguard of college football's offensive revolution. Their 10- point scoring total against Penn State was an aberration, and as the years have gone on, more and more teams have fol- lowed their lead, including Penn State itself. Since the Nittany Lions' post-sanction turnaround early in the 2016 season, their success has been built primarily on their offense. During their Big Ten championship year, the Lions finished third in the league in scoring offense (37.6 ppg) and eighth in scoring defense (25.4 ppg). The following year, they were tied for first in scoring offense (41.1 ppg) and were second in scoring defense (16.5). You can win a lot of games by av- eraging just under 40 points, and Penn State did – 22 games to be exact over those two seasons. Last year, however, the Lions slipped on offense, averaging only 33.8 points per game (28.4 vs. Big Ten opponents). So while the defense was mostly solid, the team's record fell to 9-4. It's probably a lot riskier to lean on your defense in 2019 than it was in Shane Conlan's day. Penn State's 1986 national championship team could af- ford to play a risk-averse style of offense that prioritized ball control and turnover avoidance. But these days, even teams with great defenses can't assume they'll be able to turn every game into a low- scoring slugfest. A year ago, Michigan had a great de- fense. Through 11 games, the Wolverines were allowing only 234.8 yards and 13.5 points per game, best in the Big Ten in both categories. Then they traveled to Ohio State for their season finale and surrendered 567 yards and 62 points to the league's best offense. In the national championship game this past January, Alabama entered with a typically stout defense. Early in their Southeastern Conference season, the Crimson Tide went 165 minutes without allowing an offensive score, a perform- ance that was entirely in keeping with program's recent history. This was, after all, a team that since 2009 had allowed only 213 touchdowns, by far the lowest total in the country. But the Tide came out of their matchup against Clemson in tatters. The Tigers shredded them for 482 yards in a 44-16 romp. And as if to underscore the extent to which offense has come to dominate college football, the quarter- back that Alabama couldn't stop was a true freshman, former five-star prospect Trevor Lawrence. For a long time, college football coaches lived by the mantra that offense