Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1138762
P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> narrowed in on some things that we feel like we have to do better and we feel pretty good about it. And then you've got to get it to the kids and make the ad- justments and go out there during camp in August and see if you can hammer it out. We did some of it in the spring. The spring is a little bit more about develop- ing young guys and you don't get as de- tailed. You don't put your whole package in. But in August, that's [about] the finer things. You have to get them right. BWI Do you think the situational live action that James Franklin puts into each practice helps with that process? PRY Absolutely. Yeah, I think throwing those guys out there and giving them a four-minute situation, or a two-minute, or overtime, or third downs helps. I think the more that we can make it like a game [the more beneficial it is]. Coach always says, "Make it harder in practice than it will be Saturday." So the situational [drills] work great. It's great if the kids are growing to understand it. And we spend the time in the meetings, we spend the time on the practice field, reviewing it, where these guys understand situations. You're going to put a guy out there, I'll use Micah [Parsons] as an example. For the first couple of weeks, we hold up these personnel cards week-in and week- out to let them know what personnel the offense has on the field. He didn't even know the card was up there for the first couple of weeks. He had too much else going on. So as guys get more experi- enced and develop and get more com- fortable [they improve]. The more you put them in those situations in practice, the more comfortable they get. BWI What do you know about this group defensively? What are you sure of? PRY I think we've got great rush ability. I think we're a group that will play hard and reckless. I think more than any group we've had here, they're going to give their body up. I think that they're very close, there's no doubt about that. They're very close. And I think overall as a group, they're maybe more driven than they've ever been. BWI Why do you think that is? PRY I think they've had a taste of some things and they've had a little bit of a roller coaster. I mean, you're number two in the country, you're number nine in the country, and opportunities are just... it's hard. I mean, those guys said some things in that locker room after the bowl game that told me there was al- ready a little bit of a chip on their shoul- der, that it just left a bad taste in their mouth. So they've been pretty deter- mined since then, especially some of the older guys. I think when you get that, you've got something pretty good. BWI What don't you know? PRY Yeah, we've still got a few ques- tions, a few unproven things. Lamont [Wade], he's played his best football this spring. He's got to answer the bell at that spot, just like Nick Scott did, just like Troy Apke did, just like Malik Golden did. He's got to answer the bell, which I think he can. I think replacing Kevin Givens, how- LETTERMEN RETURNING 22 DE Yetur Gross-Matos, Daniel Joseph, Shane Simmons, Shaka Toney DT Fred Hansard, P.J. Mustipher, Antonio Shelton, Robert Windsor LB Ellis Brooks, Cam Brown, Jan Johnson, Jesse Luketa, Micah Parsons CB Tariq Castro-Fields, Trent Gordon, Donovan Johnson, John Reid SAF Drew Hartlaub, John Petrishen, Jonathan Sutherland, Garrett Taylor, Lamont Wade LETTERMEN LOST 14 DE Shareef Miller DT Kevin Givens LB Jake Cooper, Dae'Lun Darien, Frank Di Leo, Koa Farmer, Jarvis Miller, Jason Vranic CB Jabari Butler, Zech McPhearson, Amani Oruwariye, Christopher Welde SAF Ayron Monroe, Nick Scott STARTERS RETURNING 6 >> Cam Brown (12 starts in 2018), Yetur Gross-Matos (13), Jan Johnson (13), John Reid (11), Garrett Taylor (12), Robert Windsor (12) OTHERS WITH STARTING EXPERIENCE 5 >> Tariq Castro-Fields (2 career starts), Fred Hansard (1), Micah Parsons (1), Antonio Shelton (1), Jonathan Sutherland (1) STARTERS LOST 5 >> Koa Farmer (13), Kevin Givens (12), Shareef Miller (13), Amani Oruwariye (13), Nick Scott (13) D E F E N S E F A S T F A C T S POINTS/GAME 20.5 (4th Big Ten; 23rd FBS) YDS/GAME 350.5 (5th; 34th) RUSHING YDS/GAME 169.0 (8th; 72nd) PASSING YDS/GAME 181.5 (2nd; 15th) PASS EFFICIENCY 106.1 (2nd; 8th) FIRST DOWNS/GAME 20.0 (8th; 71st) 3RD-DOWN CONVERSION PCT. 33.6 (3rd; 19th) 2018 STATISTICS