With a new quarterback and young
players starting at all of the skill posi-
tions, Penn State was not expected to be
as proficient on offense this year as it
had been for much of the previous three
seasons.
But on the other side of the ball, expe-
rience at all three levels was plentiful.
For the first season in some time, the
Nittany Lions were set to be carried by
their defense. Largely, that's been the
case.
Through the first eight games of the
season, Ohio State was the only Big Ten
team that had allowed fewer points per
game than Penn State's 9.6, and the
rushing defense, led by one of the na-
tion's most solid front fours, was sur-
rendering only 1.99 yards per attempt,
the lowest average in the
Football Bowl Subdivi-
sion.
Then Penn State hit TCF
Bank Stadium on Nov. 9,
and Minnesota rowed the
boat on the Nittany Lion
secondary. Sophomore
quarterback Tanner Mor-
gan threw for 339 yards and three scores,
connecting on 18 of 20 throws. Play after
play, it seemed, Morgan gashed the de-
fense on all areas of the field.
A few days after the Nittany Lions'
31-26 loss, James Franklin
said that while those un-
sightly numbers "tell a
story," it wasn't necessarily
the
entire story. "I think
overall, we've been pretty
good this year in pass de-
fense," he said. "But we've
also been really good in
NEWS & NOTES
AIR DEFENSE
Fifth-year senior
cornerback John
Reid is one of the
most experienced
players on the Nit-
tany Lions' de-
fense this season.
Photo by Steve
Manuel
|
F O O T B A L L
Nittany Lions working to improve pass defense
