Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/83944
BIRD IN THE HAND Jordan Hill chases down Owls quarterback Chris Coyer. The Nittany Lions finished with three sacks. Penn State's defense keeps the Owls grounded UNDER WRAPS The talking started, defensive tackle Jordan Hill said, on the first play. He and his teammates were ready for it, because Temple running back Matt Brown had done the same thing last season. And then there were the penalties. As Hill delicately put it, "We didn't think some of them should have been called." Which wasn't really a prob- lem, he added, because "as a football player, you use any type of edge you can get. So we got mad about that: 'Hey, they're not getting to us. They aren't going to score on us.' " So there was no shortage of motiva- tion for Penn State's defense against Temple. And the defense came through, even though it was without starting ends Sean Stanley and Pete Massaro. Penn State held the Owls to 113 yards rushing and just 237 yards overall and allowed them to convert only 2 of 13 third downs – led, as al- ways, by senior linebacker Michael Mauti, who had nine tackles. "He has tremendous enthusiasm to compete," defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. "He's a heck of a competi- tor; that's his best characteristic. He's got really good physical attributes, as well, but the heart and the enthusi- asm for competing – the tougher it LORI SHONTZ | B L U E W H I T E c O N T R I B U T O R gets, the better he likes it. I think that rubs off on the rest of the football team, too." The Nittany Lions didn't force any turnovers, but they clamped down on the Owls in two key situations. With 1:46 remaining in the first half, the Owls started from their own 7- yard line. The Nittany Lions held Tem- ple to 3 rushing yards, enabling the offense to take over at the Temple 35, score a touchdown with 22 seconds left and go into the locker room with a 14-3 lead. And they started the second half by forcing Temple to go three-and-out; quarterback Chris Coyer, who was under pressure throughout the game, threw three incomplete passes. "We weren't getting takeaways, so we had to do something to flip field posi- tion," Roof said. "The three-and-outs help you with field position. It's still a field-position game, no matter how you slice it." The defense would rather force turnovers, of course. (Temple fumbled twice, but managed to recover both.) But the Nittany Lions will take a game like this one. "We've got to build some momentum and get into the Big Ten season and get better," Mauti said. "That's what we've been doing." S E P T E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 2 11 Steve Manuel I think we found a running back. Zwinak ran downhill and hit holes HARD and ran over the first contact all day. Way to go, kid! psubowhunter Jesse Della Valle may not be the best athlete, but he catches the ball! From where I was sitting today, he does have a quick first step. The first player who tried to tackle him was juked out every time. I am im- pressed with him. As a side note, I think we are going to run the ball down Illinois' throat next week. With Zwinak and Zordich for power and Belton on pitches and draws, after we pound them the first quarter, we will start opening it up. FROM THE WEB ONLINE REAcTION TO PSU'S LATEST GAME samurailion Our special teams are not so special. Not knocking the kids, but when you net less than 20 yards on multiple punts, you've got serious problems. Sam [Ficken] made a mistake on the last kickoff, an inexcusable mis- take from the 35-yard line. Give him the assist on the Temple touchdown. Oh, and whoever threw a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct on a kicker? Zebras were horrible today. Nagromth Were those replacement refs out there today? I am confident my vision was better than those guys from row 45. MontourBob 500 yards of offense needs to produce more than 24 points. We need points! ptomasellii You can tell they enjoy playing together kinda like sandlot. They hit more slants today than they did the prior 10 years. Appreci- ate Matt McGloin, would like to see him around a few more years with this type of coaching. Bench or Hackenberg, and any receiver will be coached better than what any other team in this weak league can do. sg out west B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M