Penn State's Defense Looks Inward After 'Humbling' Game Vs. Indiana
After what he called the Penn State defense's "humbling experience" against Indiana, tackle Dvon Ellies said the Nittany Lions spent Sunday correcting their issues and resetting for this week's game against Maryland.
"We're past it and we've grown from it," Ellies said Tuesday. "You won't be seeing the same things again."
Penn State's defense made some uncharacteristic mistakes in a 33-24 victory over Indiana that included three touchdown passes and the two longest completions of the season. Through their first six games, the Nittany Lions allowed a total of two touchdown passes and a season-long completion of 37 yards. Then the Hoosiers capitalized on different instances of miscommunication for touchdown passes of 90 and 69 yards. The 90-yard completion was the longest against Penn State since 1993.
"Obviously I don’t think in general on Saturday we played our best football," Penn State coach James Franklin said Tuesday when asked specifically about the defense. "We’ve arguably been the best defense in college football; you could be a part of that argument. But I know [defensive coordinator Manny Diaz] was very honest and transparent with the defense on areas that we’ve got to get better. ... We’ve obviously played better. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it."
In addition to the long touchdown passes, Penn State, playing without defensive end Chop Robinson, had three sacks but just one additional quarterback hurry against Indiana's Brendan Sorsby. One of those sacks, by Dani Dennis-Sutton to force a fourth-quarter fumble and safety, essentially ended the game.
Franklin also said that the defense tackled too high and didn't wrap consistently. The Lions further allowed Indiana to convert a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, the second-longest against them this season in terms of plays.
Ellies, whom Franklin said spoke to the team after the game, said one of the line's corrections involved being "more violent coming off a block" and playing their inside technique better, specifically in the run game.
"You know, it's a very humbling experience coming off of Indiana," Ellies said. "There were just some things that we needed to be better on coming into Sunday. There was a lack of communication on some of those plays, and that was just great execution by Indiana and poor execution on our part. But we got it fixed, as we always do. That was just an opportunity for growth."
One correction involved the 90-yard touchdown catch by Indiana's Dequece Carter. Safety Zakee Wheatley, who was on the field for that play, said "bad eyes" contributed to it. "It's something that this week of practice I'm going to be homing in on, just really being precise with my eyes," Wheatley said.
Added Franklin, "We worked on those things Sunday, we made the corrections that needed to be made, and I think we’ll be better for it."
Ellies called communication a differentiator between the "best defenses in the country and, you know, another defense." The Lions believe they cleared those communication issues as they prepare to visit Maryland.
"We talk about it all the time, the cohesiveness of our defense," Ellies said. "It's our ability to play together, trust each other, that's our biggest strength. That's just who we are. We trust each other, we play hard, we're very assignment sound, we communicate. All of these things together make us one of the best defenses in the country."
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