The Lions' Pride

I won't know what to do with myself if we have an offense and defense that attack the opponent instead of playing it safe and hoping the other guy makes mistakes.

I am more concerned about improving the efficiency of our blitzes than the sheer number of times we blitz. Last year especially, I felt our blitzes were poorly disguised and executed. LBs oftentimes got caught up in the wash of linemen in the middle unable to get to the QB or they took outside rush angles that left huge holes for the QB to step out of trouble. It seemed as though opponents converted way too many third downs because of this.

The good news for this year is that opponents won't be able to rely on our tendencies as much as they have in the past.

Tfwiw, this morning Bill King stated that the coaching change/DC choice has him more fearful for our defense then any year he can remember since he began covering PSU football.

I would assume he's referencing Ted Roof.

The B1G lacks a lot of quality at the QB position, so there are only a few programs who could potentially capitalize on that premise...most notably Wisconsin. Nebraska and OSU certainly aren't going to beat us through the air.

It is not just a good QB that can hurt you when you blitz. Even if you only blitz one linebacker, you are eliminating 1/3 of your second level. A lot of big runs occur when you catch the D in a blitz and block it correctly. Especially if your secondary is chasing people in man coverage.

Appoo I agree. I will just say that Illinois is dead at WR this year. Talk is that they'll need to have multiple DBs play both waya to get a somewhat quality depth chart.

I definitely expect a dropoff in our D. It goes back to what MTay said yesterday. In a 4-3 more blitzing = bad b/c it means we can't get pressure with our front 4 & will leave our weak secondary exposed. That in turn will lead to giving up more big plays & more points.

On the other hand, I will be happy to see an end to our DB's playing 7 yards off the line on 3rd&4 and giving up easy 1st downs.

I trust LJ & Vandy to keep our front 7 productive & in a position to succeed. Hopefully with a modern & productive offense we won't have to rely solely on our D to win every game anymore.

It has been excruciating knowing that if our D gives up more than 21 or so points it will be tough for our offense to keep pace, especially when playing from behind.

Rubin? He wasn't THAT bad

I don't agree with that premise. Yes, change is happening and we will need to alter our mindsets. But, I don't think assumptions in either direction are necessary until we see how the personnel adjusts. Even with an offensive coach preaching lightning pace, the O will not need to accomplish much to exceed the past two years' productivity. How much better could have our defense been without being repeatedly thrown onto the field for 40 minutes or with their backs against the wall after TO's? A successful offense and/or heavier offensive emphasis doesn't necessarily doom the defense. It gives them the opportunity to loosen the shackles and be more aggressive. They could allow a few more yards or points and actually have a more significant impact on the outcome of the game through big plays.

What about the underneath passes that turned into huge plays...I recall USC killing us with those kinds of passes. They threw underneath the zone and wracked up huge RAC yardage.

IMO Wisconsin killed us because Wilson was so good on third downs and buying extra time with his legs. Overall I feel the big down falls against USC or Houston among others was our desire to not change out of our base packages. USC especially put the safeties and LBs in one on ones with their wrs and chewed us up. Joe and Tom usually did a decent job of making halftime adjustments but often were unwilling to make changes before then. Overall the blitz talk is over rated. There is no perfect formula or everybody would have it by now. You can be a very suffocating D by being blitz heavy. That being said front four pressure is key to pick your spots with the blitz. Bradley was excellent at coaching his or Joe's scheme. For the most part it was easier to coach and recruit for. But Bradley, Vandy and LJ deserve alot of credit for its success. Roof will have a harder time coaching up his style because the timing and teamwork is more precise. If he does it sucessfully the D could be as nasty or nastier than before. There is also a huge risk with roof's system as has been noted with Auburn last year. Bottom line we have no idea how Penn St's D will look nor its O. I personally expect the D still to be the strength this year. Just because we have the more proven commodities on that side of that ball.