Penn State plan to ‘learn’ and ‘build off’ Illinois takes on heightened importance
Penn State coach James Franklin had a key point to make regarding his offensive line’s performance on Saturday at Illinois. A bruising win in which the Nittany Lion running backs were limited to 3.8 yards per carry, and quarterback Drew Allar was under duress eight times, one takeaway was obvious.
Illinois’ defensive front is good.
Between the week’s game-planning, the on-the-field action itself, and the post-game review, the Illini talent shined. Led by Jer’Zhan Newton, finishing with seven quarterback pressures, five hurries, two batted balls, and five tackles, the impactful performances lived up to the billing.
“We had a ton of respect for Illinois and their front. I would say after the game, we felt the same way,” Franklin said on Tuesday. “They got a real front seven. I think they have some guys up there that can cause a lot of people challenges.
“So, it was a really good opportunity for our O-line and tight ends to go against that. I think we’re going to go against similar fronts throughout the year.”
Next challenge for Penn State
Set to face Iowa on Saturday at Beaver Stadium (7:30 p.m., CBS), the Hawkeyes could well be one of them.
Joe Evans, a 6-foot-2, 252-pound linebacker-turned-edge, has been productive through three games. He’s got seven tackles to go along with a team-high 12 pressures on opposing quarterbacks. Paired with defensive tackle Logan Lee, and middle linebacker Jay Higgins, the Hawkeyes feature another typically stable and capable front seven expected to test Penn State this weekend.
The Nittany Lions have already been through it, on the road, no less. And with it, the experience becomes a valuable one to improve upon this week.
“I think it’s probably a… pretty good litmus test for us to see kind of where we’re at, we’re we’ve improved, where we need to grow, what are our strengths, what are some weaknesses,” said Franklin. “Because we did have a ton of respect for them coming into the game, and felt after the game the same thing.”
Pushing through
The sentiment is one shared by Allar, who was tasked with eluding the Illini pass rush and putting his backs in the best position to make plays on Saturday.
Well-versed in the blueprint that opponents have employed against him, attempting to shut down the run and pressure the pocket, Allar said his Penn State teammates emerged from the experience better for it.
“There’s always new things, new wrinkles every week. But they stuck to their fundamentals. And I think they came out and played physical and played hard,” Allar said of his offensive line on Saturday. “They have a lot of talent up front. It’s hard in those types of fronts, just because it’s a lot of ISO blocks. And they had a tremendous get-off.
“I think we did a good job of just steadying the ship. Obviously, nothing was perfect today. Especially in the first half, we weren’t doing what we wanted to do. But we ended up coming back and finishing the job we were supposed to do. It’s just figuring out what the defense’ are going to do against us. And, what they’re going to try to take away from us and then we can go off that.”
Next steps for Penn State
Projecting plenty of similarities between Illinois and Iowa for this weekend, Franklin said the program is determined to “learn from” and “build on” the effort last weekend.
Pleased by the variety of rotations and going deep into the depth chart, establishing physicality in the process, the Nittany Lions are counting on it.
The post Penn State plan to ‘learn’ and ‘build off’ Illinois takes on heightened importance appeared first on On3.
