So how does one attack the SC defense? Well, for starters don’t run the ball against them. It’s just not a good idea.

I guess Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers didn’t get that memo when the 5’7" true freshman ran for 186 yards on that defense. We actually have a shifty back that is bigger and faster than Quizz.

You have to love athletic freaks…did you know that Mark Rubin beat Michael Phelps in a race when they were 12? Talk about athletic freak…

do not pass the ball
do not run outside
only run up the middle
USC is a team of athletic freaks.

Here’s what you need to beat us: A cold, blustery night game in Iowa with a concussed QB – so things aren’t looking so good for SC in the Rose Bowl.

Everyone said we wouldn’t be able to compete against athletic freaks when we played FSU in 2005 and Tennessee in 2006. We beat them both. I don’t care how fast you are. If you’re not prepared and out of position you’re going to lose.

Petey is a great recruiter, but he isn’t a great football coach. He was a failure in the NFL. On the college level he has succeeded only because he can recruit superior talent at a glitzy school in a weak conference. Put him at a school like Minnesota and he’s middle of the road.

If USC has problems with teams that can pound up the middle, then USC is in for a long day. Evan Royster and the offensive line are more than capable of exploiting that. I think our defense will hold their own against the USC offense which isn’t as great as past years. And if USC shoots themselves in the foot with dumb penalties and turnovers the Nittany Lions are capable of capitalizing on it.

eats athletic freaks for lunch and Project Mayhem eats 5* recruits for dinner

Penn State fans, on the other hand, have a weakness for cold Yuengling.

Go State, beat USC!

got by the most amazing athlete of all time in Lauinitis. I believe that should put us at #1 and #2 in offense rankings in the country.

Well first of all don’t run the ball….PERIOD…ask a few of these guys how PSU’s run defense is…Chris Well, Javon Ringer, PJ Hill, and Juice Williams how easy it is to run against our front 7….

Secondly Don’t throw the ball over the middle or Scirrotto will light you up…I mean the dude is tough, he use to be a boxer and if he does get in trouble he has no problem calling some freinds to lay the smack down…

so basically stick to short out patterns and you shouldn’t have a problem

hope that helps

USC is highly penalized. Penn State is only second to Ball State in fewest penalties. That has helped us a lot. Penn State also commits very few turnovers. In a word, we are disciplined.

I know this article isn’t about this year’s team, but it is a good read and is eerily similar to the situation we are in now. ESPN e-Ticket: The Night College Football Went to Hell

If you guys trully have trouble stopping a shifty runner who gains massive yardage up the middle…well then you do not want to play against Penn State’s O-line and Evan Royster. his stat’s don’t look all that impressive as far as total yards go, and his YPC dropped significantly over the last few games, but he is great at being a shifty back. On that note: prepare to hear that he got offers to play lacrosse at James Madison, but chose football at Penn State instead. The over/under of announcers saying that each game is usually set around 2-3, and usually towards the end of the first quarter.

Our defensive style is comparable to yours, and I also was sometimes wondering what team you were really talking about ;-) We call it the “Bend but don’t suck” offense. We’re hoping RUTS comes up with a shirt ;-) With that said, our secondary has been fairly solid this year, but it usually seems like they’re overachieving, and they have been known to give up a few big plays on blown zone coverage. The other place to attack is to run up the middle. If you can get past our D-line, then expect to get a few more yards as Josh Hull tries to take you down. Also don’t expect much blitzing up the middle by him. Basically I’m saying our MLB position is our biggest D weakness (if only Sean Lee wasn’t out for the season!).

Offensively, to stop us your best bet is to get Clark to make a mistake early, or perhaps if you can just get into his head or knock him around a bit early (rattle him up, but don’t knock him out of the game). When that’s happened, he seems to fold like a house of cards and makes even more and more mistakes. If you do knock him out of the game, though, don’t expect some weak backup to come in. Devlin is every bit as good as Clark is, and is a much bigger deep ball threat. He can also run, but hasn’t shown the “power” running that Clark on occasion has shown (but neither match up to a real “running” QB).

Our passing game usually consists of a lot of dink and dunk passes. We haven’t really gone for the deep ball that much, even when we have superior matchups for our WRs. It has been slightly frustrating, but I guess our strategy hasn’t really failed, so why change it?

Of our receivers, Norwood and Butler have amazing hands. Your best bet against them is to tip the pass completely away from them. They also like to make great acrobatic plays, so again, keep the ball away from them. Williams is our “home run threat” but his hands aren’t quite as good. We also never seem to hit any receivers in stride, so I wonder if you really need to prevent home run plays against them, since they always tackle themselves on the catch. Also regarding Williams, we like to use him a lot in misdirection. We’ll line him up in the backfield, which pretty much means he’s getting the ball back there. Usually it is a run, occasionally a pass (he was a QB in highschool). For some reason defenses haven’t been able to stop that play, but I imagine USC will have the talented athletes to do so.

If you guys have us on a third and short situation, and we line Stephon Green up in the backfield, then expect him to run it up the middle. Don’t ask us why. He is a speedy north-south runner, but doesn’t have the patience for a hole to open up and always runs into the line. He is great to the outside, but we rarelyutilize him like that.

On special teams: kick away from Williams.

So that’s pretty much the gameplan against Penn State. We have the players and discipline to beat any team in the country, but we also have our weaknesses.

Oh, and I think the biggest thing USC can do to beat Penn State is to not get all cocky and underestimate this team. I know I am a homer, and so obviously favor Penn State, but this is one of the best teams I’ve ever watched play. They execute their plays well, even against good defenses. They make very few mistakes.

We are obviously hoping that USC goes into the game just assuming they’ll win without having to really try or prepare. That will make winning for us all that much easier. If USC prepares for us like they are the underdog, then USC will probably win just based on athletic talent alone, combined with that preparation. These teams do look very well matched up, though, and if you look at all the statistical categories (which you pointed out can be misleading) then Penn State is usually right there with them.

That would be much better than man to man pressure. Our small receivers are great at getting into the openings in a soft secondary, not so good when pressured on the line. There are similarities in Rogers and Royster that make me think we will do well running up the middle while your linebackers are off flexing for the cheerleaders.