The fifth DB is a run-stuffing safety instead of a Nickel corner-back.

Rubin, Astorino, & AS would do a decent job of stuffing the run and our defense would never be nearly as vulnerable to the passing attack, especially down the seams.

played really poorly. No denying it. That 10:1 ratio is about right.

“Perhaps the best option is sliding Sales into the middle and using Bani Gbadyu, Nate Stupar, or Mike Mauti as the other linebacker was really.”

I said the exact same thing after I rewatched the game on Sunday. If Colasanti was the answer, he’d already be playing. And since he isn’t getting ANY playing time, it’s clear we need to look elsewhere for a solution. Sales is a senior, so he should know the playbook well enough to slide over. That gives either Nate or Bani the nod on the outside. I’ll take the former, personally, but either should be an improvement over the current situation.

some things on the defensive side of the ball. I agree with what most of you have said. Josh Hull has a hard time getting off blocks and seems to be one step behind on every play. This can’t continue to go on as the biggest games lie ahead. If Colasanti were ready to play, he would be in there. It’s obvious they don’t think he is ready. I wonder if they could try something like moving Sales to the middle, then Bani and Navarro on the outside. Stupar and Mauti probably aren’t ready for a starting role but experimenting this weekend wouldn’t hurt anything. Did anyone else take notice to Gaines playing some DT on Saturday? I thought that was an interesting move. Evans and Maybin on opposite ends could be a lethal weapon if used consistently. Whatever they decide to change, if anything, I hope it’s changed quickly. I don’t want to go to Madison and Columbus and have that feeling of nervousness because they can’t come up with a big stop. They will need some big stops down the stretch to get to Miami.

Does anyone else remember the preseason talk about Mauti that this kid is just so good he might have to get a step quicker and play safety for us just to get him on the field. I think we overhype here a bit too much sometimes and now we dont even know where to grab a LB from.

However, as the point was made, we held them to 10 points the last 3 quarters…this defense will need to hold the line as the offense scores – likely we’re going to see a LOT of bend don’t break in effort to minimize damage…the only problem is that we put the ball on the ground a lot…a good defense will be able to capitalize and turn these into turnovers shortening the field. My biggest worry is that when we face an OSU or Wisky we’ll do just that, and they’ll be able to capitalize…

Why not move Hull to the right or left side. I don’t think he is good enough to play middle. He seems a step to slow but I have to admit he knows how to tackle. After rewatching the game I didn’t see anytime that he missed a tackle just seemed slow to me.

FOS did a great PSU playbook showing astorino stuffing an option pitch to Benn. It does a great job of showing why the option from the gun is so tricky.

http://207.44.194.112/users/Brennan/2008FBImages/ILLAstornioPB2/index.htm

First, maybin is unblocked on the backside of the zone scheme. He does his job, which is to take the dive back and not look at the ball. Well done here by 59.

Unfortunately, Hull bites on the dive mesh, and is unable to close down on Juice, who has the ball and is running around the outside. Astorino saves his bacon, and gets some help from the sideline because illinois is running this play into the boundary. 28 forces juice to give up the ball, and because of the lack of space is still in position to make the play on benn. If illinois ran that look to the other side, its probably a first down.

an “A” for effort in this game, they came out with an aggressive game plan. The Lions are giving up too many 6+ yard rushes up the middle for my liking, although they seem to be able to come up with key stops. Failing on 4th down at midfield would have killed Illinois if we had converted that to 7.

I am confounded week after week listening to you people. Our linebackers don’t suck. I will explain. Navarro Bowman is a stud, Sales is not far behind. Illinois keyed on the outside linebackers all night to get there option going. Did Sales have a great night? No, but everyone has subpar games now again. Some other poster said our d-line stinks?#@? Are you kidding me Ask Zook how bad and awful our d-line is, or better yet go ask Oregon State who blew the #1 team away last week about ‘em. You people say we suck if we don’t hold every team to minus yards rushing and passing. Ridiculous. Illinois has some extremely talented players. This was a good team. They have lost to 2 top 6 teams, they will not lose many more. Give the other team some credit. You are not going to line up at this level and beat everyone 75-0. The lack of true football knowledge in this blog and in these comments is astonishing.

“You are not going to line up at this level and beat everyone 75-0”.

Correct. We won by less than two touchdowns while scoring 38 points. So, quite obviously, our defense doesn’t deserve all A’s. We were above average in most respects, but capable of improvement as the season progresses. Most importantly, as Penn State football fans, we’re all here to discuss that fact and to make observations on what can and should be done to manifest this improvement. In all, if you’re not here to do that, then it’s possible you found the wrong blog.

I kind of agree about the subpar play of Hull. But the more we talk about it, I fear a similar reaction from Paterno as with Morelli last year. Joe always rallies around such players and his stubborn attitude makes it less likely to change. He would never want to let the media/fans think they influenced his decision.