Fanshots

Film Study - 3rd Downs vs. Ohio State

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See Link. We should have had the foresight to know that every content creator tucked away in their mother's basement would put these 16 plays under the microscope...but here's our take on it. Initial thoughts were 1. I was surprised Codutti was as critical of the play-calling as he was because he and Yurcich have a decent relationship (Codutti went to a bunch of Okla State coaching clinics when Yurcich was there) and 2. I didn't notice Drew's mechanical issues during the live game, but it's very noticeable and troubling here.

Film Study - Diaz's Blitzes and Coverages

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See Link. Another defensive snuff film basically. Only difference is we had Codutti highlight the complexities of Diaz's coverages and how he's disguising those different looks. We haven't really gotten into pass coverage before this season because the front seven has been so destructive (awesome problem for us to have) so we forced the issue to show what a pain in the arse this entire defensive scheme is for opposing offenses to decipher.

Film Study -- Offensive Struggles vs. NW

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The most encouraging segment of the video IMO was after the false start that made 4th down and 1 4th down and 6, Allar moved off his initial read and hit the dig to Cephas for 15ish yards to move the chains. Codutti said something along the lines that when Allar is pressed and HAS no choice but to make a dynamic play, he does it. I just can't understand why he doesn't display that same mindset on standard downs.

Film Study - PSU Defensive Ends vs. Iowa

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See Link. Not much to dissect...Isaac, Chop, DDS, Vanover, they're just fun to watch. The one thing that has stood out through 4 weeks that Codutti touches upon is that we're not seeing as many guys out of position or unsure where to be/what to do/what their assignment is compared to this time last year (especially with the 3rd down Prowler pressure packages). I guess you just attribute that to guys having a full 20 months at this point in Diaz's system. Also, Curtis Jacobs doesn't have a ton of splashy statistics, but he's playing out of his mind this year, IMO.

Film Study - PSU's Lack of Explosive Runs

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See Link. Penn State ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten in rushing offense (230.5 yards/gm) despite its largest gain of the season being a meager 20 yards. The ground game has been methodical, effective, yet not explosive. We tried to ID some reasons why.

Film Study - Abdul Carter's Ceiling

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See Link. Disclaimer: we purposely cut out all of Carter's pass rush 'seek and destroy' highlights so that we could better gauge how he fared in the standard down aspects of playing linebacker and the rare third down situations where he dropped into coverage . He's already an elite blitzer, so while it would have been fun to go through all that (and maybe better for our overall views lol), we wanted to shine a light on everything else to identify where he's at development-wise. Basically, when you take away all the sizzle, how much down-to-down "steak" is in Carter's game.

Film Study - Nick Singleton's Vision

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See Link. Interesting video because instead of focusing on Singleton's speed and size, it focused on Singleton's football IQ and how he matured as the season went on, learned to trust his eyes and trust his blockers instead of bouncing everything and trying to outrace everyone It's kinda funny that, the first clip Codutti used to show Singleton's struggles early on he still went for 40 yards lol. But he definitely was a different back by the end of the year who wasn't always coloring outside the lines and trying to be a hero every play. I'm not sure Seider gets enough credit for how quickly Singleton "figured it out" last season considering his high school offense was nothing like Penn State's run scheme. Either that, our having and watching Kaytron from the sidelines forced and pushed Singleton to grow up as a RB faster.

5 Players PSU Can't Afford To Be Without This Season

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See Link. Again, a lot of worthy candidates that got left on the cutting room floor when trimming things down. Kaytron's inclusion was warranted IMO. Nothing against Singleton, but if there's a RB I trust to get a first down or eat clock on a pivotal 4-minute drive to seal the game, it's Kaytron. His OSU TD run would have been iconic if Penn State's defense still immediately step on several rakes on the following drive.

Top 5 PSU Players Ready for "The Next Step"

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Hard list to carve down to just five players...which is obviously a great problem to have and a testament to how deep and talented this roster is. Felt like Tengwall, Harrison Wallace, Cephus, Saunders, Wheatley, Vanover, Izzard, and a couple others would have been worthy candidates.