PSU football must figure out how to stop ground game
Coach Speak with Penn State football's Matt Campbell
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Following are the highlights of head coach Matt Campbell, defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, quarterback Rocco Becht, offensive lineman Cooper Cousins, and linebacker Cael Brezina's Tuesday press conference:
Saturday's game: vs. USC (7:30 p.m., NBC)
Records: Penn State (3-3 overall, 0-2 in the Big Ten), USC (5-1 overall, 2-1 in the Big Ten).
Odds: Penn State is a 1.5-point favorite.
Rankings: USC is ranked No. 19 by the Associated Press.
Series: USC leads, 6-5
The nightmare
Last week, Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles only threw the ball 14 times for 93 yards. That was because he didn't need to with the Wildcat run game dismantling PSU's defense for 413 yards on the ground.
Things got bad enough that Lynn spent the first half in his usual spot from the booth, but came down to the sidelines for the second half.
"It was hard to watch from up top," Lynn said. "Just not being down there with the guys, being able to talk to them, look them in the eye. You kind of don't know what's going on down there."
Lynn said Tuesday he didn't know if the defense won the line of scrimmage once the entire game. Some of it was not getting a push off the ball, and some of it wasn't controlling gaps with the defensive line, or run fits.
"We didn't lose every time, but we didn't win at all," Lynn said.
Tackling hadn't generally been a problem through the first four games, but became a glaring issue as the game went on with the Wildcats.
"I always say just because you tackle well in games doesn't mean you're a good tackling team because if you have a game like this, all of a sudden you're a bad tackling team," Lynn said. "And then we could tackle well next week and we're back to being a good tackling team again. I think it's something you have to stay on the guys always."
Lynn was unsure if he would coach Saturday's game with USC from the booth or the sidelines.
No onsides kick
Becht's touchdown to Chase Sowell with 7:53 left in the game made it 31-13. It was still a three-possession game at the time, but Campbell decided to kick deep rather than try for an onsides kick.
Campbell cited still having three timeouts as the reason to boot it deep.
"I felt like if we could go get a stop, thinking we could go get a score and then kick the onside kick -- that was really my thought," Campbell said. "If we didn't have three timeouts, I would have (onsides) kicked it right there. But at that point I felt like if we can go get a stop and kick the ball deep and get the opportunity to get the ball back fast, then go score and get the opportunity to kick the onside."
Lacking identity
Campbell said the team wasn't where it needed to be after the Buffalo game, and he referenced that on not exactly being surprised at the team's lack of an identity on the offensive side.
"It's a growth process," Campbell said. "The reality of it is we have to be better. It starts with my leadership and making sure we get better. I've got great belief in the humans that we have, and we're just not there yet right now."
The run game has been a disappointment, so far, but the pass has shown flashes of excellence at times. That hasn't been the case for the past six quarters dating back to the second half of the Wisconsin game.
"We just don't really know if we're a run team or a pass team right now," Becht said. "We're going back to the drawing board, going back to the meeting room and figuring out what we do well. We could do well in both of those areas. It's just how do we complement it on the field?"
Campbell understands that the team is not where it needs to be, but has not wavered on them getting there eventually.
"This place has gone through hard and come out better from it every step of the way," Campbell said. "The frustration of it is you want to give our players, our coaches, and this community something to be really proud of and what it represents, and we're not there yet."
Having a leader
If anyone wanted to see a vote of confidence for Becht, they got one on Tuesday from Cousins.
Cousins said everyone in the locker room has taken ownership over the last two games, and Becht is at the top of the list.
"It's not going to be a Cinderella story," Cousins said. "I think Rocco has done a great job getting us together, not just as an offense, but as a team. I talk about his leadership ability all the time. From the second a game ends until the second the next game starts, you see his leadership."
Tickets available
It's pretty rare that there are still tickets available a few days before a White Out game. The cheapest tickets available on Penn State's Ticketmaster website were priced at $78.39 as of Tuesday afternoon.
Campbell was asked what his sales pitch would be for fans to come to Saturday's game after everything that has happened the last two weeks.
"Every single person that has sprinted in our walls, even since Friday night coming off that really tough plane ride home, understands what we represent. We've never cowered from it. We're not running from it and we're not hiding from it," Campbell said.
"We have to be better and we want to grow forward and we're going to demand to grow forward. The reality is it's going to happen. When that happens and how it happens, we're going to need everyone pulling in the same direction.
"We've got an unbelievable fan base. I'm grateful for it and really appreciate them. They've been with us from day one and my guess is they've always been with this program, good days and tough days. I'm really grateful to be in a program like that."
Notable ...
– Wide receiver Koby Howard is still unavailable for Saturday, and Campbell said he thinks the Lions are still 'a couple weeks' away from getting him back. Howard was injured on a long touchdown catch-and-run vs. Buffalo.
– The time for next Saturday's game at Michigan was announced on Monday for a 3:30 p.m. kick. The network televising the game will be decided on Sunday.
(Compiled by Andy Stine of the Altoona Mirror. He can be reached at astine@altoonamirror.com.)