Among other things, Saturday’s Peach Bowl will be a matchup of one of the country’s best defenses (Penn State’s) and one of its most explosive defenses (Mississippi’s).
The Nittany Lions allowed the fewest yards per game (223) in major college football in 11 years. In both of Penn State’s losses, 20-12 to Ohio State and 24-15 to Michigan, the D played well enough to win.
The offense didn’t come close, leading directly to the firing of offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Very directly — less than 24 hours after the Michigan game Nov. 11.
Andy Kotelnicki, hired away from Kansas, will coordinate the offense next season. He is here, observing. Interim coordinators Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle met the media here Wednesday and refrained a familiar tune from the staff since they took over.
“Our motto since we took over is, simplicity equals speed,” Seider said. “That means we don’t want these guys thinking. We want them to go play.”
The implication that Yurcich tended to over-complicate things is, and has been, clear.
Under Seider/Howle, Penn State beat Rutgers 27-6 and Michigan State 42-0, racking up a combined total of 908 yards. That’s a little deceptive, perhaps. The Michigan State game got away from the Spartans spectacularly.
Still, the varying ways they pulled those wins off seem telling. Quarterback Drew Allar threw for 303 yards against the Spartans. The previous week against Rutgers, he threw for just 79 before leaving with what looked, at the time, to be a significant upper-body injury.
In differing ways, the weapons got fired each week.
“We recruited well,” Seider said. “We’ve got great talent. The worst thing they can do is go into a game thinking of I could, I should, I would be doing instead of just reacting to what the defense does and taking advantage of our skill.”
Allar issued the same quote Wednesday, nearly word-for-word, that he authored post-Rutgers and post-MSU.
“Coach Seider and Coach Howle have done a great job of giving us simple rules to follow,” he said. “For the (beleaguered) wide receivers, (it means not) thinking about a certain leverage — they could do this, but they should do that. It’s just, you’re running the route this way. That allows those guys to play fast.”
It would be interesting to hear what Mike Yurcich has to say about all this but, of course, he was not available for comment.
Shooting for Trey?: Speaking of wide receivers, it looks like Penn State will have Harrison Wallace III back for the bowl. He’s been practicing with the Lions this week.
Going into this season, Wallace was seen as perhaps Penn State’s No. 2 wideout, behind Keandre Lambert-Smith. He had an injury-plagued season, appeared in seven games with 13 receptions for 142 yards.
He has not played since the Indiana game Oct. 28.
“Having Trey back is something the offense needs,” Allar said. “As we all know, he’s a very explosive receiver vertically.”
As to playing time for Wallace Saturday, Allar said, “That’s a coach Franklin thing.”
“I think Drew said it perfectly,” Howle added.
Defensive opt-outs: Mississippi defensive tackle Cedric Johnson announced Tuesday he was opting out of the bowl game. With 40 tackles and 5.5 sacks, Johnson is probably the Rebels’ best defender. A senior, he has accepted an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl.
With Penn State DE Chop Robinson also opting out, each side will be without a star on the defensive front.
Penn State CB Johnny Dixon, a fifth-year senior who was outstanding all year, has apparently opted out. He has not been seen at Penn State’s practices or events.
Sheetz or Wawa?: Allar, running back Nick Singleton, Seider and Howle were asked to weigh in on the convenience-store wars.
Allar and Howle are Sheetz guys. Singleton, from Governor Mifflin High in Shillington, went with Wawa.
Seider, a Floridian, waffled.
“I’m kind of split,” he said. “In college, Shweetz came around, so I was a big Sheetz guy. Then (Wawa) started growing in Florida, and I love the club sandwich at Wawa.”
