I was hoping to take a closer look at Penn State's defensive schemes over the holidays but time got away somehow with sudden visitors and other events. Here are a couple of things I noted in the time I did have to review a couple of things. Penn State is predominantly an 8 man or 7 1/2 man front team and they don't even try to disguise it from what I can tell. What they talk about in this book (click for reviews) is what they do indeed like to play...
Here are two example diagrams from LB coach Vanderlinden's book. The first he calls their "Field Eagle" defense which apparently is his way of saying the 3 technique DT will line up to the wide side of the field and on the strong side in this scheme below. Cover 5 is his code word for 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 Coverage with a corner playing deep half. It is basically a 7 and one half man in the box with the position Penn State calls the "Hero" player (Rubin) in a LB / SS role against this front. Rubin will normally pick up the #2 WR versus a twins formation leaving the SLB with the TE as shown in the second formation.
Most of the time though in games I re-watched I observed PSU in what Vanderlinden calls their "Stack" formation. Stack apparently is his word for an Over or over-shifted defensive front with 5 technique and 1 technique players weak side and 3 technique and 9 technique players strong side. He comments that it is the same basic alignment that the Miami Hurricanes used under Jimmy Johnson etc. back in the mid 1980's when this front was the hot new topic. The Hurricanes played Cover 2 behind this front and the Cowboys in the NFL played a lot of Cover 4. Penn State prefers three deep zone concepts it appears in the secondary.
In the Penn State version of the stack or over front below both the defensive ends are on the outside. The rush end is in a wide 9 technique outside the TE and the defensive end in a 5 technique outside the tackle. On this one they like to play straight Cover 3 behind it and have a 4 under / 3 deep zone behind it. This creates more holes to throw underneath routes but is somewhat tougher to throw deep against (but not impossible at all).
Below here are some game pictures of the coverages and fronts from 2008. Minor variations exist depending upon offensive formation and whether the strength is into the field or into the boundary...I'll just cover some of the more basic ones I saw on TV.
In the 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 schemes SS / Hero player Mark Rubin is charged with reading run or pass and plays accordingly. His job is to disrupt the #2 WR (if there is one) on pass plays and defend either the curl or flat route depending on what the WR's and other players do...Versus the Pro I Formation below he is an outside run force player to the field side of the offensive formation.
In straight Cover 3 (second image below) with either 11 or 21 personnel in run situations Rubin is also very much a downhill to get the 8th man box effect on run plays. On first and 10 plays as shown below with 3 WR's in the game he has to disrupt #2 WR and watch curl / flat routes and read run pass very quickly. He is key in their defense in many ways like Kevin Ellison has been for USC over the past couple seasons.
In addition to their base defensive schemes I looked at the most disruptive players on the Penn State defense. By disruptive I just mean who was in on a lot of the negative yardage or busted offensive plays I noted. No specific data backs this up but the three players PSU players that stuck out in my notes as "highly disruptive" when I watched four games were #91 DT Jared Odrick, #59 DE Aaron Maybin, and #18 LB Navarro Bowman. All their players are fundamentally sound though and don't make many mistakes....I believe the team had zero penalties versus Ohio State?
#91 Jared Odrick
#91 Odrick does not *seem* to get as much notice as I think he may deserve (but I don't follow Penn State very closely). He absolutely created havoc on a lot of the plays I watched that had negative yards associated with them...he split a lot of double teams with ease and I have not seen anyone (yet) block him consistently one on one...he gets in the backfield a lot on both run and pass plays. He he is in a 3 technique defensive alignment in one of their stack defenses. Here he shreds a combination block on what was going to be a inside zone type of run play...the guard does not do a good job in the combo block it appears and in panel #3 Odrick splits the block and disrupts the run play in the back field. This happened a couple of times every game I watched so it is not just an isolated case of a poor block...he is just that disruptive in the run game.
Odrick moves around somewhat and lines up over either the right or left guard as a 3 technique player depending upon the formation strength and defensive call. Something to watch in the Rose Bowl game is how well he is blocked and how tight USC keeps it line splits.
#59 Aaron Maybin
Rush DE Maybin #59 gets lots of attention in the media due to his 12 sacks and ability to disrupt the passing game. He lines up wide in a 9 technique spot versus a TE and no TE has been able to block him in the 4 games I watched (that is the mis-match PSU wants). In the picture below he is in a 5 technique (no TE in the game) against OSU's right tackle who does not do much better.
This was supposed to be a pass play out of the Shotgun (for additional time & distance) but Maybin got upfield so fast the QB did not get the throw off and was flushed from the pocket.
Keep in the TE for protection some might think??? Basically that is what LB coach Vanderlinden & Defensive Coordinator Tom Bradley want you to do...i.e. waste 2 players (TE + Tackle) blocking Maybin and subtract one receiver from the passing game...If Penn State front four pressure works really well and teams have to keep in a RB as well as the TE then only 3 eligible receivers are left and the defense now has as many as 7 in pass coverage versus 3 for a big advantage.
Move the pocket is the simple answer most people jump to and the TV bubble heads always state but that is also what Vanderlinden wants versus the stack alignment...Since both DE's align wide they are mainly outside speed rushers off the edge. Any rolling of the pocket just shortens the distance that the DE's have to run to get the the QB. Rolling the pocket works better when the pressure is mainly up the middle.
Here is an example of what I mean...Iowa and other teams tried a couple times to roll out the QB to one side of the other but got either got sacked or hurried (pictures 1-3). The best case against pressure off the ends is to form the pocket properly and step up in it and get the throw off in less than 3 seconds...(picture 4). Of course even if the ends are pushed out to form the pocket there is still Mr. Odrick in the middle to contend with...
LB Navarro Bowman #18
I had never even heard of this player coming into this season??? I did not even find him on an older depth chart for Penn State at the beginning of the 2008 season. I guess they had him stashed in that secret room where they make all those LB's at PSU? Bowman is good in the middle or weak side and stops must run plays that come at him. PSU does moves him around somewhat and brings him off the edge at times in the run game or pass game. Here he moved from a weak side position to off of the end pre-snap. The play went AWAY from him but he still ran it down from behind...
The Penn State defense is very solid but it still has "holes" in it like every defense does. This defense likes to relatively take away zone runs to the outside, roll out type passes, and reduce the number of deeper QB drops with solid pressure and an occasional blitz. The center fielder in the 3 deep zone discourages throws over the deeper middle part of the field. The PSU defenders are very, very sound on fundamentals and don't make a lot of mistakes or over pursue...
This type of defense relatively gives up some more room to run in the weak side B gap and strong side C gap when PSU is in their "Stack" alignment. They gamble either Bowman, another LB, or the unblocked SS Rubin will get there to stop most runs from getting far. Some inside iso and inside zone runs will have some success if blocked well. I also think USC will have some perimeter run plays that will still work as well but everyone can probably guess what those might be...
The structural weakness of any three deep zone concept is in different parts of the secondary. With only four underneath defenders (instead of the 5 underneath in Cover 2 for example) there is more room for the short passing game to work (53 1/3 yards of field width divided by four defenders instead of five). Also the Corners play off in this scheme so some lateral quick game stuff and screen concepts will work provided the WR's block properly. Passing lanes are open behind the SS Rubin when he is down and in general in the hash or seam areas of the field. It won't surprise me to see a couple deep shots in this game provided the QB has a good 3-4 seconds. This is not a good game to be potentially missing WR Damian Williams and FB Stanley Havili due to their importance in the passing game. The height of USC receivers vs. PSU DB's helps though regardless. Penn State of course gambles they will get pressure in sufficient time however to negate such advantages...This should be a great game to watch.