PSU’s defensive backfield stout
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Another trip to the Central Time Zone looms near, which means Penn State will soon have to depart from Happy Valley for the first time in a month.
The Nittany Lions kicked off their season with a 16-10 road victory over Wisconsin before returning home for their next four games. Now, James Franklin and company have an even tougher task coming up in the Hawkeye State.
While a top-five matchup between No. 4 Penn State and No. 3 Iowa is right around the corner, Franklin and senior safety Ji’Ayir Brown had to field questions first from reporters Wednesday night.
Here’s a recap of the most significant topics of discussion from Franklin’s media scrum.
Lackawanna lads
Brown and fellow senior safety and former Lackawanna College teammate Jaquan Brisker are the unquestioned “center fielders” of the Penn State defense. While Brisker was a preseason All-American and has lived up to the hype through the season’s first five games, it’s Brown who has stolen the show as of late.
The Trenton, N.J., native had another interception against Indiana to give him three on the year, which leads the team.
“Brown’s been phenomenal,” Franklin said. “I think his improvement, like a lot of junior college players from year one to year two, I think has been dramatic. But more than that, I’m just a big, big fan.”
Franklin also commented
that he thinks he has “two of the better safeties in college football” in Brown and Brisker. A pair of former roommates, Brown noted how he and his partner in Penn State’s dynamic secondary duo have a chemistry that dates to their time together in junior college.
“We play off each other in a way that I don’t think any safeties in the country can,” Brown said. “It’s more of a telepathic thing with us. We know where each other’s at in certain situations. It’s just a bond and a chemistry we have.”
Roasted redshirt
NCAA legislation allows players to participate in up to four games in a season without burning their redshirt. By playing against Indiana, freshman cornerback Kalen King’s ability to retain his redshirt status went by the wayside.
In infrequent game action, King forced a fumble against Ball State and has recorded seven tackles on the year. While King has seen time in the secondary, such is not the case on special teams, which is a unit Franklin said the Detroit native should be starting on right now.
“He’s extremely competitive, but there’s still things that he needs to learn to have a chance to get significant playing time,” Franklin said. “Kalen has done some really good things as a young player through spring ball into training camp and even for this season. He just needs to do it on a more consistent basis.”
Franklin referenced former Penn State and NFL cornerback Grant Haley as somebody who gained “confidence” with his defense through his special teams work. It seems he’d like King to do the same.
Youthful Yurcich
When Mike Yurcich lines up for a snap during practice, he briefly ceases being the team’s offensive coordinator and transitions into a crafty cornerback.
The former Oklahoma State and Texas offensive coordinator sometimes prefers to call his own name when teaching a defensive concept to the scout team instead of going out of his way to teach an individual player.
Whatever Yurcich does on the practice field seems to be working, at least from an aerial perspective. Redshirt senior quarterback Sean Clifford is in the midst of the best statistical season of his Penn State career, completing over 67% of his passes with 11 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
Franklin called the 45year-old Yurcich a “handson” guy and somebody who, unsurprisingly based on his job, loves to call plays.
“I think his creativity and his ability to complement and set up one play to the next has been really good,” Franklin said. “Obviously, so far so good, but I still think there’s a lot of room left for growth and I think Mike would feel the same way.”