Diaz directs formula for turnover margins
As much as anything else in college football, takeaways are the most random statistic that are virtually impossible to predict or replicate year in and year out.
Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz doesn’t quite see it that way.
“We are trying to pin the offense in a corner where we have the opportunity to make plays,” Diaz said. “Everyone knows that turnovers win games, but how do you create turnovers?”
Only two programs, Western Kentucky and Louisville, have been able to answer that question better than Diaz since he took over as the defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions last season.
In those 18 games, Penn State has taken the ball away from opponents 38 times.
“I think the players are understanding that we’re not just out there to hope that the offense messes up,” Diaz said. “We’re out there to try to be assertive and to be the one dictating the state of play.”
While the Nittany Lions rank third in total takeaways in the nation this season and first in turnover margin, the group got off to a sluggish start with just two total takeaways in the first two games, including none against West Virginia in Week 1.
That all started to change when Dom DeLuca knocked the ball loose in the first quarter against Illinois, which became the first of five takeaways for the opportunistic Nittany Lions in the game.
“I felt like against West Virginia and even part of Delaware, we were trying to be perfect,” Diaz said. “I really think the first quarter of Illinois, when all those plays started coming in, that kind of relaxed us a bit. From that point, we started having fun.”
“Our luxury is that we have a lot of really good players and a lot of guys who can make plays. If everyone just does their job, the ball tends to find us.”
Future first-rounders?
You’ll find Olu Fashanu, Kalen King and Chop Robinson in just about every firstround NFL mock draft available, with Curtis Jacobs likely right on the verge of breaking through, but when asked about who the next name in line could be, Diaz had a few defenders come to mind.
“Adisa [Isaac] is getting to the highest level that I’ve seen him play at since he’s been in college,” Diaz said. “And then you have a guy like Dani Dennis-Sutton behind him doing the same thing.”
He then looked to the secondary and another twoheaded monster that’s forming on the perimeter, much like King and Joey Porter Jr. last season.
“At some point, we have to continue talking about Johnny Dixon and how he’s playing opposite of Kalen. I’ll leave it to the NFL to decide how they want to rank them and how they want to pick them,” Diaz said. “Our responsibility here is to develop these guys to the best version of themselves they can be.”
Freshman 30?
Special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coachStacy Collins indicated that Tony Rojas is a “talented young player who continues to develop,” but it was strength coach Chuck Losey who provided the most revealing information on the freshman linebacker.
“He came in as a freshman who was sub-200 pounds, and he’s worked himself up to 227 pounds,” Losey said. “I’m really happy with the strides he has made.”
A four-star recruit, Rojas is already making his presence felt on special teams and on defense with six total tackles and should only continue to see his role grow and develop now that his redshirt is officially burned.
The same page
One thing that stood out offensively in Saturday’s win against Northwestern was the lack of chemistry and timing between sophomore quartereback Drew Allar and his wide receivers. On several occasions, Allar zipped a pass outside of the vicinity of his receivers or before they could turn out of their breaks.
Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich ensured that it’s something that needs to be fixed during the bye week.
“It’s a big concern with me and our offensive staff right now. We have to remedy that fast,” Yurcich said. “We have to be on point with our landmarks, depth of routes and ourtiming. That’s something that we’re going to address.”