LIVE: Penn State football dominates West Virginia... Is this a top team in the nation?

Penn State just had a dominant Victory against West Virginia and fans should feel really good about where this team is headed you are locked on nit Lions your daily podcast on the Penn State nit Lions part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day pen State wins 34-2 we'll talk about some overall takeaways here from the game and then specifically get into the offense and defense and answer the question is Penn State an elite team based off of this game against West Virginia this is locked on nney lions I'm your host Zach SEO and thanks so much for making us your first listen and watch every single day we are free and available wherever you get your podcast including YouTube We're the night cap on on this Penn State recap today's episode is brought to you by 5H Hour Energy 5H Hour Energy fixes tired fast with zero sugar and a convenient portable size it's the perfect pickme up for getting stuff G done go to 5our energy.com and use promo code locked on CFB to receive 20% off your order this offer is valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions go to 5our energy.com today let me know your thoughts in the comments section be a part of the conversation as well and I want to answer it right out of the gate does this win by Penn State mean that they are in the upper echelon that they can be in the same conversation as the elite Premier team so that's we're talking Georgia we're talking Ohio State not quite not quite just yet but that doesn't mean that you can't be optimistic about the way that this team is built because they are built to be just that this is a college playoff team college football playoff team and they showed that today there was a clear distance between themselves and West Virginia who I tried to give some credit to I now I was very convinced that Penn State was going to win this game no matter what I never had a doubt in my mind that West Virginia uh could pull off an upset never thought that was going to happen but there was still a major difference and and Penn State I think took a step further and that was obvious based on the one and the biggest change that they made in the off seon sure they went out and gotten three three new coordinators they ended up picking up some complimentary pieces in the transfer portal to help out the depth chart but Andy codal Nikki paid dividends already and and you could see that on display that is the biggest takeaway above all else is that Penn State is in a good position to be in that conversation with a Georgia and Ohio State be in the top again in the elite team here but you have to be at Ohio State that's how you do it but Penn State is set up nicely to be able to do that because granted this West Virginia team is not a college football playoff team anybody that put them in that just hopeless optimism I I think in this case I think West Virginia is a competitive team which is why I thought that they would cover the spread I I thought they would gar some garbage time in there but I thought they'd be a little more competitive at home but Penn State just took the wind out of their Sales Early on the explosive plays were there I mean it was almost night and day compared to the 2023 season between Mike yuch who led this offense ball control which led to predictability right just no explosiveness and then it was too much explosiveness James Franklin went I thought this was an interesting comment James Franklin went into halftime and said that we're we're doing our drives are too short yeah sure we're scoring points but we need to be able to sustain a drive we need to be able to march the football down the field and give our defense a break well they certainly got a lengthy break with that weather delay but James Franklin was almost like we're we're too explosive guys we need to find a way to dial it back I think that was the offense is still brand new and when Penn State was very very sluggish to start the first quarter I'm like you know what anybody that was overreacting that's fine that's understandable but from from my point of view it's it's easy to understand this is a new complicated system okay this isn't this isn't a preschool offense for Penn State to to adapt the way they did to Andy cotal Nikki system that quickly again I feel like that was a positive because 34 points and and I thought they would get to the 30s I thought they would get to the 30s and they did but they let off the gas if Penn State really needed to they probably could have scored another touchdown or two to really really widen the margin of Victory there so the biggest takeaway from this game is that Andy Co Nikki's offensive system is working and it's only going to get better if you think this was the best version of it you know hey 34 points I can live with that no there's still room for improvement and they're going to get better this was just this was a preview of what's to of what's on the way in a sense Drew Aller had an amazing game and that's right a result that's a result of having a coach that gives you the opportunity to get in Rhythm that allows you to maximize your overall skill set and doesn't box you in Drew Aller was boxed in a season Ago by Mike yuch and just by the offense in general it was just boxed in whoever you know wide receivers some offensive line blocking and then scheme but Andy cotal Nikki has done an excellent job to not only scheme those explosive plays open but it allows Drew Aller to you could just see a totally different Drew Aller on on display and I mean that from the actual X's and O's of it in terms of him completing his throws in terms of him taking down risky passes down the field and he was still no interceptions and then other than that that botch snap again West Virginia clapping West Virginia players Joel clatt doesn't think so the fox broadcast didn't think so but West Virginia defensive players were clapping which forced you know confuse Dawkins and had him snap the football to Aller but this offense is still keep keeping the game clean I seriously Drew Aller is so good at protecting the football but he's also great at other things the throw you know power arm strength the accuracy and something that was talked about on this show frequently and honestly maybe I didn't even give it enough Justice and I thought I I thought I was beating a dead horse at that point when talking about Drew Aller and that dual threat ability the dude had 44 yards West Virginia was chasing him around and they could not catch him that is a 6'5 quarterback that ended up dropping some weight he was 242 last season ended up moving down to 235 and seven pounds doesn't seem like a lot but Drew Aller is and and James Frank I kept saying hey James Frank yeah that Drew Aller was not a Lamar Jackson you don't need to make that comparison but James Franklin said in the post game presser that we call him Lamar Aller at as a joke but they truly do believe that he can be a dual threat quarterback and utilized and and West Virginia just they didn't they couldn't they couldn't bring him down I don't know how you bring down that that you don't bring down this quarterback that you believe is a that everybody out there believes is a statue and they had trouble getting to him so this was so from the ability making the throws completing the passes protecting the football that's all well and great but the the defining moment came in the fourth quarter folks when Penn State's porn ing it on West Virginia's just completely out of it they wanted to be done students left I I get it the weather delay had an impact and everybody was kind of crammed to take shelter I totally understand that but that was a completely different second half and Penn States you know kind of you know pedal to the medal let's you know put a put a stamp on this Victory here and Drew Aller Josiah Trotter somebody that was recruited by pen State the son of a former NFL linebacker and Jeremiah trod he's a good football player football is in his blood and Drew Aller a stiff arm right to the face of Trotter put him in the turf and that was kind of the and then gets up and lets Trotter know like I got you let him know that you know the stiff arm was nasty that drwal there there was a timidness la a timidness last year hesitation second guessing you can see it you know just the eyeball test I don't you you're never going to know the exact mindset of any sort of player let alone Aller right what they're actually thinking and how they're processing the game unless they open up about it but you can just tell like there's you know there just a lot of second guessing here Drew Aller looked confident assured of himself there was a Swagger to him in this game and he let West Virginia know a lot there was a lot of back and forth there was a lot of interesting discourse between Penn State and West Virginia fans online because hey you can have that discourse in the age of the internet and social media but the bottom line is I think Drew Aller saw a lot of those conversations and let West Virginia know that he he's as good as Advertiser he's as good as a he's better than ever other the way other people advertise him and Gus Johnson and Joel clatt said that they REM that Drew all reminds them of Tom Brady that's the highest praise when you have seven Super Bowl rings I I don't know if I'll go I don't know if I'll go that far just yet he has element of Tom Brady's game elements of great quarterbacks right the arm strength the accuracy the decision making and he's got that dual threat capability the the the two biggest things from this game were that Penn State's offense really held the team back a season ago and now it's kind of all equal the offense can complement the defense the defense can complement the offense and that Drew Aller is that five-star quarterback that a lot of Penn State fans and a lot of other Penn State shows including this one knew that he could be he was just he he was just held back in a lot of ways so let's specifically break down Penn State's offense a little further and talked about the things that we saw the Dual threat ability of Drew Aller Bo prula coming in the game frequently Nicholas Singleton showing out again over a hundred yards the ground game was working and then talk about the Penn State Defense later on the show and look at some of the comments we'll discuss all that and more coming up next here on locked on nitty lions and today's episode is brought to you by eBay Motors passion drive and patience it's the formula for winning championships it's also what keeps your number one Rider die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to its Peak Performance you got superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered and with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find 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was pretty consistent with with my expectations as far as Drew Shelton to banga Yuan to Nick Dawkins to S Wormley to Anthony Dono at least I saw him and that's if for anybody that listened to Steve Jones on the broadcast if you listen to the radio side of it voice of Penn State football he was on the show did highlight the fact that starters don't really matter anymore and but I want to break that statement down he didn't say that word for word but implying that don't don't put as much stock into it because for the way that Penn State operates so many people play and they rotate in and they want to keep everybody fresh at their at their healthiest high energy that they just constantly rotate people in so offensive line chemistry is very important but a start starting lineup we looking at I've seen people that say like how is Julian Fleming not considered a starter that that's that's awful that's terrible how could you think that and it's not meant to be offensive in any kind of way right one on on a given day Julian Fleming this is just an example but Fleming might play more in a specific game than an Amari Evans based on the need based on the matchup so somebody might start but it's almost like compared to a sixth man in basketball you have your starting five you have your starting 11 but there's somebody on the bench that actually might rotate in that gives you better playmaking ability on that given day on that matchup I I like what Mish has to say I I think we go undefeated this year the defense is the same and the offense got so much better Penn State has the potential to do that Penn State has the potential to go undefeated I think that and I've said this now I my prediction was 10 and two that's kind of factoring in just circumstances that we don't see again I I think a USC team will be better down the road I know Wisconsin got a scare but going from Southern California then to Camp Randall there's a bye weekend there I understand but that's still to to go on those kinds of road games backto back like that those kinds of environments it it's unprecedented in this case because of the new expanded Big 10 the new the new conference conference realignment the expanded playoff it's it's unprecedented but Penn State is well suited to go up against those challenges again USC Wisconsin Ohio State and Washington all back to back to back to back it it is difficult and and but Penn State is in an excellent position to approach that the heart of the schedule like that Kevin says I agree we dominated today we are unrivaled Absolut they absolutely dominated today West Virginia checked out of that game very early and then Kevin also adds our defense is a lead again they're fast physical and the offense is much better in the new o already showed light years away from last year we are unrivaled and Kevin to add to that I feel like we didn't even see the best of the Penn State offense I don't I don't think this is this is the the best version of the Penn State offense everybody healthy everyone's clicking like they they still have to get used to the power the capability that they have in this group Drew Aller only threw what 17 I'll go to the box score real quick to get yeah went 11 for 17 he threw 17 pass today only six incompletions remember a year ago he was 21 of 29 so almost few you know half the passes fewer half of fewer of the passes compared to a season ago Steven says I think the secondary is better the secondary is absolutely better not only from a talent and a production standpoint but from depth there's a lot of depth in that cornerback room you can play three safeties all at the same time zachi Wheatley KJ WIS and Jaylen Reed had an amazing game Jaylen Reed had an amazing game another comment from Mish the secondary last year was above average but the defensive line and linebackers were Elite so that's just I I don't I don't want to pick on the former secondary because kin King Johnny Dixon and Daquon Hardy were all NFL caliber players they they are Johnny Dixon has has health issues but he's working his way back but all of those guys under the right circumstances would have been drafted and made an NFL roster but it i' I'd also be lying to everybody if I said that secondary was Elite or that they again at at times I think they were o they were a little overrated I mean kin King was a for was supposed to be a first round pick he ended up being picked in the seventh round by the Green Bay Packers and he just made the practice squad just to kind of give an example that secondary was good but they weren't great but this secondary you have AJ Harris who can be a Joey Porter Jr type of player where he just takes away one side of the field you have an aavan Collins that can rotate in with a cam Miller or a Jaylen Kimber right there's it's not just three players kin King Johnny Dixon daquin Hardy and that was kind of it that was it Penn State didn't really trust anybody else to play cornerback primarily sure cam Miller would rotate in but in terms of the the most snaps it was those three whereas Penn State in this in Tom Allen's defense they can trust in AJ Harris or or a Jaylen Kimber or a a better more experienced cam Miller an aavan Collins uh an Elliot Washington who had an interception today late in the game against the backup quarterback I understand but Elliot Washington can make plays on the football as well and then there's Zion Tracy Too those guys just needed the experience they were most half of them were more than half of them were on the roster year ago they added Kimber and Harris but those four other players were on the team they just needed to you know go through another season go through a season to to get together so that's a lot about the defense I want to get back to the offense specifically I I talked a lot about Drew Aller because he is you know he is going to be by proxy the biggest takeaway because the Andy cot Nikki's offense well Drew Aller is the quarterback after Nick Dawkins he's the next player to to get the football and Aller did everything that you asked him to did not turn the football over anytime you see like okay I think he missed one there was one a aant throw more or less to Amari Evans behind him Evans didn't catch it it was an incompletion Drew Aller is very selective with his passes if you think ah Drew allers just he he just chucked that one away he's inaccurate he Garrett Green's inaccurate everybody saw that game 53 completion percentage uh from a season ago that there there's a reason for that but Drew Aller when he makes those mistakes and you're like what was that throw you're qu you're questioning it drew Aller is in a sense throwing it away he's making an inaccurate pass to a point where hey if my receiver can make a play on this he can get it I'm he so Drew Aller is going from the mindset of I will put this football where only my receiver can get it the odds are still low that he does end up catching it but only my receiver can get to it I am keeping it away from the linebacker the defensive back I think Drew had one or two throws where it was like okay the ball was In Harm's Way that could have been intercepted uh or it was behind aari Evans and that was just hey it it inaccuracies happened he's not perfect but he's a very good quarterback and I think he can be the number one overall pick and then you see that dual threat element of his game I was not kidding when I said that all on the show for months Aller is going to run more you're going to see a different version of Drew Aller where there's going to be read option plays he's going to run uh triple option plays where it's a fake to one halfback and then rolls out and he's either going to keep it or he's going to pitch the football and he's just going to be tougher to bring down he already had good pocket mobility and then losing that weight just allows him to be a little more Nimble you saw it West Virginia was chasing him that's a 6'5 235 pound quarterback and they were just they were chasing him he was dancing around and was able to extend the play allow receivers to break away from coverage that's what losing seven PBS can do for you it adds three four five seconds to an offensive play to gener generate a completion and Aller doesn't get rattled when there's pressure in his I thought I thought he handled West Virginia brought pressure handled it very well let's I I also want to talk about Bo perula in this conversation so allers the one quarterback Andy cotal Nikki was was not afraid to bring his full system over and make that two quarterback system Bo fora I I don't think had the best game in the world you know almost had a fumble his his shin ended up being down uh in the in the replay and it could have been it was a 50/50 it could have been overturned it could have and it's a good it would have swung momentum so fortunate for Penn State that they kept the football there but that is also a work in progress on its own how to use those plays timely how to use them effectively how to get both Pula in the best situations and he wasn't utilized a lot last year so it's one thing to do it in practice and to say that oh Bo can do it but will he be able to do it that's the offense I'm surprised they even showed that in this game and then we talked to to Steve to get that Insider looking it's like he's like you're going to see all of it I thought it was going to be progressively worked in you know okay so you'll see Drew Aller up front you'll see some more read option triple option types of plays but maybe they'll save the bow prula Wildcat package for later Andy cotal Nikki basically rolled out a lot a lot of what there what is going to be the bread and butter of this season did he show the entire hand did he show the entire Playbook absolutely not we got a very limited version but we got basically a small sample size of everything we didn't just get one intensive part of the Playbook we got a little bit of everything but not but not everything is my point there so both I mean hey you know it's a dominant Victory when both your quarterbacks throw a touchdown pass both of your running backs get a touchdown Nicholas Singleton had the big rushing touchdown and KRON Allen had the receiving touchdown and Tyler Warren Gets involved Trey Wallace had two sounds right right I I mean that's that's what domination looks like when both of your quarterbacks get a touchdown pass both your running backs your starting running backs get a touchdown in the game and then you're able to distribute the football to everybody going to the running backs liked what I saw out of Nicholas Singleton KRON Allen not the best day for him T carries 20 yards uh but effective in the passing game effective in the passing game had that took a simple dump off pass took the check down and took it 20 yards for a touchdown that's what I meant the running backs are going to be utilized more in the passing game as well it wasn't as intense because Penn State didn't need to open up the passing attack but Penn State was able to to again work with what West Virginia was giving them and I haven't really brought up West Virginia a lot in this conversation because they really they really disappointed in this game defensively they offensively too but defensively they went at it from the mindset set of we are going to try to shut down the run and that did not work for the second year in a row and I understand that Nicholas Singleton and KRON Allen are guys that you want to emphasize in your game plan I understand that when you're an opposing defense but you allowed Drew Aller for the second year in a row to just torture secondary parts so that's pen state was able to capitalize on the mistakes coaching schematic mistakes of West Virginia as well Penn State was able to execute but West Virginia gave them a lot of easy opportunities to move up and down the field with those explosive plays so that's that's why I started off the show the way I did is that Penn State's not exactly in that Elite category yet because West Virginia still has a good amount of shortcomings whereas Penn State is a college football playoff team inside of the top 10 and hopefully closer to that top four than the than the bottom four there I think I think they host a playoff game I I truly do but West Virginia I I really don't know that Neil Brown and the rest of that that that staff are are and and West Virginia people who cover West Virginia pivoted pretty quickly on how they felt about this team going into the rest of the season I don't think you're playing a a top 10 team an elite an elite from the standpoint of they are one of the best in the country they're in that top 10 conversation but West Virginia I to to totally sell out here I just I just think there's kind of levels to it and everything but Penn State capitalized on what West West Virginia couldn't take anything away because of how talented Penn State was and how well coached they were overall and they just capitalized on the mistakes that West Virginia gave them again selling out for the run and just leaving defensive backs on I they just didn't help them out they didn't do anything to help that secondary out and that's why Drew Aller and Trey Wallace and Amari Evans had as much success as they did in the passing game today so on the wide receivers in the tight ends Dre Wallace is your clearcut number one five receptions 117 yards two touchdowns Amari Evans gave you that big play ability I think he will absolutely average I I was talking to Dylan from Penn State rivals some of you may remember him as a guest on this show and I was talking to him the other day and he said I don't know if Evans would be a player that would average over 20 yards per catch and I said absolutely absolutely he would because he is that home run threat I look around the wide receiver room and and Trey Wallace is your number one do everything all around wide receiver but a Julian Fleming a Kaden Saunders or aam Clifford guys who were were not involved period they were on the football field but they didn't get involved in the game today and that's fine you didn't need them to but they're possession receivers they're short to medium distance receivers they can't take a top off the defense Amari Evans and to an extent Trey Wallace Trey Wallace can as you saw today with two touchdowns but Amari Evans is your is your speed home run threat if Penn State wants to make this offense from good to Great to Elite they need to unlock the potential of Amari Evans Amari Evans is the ex Factor he is the key to taking this offense to a whole another level I I mean that that's a lot of responsibility on one player who is in the third year uh with this program but that's what Evans can do for you and he has abilities that not a lot of other players on this offense have he's one of the three fastest players overall on this team and I think he will absolutely average over 20 plus yards per catch because he is going to be your home run threat and frankly at the moment he's your only one so Amari Evans is a lot more valuable than people are giving him credit for within this offense finish up with the offensive line before we take another break and go to the defense Penn State's offensive line impressed me but I've been very critical of West Virginia's front 7 and again schematically they blitzed but they didn't really get home I mean Aller was able to dance out of some you know some pressure here and there but there wasn't a lot it's not like West Virginia was in was in Drew all's face mask every single play West Virginia just didn't offer a lot of pressure and that you know again holds back the secondary because they can only cover for so long it it's it's a yin and yang it's consequential you know right down the down the the the chain of command there if your front seven isn't going to be able to do its job and I I don't care that West Virginia led the Big 12 in Sachs West Virginia when you look at pro football focuses analytics from a season ago was a bottom 20 group in terms of getting effective pass rushes So eventually so the secondary last season actually would bail out West Virginia's defensive line quite a bit because they would hold coverage and they did that against frankly weaker competition Cincinnati was a pretty rough team a UCF a Baylor just to kind of name a few I don't need to get into West Virginia and how they match up with other Big 12 teams but my point is that the offensive line looked good I still have my questions about them I think that there's obviously room for improvement because they struggled in the ground game a little bit again West Virginia's front s other than Nicholas Singleton breaking off that big run they did they held KRON Allen in check it's not like Penn State had this dominant day on the ground they did well they did they did enough to get the job done but they didn't dominate there they dominated other places they didn't dominate there and the offensive line I think needs to establish that I think they need to get you know a little tougher up front initially and and again West Virginia sold out for the run so that's understandable pass blocking I think gets a B+ I think they did very well I I think they shattered expectations there but part of that has to do with the matchup West Virginia's defensive line is not is not that good when it comes to getting after the quarterback and the analytics back that up and you saw it they did not pass the they passed the eye test in that category of yeah the the num the numbers don't lie and you saw it today as well so I need a tougher test for the offensive line and you're not going to get that for some time it's not going to be there against a Bowling Green a Ken State probably not in Illinois either Illinois lost a lot from from its front seven we'll see as we go as we dive deeper into Illinois when that game rolls around but I I don't I don't and and then there's UCLA I I don't know in if Penn State's offensive line is really going to get that that true barometer litmus test where until it's USC and that's not the game that you want because that's your turning point in the season that's the heart that's the beginning of the heart of your schedule so we'll see offensive line did its job today very impressed for what it's worth but I need I need a tougher test for them to to be more confident so as promised we'll pivot to the defense defense looks top 10 caliber again Tom Allen's energy is infectious you could see it but they played a little undisciplined at times let's discuss that on the other side of this break today's episode is also brought to you by 5our energy are you tired after lunch well you're not alone in fact research shows that more than 70% of us hit a wall after lunch let a 5H Hour Energy Shot help you leap over that wall instead of crashing into it with zero sugar a convenient 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you be being a part of the discussion see tons of comments and I you know forgive me if I don't get to your comments specifically but of course I'm going in order here of people people that submitted their thoughts first in this case Steven says the it Factor the it factor for Drew meaning that yes no he has you should you just you needed more confidence and you got more confidence out of out of Drew today I mean some of the passes Drew made were amazing literally yep he he makes really Elite throws NFL caliber type of throws but the ones where you think that what what was he doing there he looks completely inaccurate don't read into those too much that that shows to me that Drew Aller is more accurate than people are giving him credit for again he's putting the football out of Harm's Way where the defensive back or the guy in coverage cannot get it only his Target only his Target what happened to Fleming was he even targeted uh those bigger game for those bigger games we need all hands on deck Anthony thank you for the thank you for the comments so Julian Fleming did not register uh did not register a catch he was kind of rotating in he was in the slot a bit but Julian Fleming and if if anybody else watched some of the previous episodes that I did leading leading up through the the preseason and training camp is that the expectation shouldn't be overwhelming for Julian Fleming he was not brought in to be the clear-cut number one wide receiver he was going to and not be but not be Fringe either Julian Fleming's a really good block loer he's a really good leader a a man of football players and that's and that's what Fleming Fleming was brought in more so for his character for his leadership his discipline rather than his contributions on the field his contributions on the football field are going to be nice and needed at at some point in time but to think that okay you know hey he's going to have a 10 catch 100 yard game or this breakout performance it's going to be you know I I think the ceiling for Fleming at times will be you know five five catches 60 yards and a touchdown maybe he has a two touchdown game and then again that's depending on availability he is not the first option at wide receiver it's Trey Wallace it's Amari Evans it's Liam Clifford and then Kaden Saunders is you know rotates in with Liam Clifford and then I would say it's Julian Fleming he's kind of he's in this group of five and I would say and then there's Tyler Warren right so he's not exactly that first option or the second or the third and it's kind of debatable if he's even the fourth so I I hope people understand my point here but when you have Julian Fleming on the football field he helps you out in your ground game significantly he really he's an elite run blocker when it comes to being a wide receiver Wallace was good he was absolutely he was he was great he was phenomenal Penn State's depth is impressive which is good for a potential college football playoff run I it's quarterback room running back room I think Wide Receiver right I I I don't want to get into speaking hypotheticals here with who's available and who's not but wide receiver has my concerns as far as depth goes often they actually have a lot of offensive linemen I I'm not concerned about the depth at offensive lineman it's just finding the right starting five to gel together defensive line is a very deep group linebacker kind of the same thing at wide receiver you really have about four or five players that you can trust right now and then the rest of them that you don't know that you want them in a football game right now cornerback backs safeties different story I I've already talked about that but that's that's where the if my biggest concerns about depth are wide receiver and linebacker Robert says we aren't losing to USC a lot can change between now I mean again Penn State's a seven-point favorite but a six-hour plane ride in the middle of the season right it's not like it's for the Rose Bowl where you get a month to prepare and that's a brand new opponent they got a new defensive coordinator deant Lynn former Penn State player and he he's he's really good UCLA had one of the best defenses in the country last season because of Dean Lynn and he moves over you didn't have far to move and went to USC Robert added I I don't know I I know we don't play Indiana Illinois so we do play Penn State does play Illinois this season but the schedule is not that hard that's interesting to me because the analytics say otherwise I I get it Penn oh Penn State has the favorable schedule do they do they really because again it's a trip to Southern USC isn't going to Happy Valley Penn State's going out there that's a six-hour plane ride one way and then go to Camp Randall whatever you think about Wisconsin that's a hostile environment as the weather gets colder and they got a top 10 defense Wisconsin does offense offense is a big question mark but they have a top 10 defense then you got a top three team in Ohio State a my my pick to win the college football championship my my pick to win it it all this season is Ohio State Ohio State and then probably an improved Washington team even though they're in a rebuild that's a tough four game stretch I don't like when people say that Penn State schedule is easy or Penn State happens to be rated better than 11 of those teams Ohio State's the only one that's still a gauntlet to go through in the middle of the Season there we have a lot better speed and strength in USC they are more on the level with West Virginia again it it depends they're going through it's like Penn State's trying to rebuild its offense and get get to the same place USC doesn't have that problem on offense defensively Penn State's offense if Penn State's offense is ahead of USC's defense from where they are developing under these new systems Dean ly's a a heck of a coach defensively he he is one of the top defensive coordinators in the in the nation Annie cotal Nikki is the same way on offense so I'm I'm really looking forward to to that battle in time thank you Kevin I agree with me too Kevin also added I think Tom Allen should get a lot of credit as well love Manny D is littery but the defense didn't miss a beat in my opinion so let's go to that to finish up the live show again I I forgive me if I could not get to everybody's comments but got to keep with the the content schedule here to wrap up the the live show as far as the defense a defense was going million miles an hour what what stood out to me specifically is the fact that guys like a Jaylen Reed or a Zayn Durant like there were other names that had really good performances KJ Winston KJ Winston is an absolute Beast he's a future firstr NFL draft pick and you're you're getting a insane value you're getting a steal if he sometime somehow falls to the second round but he's not getting drafted any later then the second round he's probably going he is going to leave after the season with the talent that He has but 12 tackles for a safety again that has to do double duty of handling the run but also being in coverage as well and KJ Winston had 12 tackles Jaylen Reed was flying all over the football field he was everywhere and it's no wonder that Penn State was thinking about and and is more or less running that 425 defensive system because they have so much talent at those safety spots between Winston and Reed and Wheatley but I did not realize how much of a a jump that Reed would take would take and you already saw it on full display against West Virginia today but a player like a Zay Durant or Tony Roos flashed the potential that that everybody's been waiting for that everybody's been expecting from them and Zay Durant going into year three but I I thought he just reset the line of scrimmage there in the middle he would it's it's the fact that Penn State's defense is not just focused to Abdul Carter and KJ Winston and now you it's not in maybe a little bit of a deny in a suton right you have your your main three players that first come to mind because of what the future NFL pedigree that it holds but now you have to account for Jaylen Reed now you have to account for the playmaking ability of Tony Roos a Zayn Durant Devon J Thomas right it's not just all clustered to Abdul Carter's there to make the big play it's all on him and it's not Penn State's defense up and down AJ har right Jay Jaylen Kimber I thought had a really good day and and you're not going to hear me talk about everybody's performance because there a lot of players did have good performances I mean West Virginia was held to 12 points Garrick green was 15 of of 15 of 28 barely completed over 50% of his passes go figure but a West Virginia offense where it's bread and butter is the ground game and this team had 37 yards for 8 or 37 carries pardon me for 85 yards with an average of 2.3 yard per carry Penn State a year ago had the number one rushing defense in terms of yards per carry they allowed 2.2 and West Virginia got got its yards on the ground a season ago one year ago they did they were pretty effective but to go into Morgan Town with the same quarterback the same two running backs that were so the one-w punch between Donaldson and white of a true thunder and lightning we say that about Nicholas Singleton and KRON Allen but more or less they're all around allpurpose backs they can do everything Nicholas Singleton can run through you he can run to the outside right he's a power and a speed back but we call them thunder and lightning because Allen's a traditional powerb and Singleton is is faster he's very very much so faster but Donaldson is truly run up the middle be physical and then change of pace the Speedy guy Jim white who I think is all of 5'8 180 lbs if that like he he might be drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the future just simply because of the way the way he's built but that is a true thunder and lightning and Penn State did not budge they did not flinch and held a West Virginia team to 85 yards where they like to run the football run the football again and then run it some more and Garrett green the guy who also had 750 rushing yards a season ago all three of those guys that I mentioned white Donald son and green each had at least 750 yards from a season ago and Garrett green had 10 carries for five yards completely ineffective Penn State against a more experienced a jelled West Virginia offense had a better game than compared to last season and it was in Morgantown this was and improved and this at least had the consistency West Virginia's offense was consistent aside from the fact that the center you know snapping the football every which direction like whoa Zack Frasier for them really really was insanely valuable for them but my point is that West Virginia returned a bulk of its team and Penn State performed so much better West Virginia had everything going for them in in this season and that's why I said you know hey I know what I think Penn State I'm confident I I would put every bit of stock that they win this game I would never think that West Virginia is going to make it an upset but you know what I wouldn't be surprised if West Virginia happens to pull pull within you know a score or so late in the game and keeps this at least interesting and you know underneath the five minutes right Penn State's clearly in front they have a two-score lead but West Virginia gets a garbage time point because they're no Penn State wore West Virginia down Penn State wore West Virginia down and beat them at their own game and defensively that is where they they defensively they were smothering they were everywhere they were flying to the football they were making big hits and West Virginia West Virginia got punched in the mouth and and didn't know exactly how to respond and and this was in front of their home crowd and they had all the confidence in the world going into this season that they're going to win the Big 12 and that they have a potential to be a Cinderella team and make the college football playoff and they were humbled today and a big reason for that was the Penn State Defense that has it it's not just condensed to one or two or three players abdol KJ Winston no you have to now account for Tony Roos zann Durant deny Dennis Sutton in addition to an Abdul Carter and a KJ Winston that there's not a a large gap between no do I think Abdul Carter and KJ Winston are much better than some of these players right now overall absolutely but I'm saying for okay if you're going to try to double team Abdul Carter good luck going one-on-one against Zayn Durant one-on-one with deny Dennis Sutton one-on-one with Tony Ro one-on-one with Kobe King oh you're going to you're going to try to attack a specific corner and say go up against Jaylen Kimber well now you get to account for KJ Winston in coverage or Jaylen Reid or Zacky Wheatley or AJ Harris who can all make plays on the football and that's my point it's not just isolated to a couple select players all of these guys are Playmakers they're not liabilities and I think they can get even better I think the best is still yet obviously the best still yet uh for a Tony Roos this was only his first game starting and he had a phenomenal performance I think Zan Durant that kind of that coming out party was long overdue for Zay Durant because the initial talk when he enrolled early as a freshman was that this guy's going to be a playmaker early on kind of you know quiet for the most part given the expectations but now zann Durant is there and that's just that's exciting because you need that for to compete with the georgas the Ohio State Texas is even though I know right but but that's the conversation that's the conversation if you want to compete with those kinds of teams you need to be that diverse and have so many different star playmakers that can step up when they do focus on an Abdul Carter or how can we take away KJ Winston or how can we take away Kobe King now you got to account for Tony Roos now you got to account for Zayn Durant now you got to account for Jaylen Reed it's not just it's not just taking away one or two players and that's the best teams that can do that but it becomes more the best teams can do that but it becomes more difficult against Penn State now 12 points against West Virginia on the road somehow this game because Penn State is more improved and the final point of it all is it's all connected to one another the reason Penn State's defense was able to perform better and look better it's a lot of it's the same Talent Carter was on the team a season ago uh Zay Durant was on the SE team a season ago Devon J Thomas Deni Dennis Sutton Kobe King Tony Roos all of those guys have another year of experience under their belt they're bigger faster stronger smarter I get that but the offense I've said this dozens of times the offense never bailed out the defense they were a liability so now when you're like that's a lot of mindset so you have a Tom you have Tom Allen is the defensive coordinator who is a genius in his own right with you know right Manny Diaz and he was aggressive and knows what works and what doesn't and has a lot of Playmakers to do all those great things with but an offense that just you know didn't inspire a lot of momentum okay we're just going to play ball control right right out of the gate Penn State had three explosive plays in the first half compared to how many did they have a season ago 10 in total they averaged under one explosive play per game and that was based on luck it wasn't because they were creating that but now you have that so an offense that can go out and score it will they scored an under 22 seconds to give Penn State Penn State gave themselves a two touchdown Advantage by scoring in under 22 seconds after a botched fourth down call remember that CJ Donaldson did not have the first but they still gave West Virginia the first and Penn State turns around offensively and scores a touchdown not even a field goal a touchdown in 22 seconds it's those kinds of things that the defense is looking like hey we got some cushion we can do a lot of different things now rather than kind of protecting a three to seven-point lead we have some cushion where we can go and make plays and re and get and get risky on defense those kinds of things right it all kind of it all kind of evens itself out the offense is able to complement the defense and then vice versa the defense allows the offense you know short Fields by creating turnovers getting the football back to them quickly and then the offense can sustain a drive or if they need to go score in a couple plays a and really build some momentum and now you have that the only thing I will watch because I mentioned it is that discipline Abdul Carter jumping off sides deny Dennis Sutton jumping off sides right uh a couple couple egregious hits out of bounds late hits and stuff I I will say Penn State in the secondary did get away with a couple holds here and there I think there was one overthrow by Garrett green I think it was Elliot Washington who was in coverage little bit of a jersey tug just just something to keep an eye on the refs didn't call it today but that's not to say they won't call it against USC Wisconsin Ohio State just be care you can get you can get away with some of those mistakes today but maybe not tomorrow just a couple that's P hey Penn State 134 to2 I I don't need I I don't want to hear West Virginia making excuses oh will the ref miss this call The Ref miss that call that's one or two plays I'm just saying I think Penn State's defense was aggressive but I think at times they were a little over aggressive and fortunately it didn't cost them anything wow that was it was a long live but that's okay you know I enjoy talking Penn State football and there was quite a bit to talk about today because of the performance this is a good indicator of where Penn State is they still need to prove it against Ohio State okay you can't you can't measure the success of this team against the likes of West Virginia there's still a clear gap between what West Virginia is and what it's trying to do versus what Penn State is and what Penn State is trying to do Penn State's trying to win a National Championship West Virginia is trying to go on some sort of Cinderella run and there's a clear distance between coaching overall Talent execution and when it was on full display today 34 to2 the final Penn State is 1 and0 they'll then pivot to Bowling Green Ken State and then back into Big 10 play opening up at home surprisingly enough they never open Big 10 play at home against Illinois later on in September I thank each and every one of you for checking out this episode being a part of the conversation forgive me if I did not get to your comment but there were so many of you and and we will do more live of the more of these live postgame Recaps in the future of course if you are new to the Channel Please Subscribe I'd greatly appreciate it if you left a like on this live episode I'm grateful for your comments and we're going to be talking more about Penn State football throughout the week as this is your podcast Daily Center around your favorite Penn State nitty lion sports teams my name is Zach Seiko and we'll be talking more about Penn State football and the other Penn State Sports all throughout the season thanks for tuning in