Monday Musings: Thoughts on a busy weekend of Penn State football news, plus more

On3 imageby:David Eckert12/13/21

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We now have a much better feel for what Penn State football will look like next season than we did at this time last week.

Sean Clifford declared his intent to return for one final season on Friday, and Penn State announced the hiring of former Miami head coach Manny Diaz as its defensive coordinator Saturday morning.

With plenty of news to react to in this week’s edition of Monday Musings, let’s dive right in.

1. What does the Manny Diaz hire mean for Penn State’s pass rush?

Since Diaz arrived in Miami in 2016, the Hurricane pass rush has been a consistent presence in the top portion of the national leaderboards.

Miami ranked in the top-35 nationally in sacks per game against FBS opponents in each of the six seasons he spent there as a defensive coordinator and head coach.

That run includes finishing atop the national charts in 2017, with 3.5 sacks per game against FBS competition.

Penn State’s defense, on the other hand, has opted for a more conservative pass-rushing approach in recent seasons. The Nittany Lions finished 53rd nationally with 2.3 sacks per game in 2020 with NFLers Shaka Toney and Odafe Oweh on the edge. Last season, they ranked 98th with 1.6 sacks per game.

Keeping the opposing quarterback in the pocket became the priority, rather than selling out for negative plays.

Will Diaz bring some aggression to Penn State’s pass rush again? Or will the Nittany Lions keep things as they were in the last two seasons under Brent Pry?

2. Clifford comes back, with history on the table

Clifford’s choice to return to Penn State to spend what will likely be his fourth season as PSU’s starting quarterback sets him up to make history.

Clifford currently sits third all-time in the Nittany Lions record book with 7,644 passing yards to his name.

He trails Christian Hackenberg for the No. 2 spot by 813 yards, and sits 2,255 yards behind all-time leader Trace McSorley, who finished his career with 9,899 passing yards.

Should Clifford remain healthy and keep the starting job in 2022, it’s difficult to see him falling short of the record.

He finished this regular season with 2,912 yards. A similar performance would make him Penn State’s all-time leading passer.

3. Micah Parsons remains unstoppable

Speaking of history, Micah Parsons continues to break new ground at the NFL level.

He posted his third multi-sack game of the season on Sunday against the Washington Football Team, the most ever by a Cowboys rookie.

On one of those sacks, he forced a fumble that Dallas ran back for a touchdown. He isn’t just a promising young asset, he is a game-changer. Already.

Since Week 9, he has 9.5 sacks and 16 quarterback hits, which lead the NFL. He also has an NFL best 10 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles, which is tied for the best in the league.

4. Micah Shrewsberry hints at his Penn State blueprint

Penn State basketball fell, 80-64, on the road against Michigan State this weekend.

The Nittany Lions struggled to shoot the ball from outside, needing 11 attempts before they finally connected from 3-point range. A more efficient showing from beyond the arc could have kept them in this game.

Asked about his team’s shooting difficulties after the game, Shrewsberry pointed to the length of Michigan State’s wing players.

“Gabe Brown is 6-8 and really long arms,” Shrewsberry said. “Max Christie the same way. Malik Hall and Joey Houser are both big, so you’re shooting over a high hand at every contest.”

That, Shrewsberry said, is what he wants at Penn State. And he thinks he’s getting it in Class of 2022 signee Evan Mahaffey.

“In the future, we have to have big, long wings like that that are great defenders,” Shrewsberry said. “We want to build in that way.”

5. Penn State hockey’s big problem

Penn State hockey finds itself in the Big Ten basement heading into its winter break.

The Nittany Lions are 2-6 in conference play. Despite playing well enough to win on several occasions, they just haven’t got it done. And now their season is in serious jeopardy.

Why?

Penn State has surrendered 19 power-play goals in 19 games this season.

In the Nittany Lions’ six Big Ten defeats so far this year, they’ve conceded nine power-play goals.

Penn State’s penalty kill isn’t particularly good. It ranks 44th out of 59 Division I teams with a 75.6 percent success rate. But that isn’t the biggest issue. The Nittany Lions just can’t stay out of the penalty box.

They took two five-minute, game-misconduct penalties against Wisconsin this weekend. They’ve given their opponents 14 more power-play opportunities than they’ve earned for themselves.

That won’t cut it, and Penn State has to find a way to solve that problem in the second half of the season if it wants to claw back into the postseason picture.

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