Ohio State dominated PSU in special teams
For those of you who witnessed Ohio State’s trouncing of the Nittany Lions this past Saturday 24-7, there was one obvious factor that plagued Penn State–FIELD POSITION.
Penn State found itself on their side of the 50 for almost every offensive series. This poor field position can be blamed on one thing, special teams. Penn State’s special teams is sub-part at best. Among 120 D-1 football teams, PSU is a paltry 115th in net punting (31.7) yards.
This horrible punting statistic is attributed to Penn State not having a special teams coach. Even with this poor performance, there is no indication JoePa is going to hire one “we’ve never had a specialty teams coach.” Asked why, “Because that’s the way I like to do it.”
JoePa’s age reflects in his stubbornness. A special teams coach at the college level is paramount, just ask the kids over at Virginia Tech. Additionally, PSU ranks 117 in defending punt returns. Which incidentily showed on Saturday when the Buckeye’s punt returning was a key factor in knocking down the door of Penn State.
Joe Paterno will post a good record for seasons to come, but to get over that hump, he needs to improve, among other things, special teams. Hire that special teams coach JoePa!
