Penn State’s defense eager to prove itself at Maryland after ‘humbling experience’ vs. Indiana

Dvon Ellies, a redshirt senior defensive tackle and a leader in the locker room, spoke up in the moments after Penn State’s shaky win against Indiana. The Nittany Lions, massive 31-point favorites, barely escaped last Saturday. And Ellies voiced his opinion.

James Franklin, recalling the encounter at his Tuesday news conference, didn’t divulge exactly what Ellies said to his teammates. But the coach came away impressed.

“I’m really proud of Dvon,” Franklin said. “The best teams are honest teams. You’ve got to be willing to have those conversations with each other. To me, it’s always at its best when it’s player-led, when the players hold each other accountable and have real conversations with each other.”

A couple of hours before Franklin’s presser, Ellies spoke to reporters. He expressed his displeasure with how the defense played against Indiana, calling it “a humbling experience.”

“Cohesion and communication is the most important thing when you’re talking about a top-tier defense. When you lack that, it leads to bigger issues,” Ellies said. “We weren’t all in-tune. … We worked past it, and we’ve grown from it. You won’t be seeing the same thing again.”

Franklin hopes that’s the case this weekend when Penn State travels to Maryland. The defense, considered by many to be one of the best in the country, can’t have the lapses it did against Indiana and expect to emerge from College Park unscathed.

Penn State made uncharacteristic mistakes against the Hoosiers. The defense, which had allowed only two passing touchdowns all season to that point, gave up three to the Hoosiers. One was a 90-yard catch-and-run, the longest completion against Penn State since 1993. There was also a 69-yard score with no one around the receiver, a complete coverage bust.

Then, there were the little things. Franklin said the defense tackled too high and didn’t wrap up with the consistency he would have liked. Ellies emphasized that the run defense could have been “more stout, more violent coming off blocks.”

Those issues popped up on Indiana’s 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Again, a series like that was uncharacteristic of the Nittany Lions, who emerged from the win still ranked as the No. 2 total defense (234.5 yards per game) in the FBS.

“We’ve arguably been the best defense in college football,” Franklin said. “… But we’ve obviously played better. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.”

Ellies said there was a “lack of communication” at times last Saturday, leading to “poor execution” by the Nittany Lions. Ellies added that communication can be the difference between the “best defenses in the country, and, you know, another defense.”

That was a primary focus for the Nittany Lions on Sunday, when defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was “very honest and transparent with the defense” during film sessions, Franklin said.

“We learned a lesson that we still need to bring our best every day, and we were still able to get the win,” veteran linebacker Curtis Jacobs said. “It’s a great lesson to be learned. And we’re all excited we were able to do it in a win rather than having a setback.”

Jacobs added that the defense is capable of “consistent dominance.” Everyone saw what it did the first six weeks, pitching two shutouts and holding opponents to a combined 48 points.

“I feel like we’ve shown that at points throughout the season,” Jacobs said. “We just need to get back to doing that and being dominant every single play.”

“We talk about it all the time, the cohesiveness of our defense,” Ellies added. “It’s our ability to play together, trust each other, that’s our biggest strength. That’s who we are. We trust each other, we play hard, we’re assignment sound, we communicate. All of those things make us one of the best defenses in the country.”

Perhaps that’s what we’ll see this weekend at Maryland.