2009 PSU Recruiting

[GoRU]

A couple PSU-centric thoughts before I get to work on my longer writeup.

It was a sloppy offensive game on both sides, with especially poor QB play. PSU fans will have a bone to pick with the NE coach Theismann. In the first half, he mostly played a scrambler QB, called rollouts, and ran the ball a lot. De'Antwan Williams got almost every carry in the first half.

Justin Brown saw several touches in the first half, but was hampered by the QB play. I was wondering why they didn't put in Tyler (who's going to Purdue). It soon became evident why. He's tall, and has the arm to air it out, but was very raw and lacked touch on his passes. Brown had a comebacker in the first half, and one drop.

In the second half he was more involved in the game. They ran a toss play for Brown in the backfield, and the NE passing game started getting into more of a rhythm. Brown was the primary target downfield, except for a TD play where Deon Long was wide open in the end zone. I'd say he looked fairly good. Nice combo of size and speed as you can imagine. Tyler kept hanging him out to dry. There was even one play where he tried to lateral to Williams as he was going down.

Dukes didn't get any touches at all in the first half, Williams was hot and getting all of the carries. NE OL was porous. He finally got in for a few series in the second half. He showed power, looking like a downhill runner who can get going in space if he has some room. Again, the OL was bad, so I can why they went with the shiftier back who can cut and get to the hole quicker for most of the game, because Dukes didn't have a lot of room to run with. I would have liked to see him break one to check out his deep speed. Seemed to be a bit of Tony Hunt in him in any case.

It was hard to evaluate the PSU CBs because the NJ passing game was just as bad. They ran most of the game, and when they did pass, it would rarely even get in the vicinity of the WRs and DBs.

As far as the other B10 kids you'll see in the next few years, I wasn't impressed with Najee Tyler at all. Joelil Thrash, who's going to Illinois, is a DB but looked good when creeping up to blitz.

Overall, it was a very conservative, run-heavy game. Considering the tone, Brown actually saw a fair bit of touches, especially in the second half.

edit: gah, wrong thread. Moved this and Austin's post to the right one.

[AustinScottistheone]

Much appreciated goRU, thanks for your thoughts on the PSU players in the game.

[PSU42Fan]

Thanks, RU, for the link and the write-up.

My quick thoughts...

Brown - should contribute early. Not the fastest WR, but has very good skill.

Dukes - looks good in space, but seems lost between the tackles. He'll need a year or two to learn the college game.

Consider this WR unit in 2011:
Moye (Sr.)
Powell (Sr.)
Brown (Jr.)
Price (Jr.)
Coxson (So.)
Drake (So.)
Felder (So.)
Kersey (So.)

[GoRU]

Big 33 matters to some players | Penn State News | Sports - Centre Daily Times

[AustinScottistheone]

BlueWhiteIllustrated.com - Ohio eeks out 38-31 win in Big 33 Classic (FREE - game recap)

BWI Photos: Ohio 38 - Pennsylvania 31 photos (FREE)

Big 33 Game -- themorningcall.com (17 photos)

[AustinScottistheone]

Scout.com: FOS GALLERY: Big 33 Game (FREE)

[GoRU]

Five Boro Sports - News

WIDE RECEIVER

New York City picked a good year to have strong passing quarterbacks. The wide receiver corps is deep and extremely talented, starting with Phillips, who is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Tariq Tongue of Holy Cross, who will walk on in the fall at Penn State, should be the other starter.

SECONDARY

Long Island is going to have a tough time beating these safeties. Kennedy’s Stephen Obeng Agyapong and Sheepshead Bay’s Joel Bowen are both ballhawks and they pack a punch. For a relatively small guy, Obeng can really lay into guys.

Liveblog

[FrankBooth]

Tariq Tongue of Holy Cross, who will walk on in the fall at Penn State

I hope to hear the stadium announcer shout "Tongue connects with Kuntz . . . and he scores!!!!"

[PSU42Fan]

Originally Posted by FrankBooth

I hope to hear the stadium announcer shout "Tongue connects with Kuntz . . . and he scores!!!!"

How about this 3-WR set:

COXson
Kuntz
Tongue

[joeyc32lp]

That's hot.