Penn State came out of Saturday night’s White Out loss to USC with more questions than answers in two familiar spots: running back and safety.
On offense, the backfield still hasn’t produced a clear lead option. Carson Hansen’s workload keeps climbing, but the production still isn’t matching the snaps.
After opening the year with 24 snaps against Marshall and 37 against Temple, Hansen’s role dipped to 12 against Buffalo and nine against Wisconsin. He rebounded to 31 snaps against Northwestern, then hit a season-high 45 against USC.
Even with that heavier usage, he managed just 47 yards on 18 carries over the last two games.
James Peoples has also seen his share change from week to week. He was Penn State’s top back against Wisconsin, rushing for 67 yards on 14 carries while playing 36 snaps.
The following week against Northwestern, he was on the field for 30 snaps but finished with just 13 yards on eight carries. Against USC, Peoples was down to 20 snaps and 20 yards on seven carries.
The rest of the running back picture only adds to the uncertainty. Quinton Martin rushed for 100 yards on 10 carries and Cam Wallace scored on a 59-yard touchdown in Penn State’s Sept. 19 win over Buffalo, but neither has played a snap since.
The offensive snap leaders against USC were QB Rocco Becht, center Brock Riker, left tackle Malachi Goodman, right guard Cooper Cousins, right tackle Anthony Donkoh and left guard Trevor Buhr, each at 64 snaps. Chase Sowell led the receivers with 54, while Ben Brahmer played 47 and Gabe Burkle 28.
Zay Robinson was on the field for 11 snaps, Amarion Jackson for three, and Garrett Sexton for two. Quinton Martin Jr., Vaea Ikakoula and Cam Wallace all finished with zero.
Defensively, one of the bigger surprises was Marcus Neal Jr. not playing at all. Neal entered the season expected to be one of Penn State’s top defensive players, and he had appeared in each of the first five games, piling up 168 snaps. But he did not play against USC, and coach Matt Campbell explained the decision afterward.
“Today was such a unique football game,” he said. “As we went into it, coverage was at a premium in terms of what was going to go on.
Collectively, as we continue to put this defense together, Marcus is a critical piece of our success. Tonight, as the game became a spread game and was played in space, it was a situation where we went with probably more coverage than tackling ability at the safety position.”
Penn State’s defensive snap counts showed a different mix as the game unfolded. Tony Rojas led the linebackers with 56 snaps, followed by Kooper Ebel with 46 and Cael Brezina with 25.
In the secondary, Zion Tracy played 55 snaps, Daryus Dixson 52, Josiah Zayas 51, Jeremiah Cooper 43, Jamison Patton 43, Marcus Neal Jr. 35 and Vaboue Toure none. Up front, Yvan Kemajou logged 42 snaps, Alex McPherson 38, Ike Ezeogu 35, Caleb Bacon 20, Siale Taupaki 30, Keanu Williams 32, Dallas Vakalahi 17, Armstrong Nnodim 21, Ty Blanding 16 and Alijah Carnell 6.
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The process drew plenty of attention along the way, including interest in Bob Chesney and Kalani Sitake, and it has only sharpened the conversation around athletic director Pat Krafts decisions. Penn State opened the next season 3-0, but the losses that followed knocked the team out of College Football Playoff contention and left the program dealing with the bigger question of whether the right call was made when the search finally ended. [Read more 🡒]
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Penn State Suddenly Has A Defensive Problem It Cant Ignore
Penn States defense hit a rough patch in Week 6, and Marcus Neal Jr. ended up at the center of it. The Iowa State transfer safety was benched after struggling in coverage during Big Ten play, a reminder that the Lions portal-heavy approach does not always come with instant answers, especially when the schedule tightens and the margins get smaller.
Neal is not the only former Cyclone who has had trouble settling in. Linebackers Kooper Ebel and Jeremiah Cooper have also underperformed, with tackling and coverage issues becoming part of the conversation. For a defense that wants to stay dependable deep into conference play, the question now is whether Penn State needs to lean less on some of those Iowa State transfers and give younger options a bigger look. [Read more 🡒]