Film session: Corey Wootton blows up PSU run

Penn State took about a quarter and a half to realize that Northwestern wasn't going to stop stacking the box against Evan Royster and the running game. But until the Nittany Lions coaching staff opened its eyes, we were blessed with a Penn State ground game that looked about as modern as Bear Bryant smoking cigarettes on the sidelines.

Today, I thought it would be interesting to dissect one of the most frustrating plays from this past weekend, when Royster was sent right into the teeth of a nine -- yes, NINE -- man defensive front. Well, you can imagine the chaos that ensued. Let's go to the video tape!

We'll start off with a still shot of the offense and defense. As you can see, Penn State is lined up in an obvious run formation on third and short. Brett Brackett is lined up outside of the shot, and was the only wide receiver in on the play. Brackett being in the game told Northwestern enough that it would be a run.


There are eight defenders in the box before the snap. That would be alright, because Penn State has eight blockers ready to roll on this play. Unless, of course, the Wildcats read "run" and adjust accordingly, which they do in this next shot.


Here we see Andrew Quarless motioning over to the right side, telling the left side of the defense "look out bitches, here we come!" So what does Northwestern do? Why, they walk a safety down into the box, bringing their number of run defenders to NINE. You would think a team as talented as Penn State would handle even this kind of situation against an inferior opponent. However, this play allowed Northwestern to use its strength, Corey Wootton (#99), directly against Penn State's weakness, the right side of the offensive line.


The play looked like a simple Power-O-type run to the right side, with LG Johnnie Troutman (#74) pulling and RT Nerraw McCormack (#72) running up-field to seal off a linebacker. But Wootton was able to time his jump, completely own Mickey Shuler (#82), forcing every other of Penn State's blocking assignments out of whack. You can see how by missing the block on Wootton, Troutman and Joe Suhey get tangled up at the point of attack, which prevents Suhey from landing his isolation block up the middle. Troutman was completely neutralized on this play, while any other successful blocks were basically meaningless because Royster never even had the chance to hit the line.


When you add all that together, this is what you get... (apologies for the poor quality)

Penn State did exactly what Northwestern expected them to do on that play, and blew it to pieces. This was before Penn State decided that passing works much better when the defense sells out to stop the run all day. So, I don't expect the coaches to fall into this same trap this week against Ohio State. The Buckeyes defense, for all its issues this season, is still well above the level of Northwestern. If the Nittany Lions don't get stubborn, or take nearly two quarters to adjust to an obvious defensive strategy, we shouldn't have to revisit this issue again.