Penn State's 17 takeaways lead the Big Ten
As Penn State's defensive coordinator, Bob Shoop is into statistics and analytics and anything else that can get his guys going and give his unit an edge.
As Penn State's defensive coordinator, Bob Shoop is into statistics and analytics and anything else that can get his guys going and give his unit an edge.
Knowing the Nittany Lions were headed for a high-possession game last weekend against up-tempo Maryland, Shoop had something up his sleeve - Ice Breakers candy, to be exact - plus a prediction on how many takeaways the defense would need to secure a win.
"We talked about creating takeaways and we knew that was going to be key," Shoop said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. "I told them I thought that to win the game, we're going to have to have five takeaways.
"And then I motivated them a little bit. Each player got a pack of Ice Breakers and we said once we break the ice, these are going to come through, and we're going to need five big plays to win the game."
Shoop could not have been more prophetic. Penn State claimed five takeaways - three of them coming in the fourth quarter - and limited Maryland to just three points in the final 15 minutes to escape Baltimore with a 31-30 victory and become bowl eligible.
The Terrapins rolled up 466 yards, the most yielded by a Shoop defense since he arrived in Happy Valley from Vanderbilt with James Franklin in January 2014, and 30 points. Still, Shoop, a Yale graduate and former Villanova defensive coordinator, was fine with both numbers.
For Shoop, the yardage was overshadowed by the fact that the Nittany Lions played "winning football" in the fourth quarter, stopping a pair of fourth-down plays in addition to the three takeaways.
As for the points, Shoop turned to analytics.
"The analytics of it now are a little different," he said. "You look at yards per game, you look at different things that maybe are a little outdated. You talk about points per game, our goal is actually 1.67 points per possession. In the average game, a team has 12 possessions, so that's 20 points a game. In this game, Maryland had 17 possessions and 30 points. You look at that and say, 'You gave up a lot of points,' but they had 17 possessions."
Takeaways have been huge for Penn State this season. The Lions lead the Big Ten with 17, and their plus-9 turnover margin is second to Michigan State's plus-10.
There remain some issues with tackling, as Franklin has pointed out often throughout the season. Shoop said the defense has achieved its tackling grade - 11 or fewer missed tackles - in five of the team's eight games but not in each of the last two weeks when it had to deal with a terrific pair of running quarterbacks, J.T. Barrett of Ohio State and Perry Hills of Maryland.
On Saturday, the Lions take on Illinois and quarterback Wes Lunt, a traditional pocket passer who rarely looks to run. But with Fighting Illini coach Bill Cubit, a Delaware County native, favoring a diversified passing game, Shoop returned to the drawing board this week.
"I do enjoy . . . the challenge of being a defensive coordinator in college football 2015," he said. "Let's talk about the last four weeks here. We went from the triple option of [Army] to the spread offense of Indiana with the running quarterback, to facing Ohio State, to facing Maryland - three very, very distinct offenses right there.
"All of a sudden you're playing a team [Illinois] that comes out and spreads the field but not with the intention to run it, but more in an effort to throw the football. The game continues to evolve and we as coaches have to continue to evolve and be able to defend the triple option and the quarterback runs, and then going back and being able to defend a team like Illinois, which his going to be able to throw the ball."
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