Penn State Football: keys to success against Northwestern

Key to success #3 – stay aggressive and stick with what works

When I wrote about four things I want to see out of Penn State Football against Northwestern, I mentioned that I would like for them to remain aggressive and not let the Wildcats fight back into it like Central Michigan did last week.

However, they need to stay aggressive with what works.

What do I mean by that?

Well, in many cases, remaining aggressive would be continuing to push the ball downfield; but that hasn’t been what has allowed this offense to be successful so far this year. It’s been the running game and using that to set up the play action pass, as well as some other high percentage short/intermediate passes.

It seemed like once they jumped out to a 14-0 lead least week, they sort of got away from that a little. If what works is running the ball, play action passes, and high percentage throws; then stick with that. Don’t take your foot off the gas by getting away from what works.

Sure, it’s good to work on some things such as pushing the ball downfield, because there will likely come a point this season where they have to do that, but generally speaking, stick with what works.

Defensively, don’t let off the gas as soon as it becomes a two-score advantage. If going cover 0 or cover 1 to take away Evan Hull and letting your corners lock up on the outside is working, stick with it. Don’t back off and let them hit on a few chunk plays and give themselves any sort of hope.

Don’t let this team think for a second that they can compete with Penn State Football. Put them away before the half.