MORGANTOWN — Manny Diaz’s stint as Penn State’s defensive coordinator wasn’t very long, but it certainly was impactful.
Last season, the Nittany Lions’ defense ranked second in the country in points per game (14), yards per game (256.6) and yards per play (4.0). PSU’s defense led the nation in rushing yards per game (75) and yards per rush (2.2).
“Defensively is where I think it starts for them,” WVU head coach Neal Brown observed. “A top-five defense in most categories in 2023.”
Brown and his Mountaineers host the Nittany Lions in their 2024 season opener on Saturday (noon, FOX). Diaz won’t be on the opposing sideline, however. Instead, it will be former Indiana head coach Tom Allen, who was hired after Diaz took the head coaching job at Duke this offseason.
Despite having a new coordinator, Brown said he expects Penn State’s defense to look very similar to what it was under Diaz.
“From a structure standpoint, it hasn’t been much different than what Manny did,” Brown noted. “Tom’s had a lot of success as a coordinator and then when you start watching them structurally, there are some real similarities (to Diaz).”
Allen compiled a 33-49 record over eight seasons with the Hoosiers. Prior to that, he was the defensive coordinator at South Florida.
Allen, like Diaz, runs a 4-2-5 defensive scheme, using a hybrid linebacker-safety position rather than a traditional third linebacker, much like WVU’s spear position on defense.
Because the scheme is so similar, WVU offensive coordinator Chad Scott said he hasn’t had to spend a lot of time studying Allen this offseason and instead has been studying Penn State’s players.
“It’s similar to what Penn State does as far as how they line up,” Scott said. “We’ve been paying a lot more attention to Penn State’s personnel because of the similarities.
“You look at the scheme and once you see the similarities in the scheme, you let your guys look at who they’re going to face. We need our guys to see more of who they’re going up against personnel-wise.”
Defensive success starts up front for Penn State, which led the nation with 49 sacks last year. Edge rushers Adisa Isaac (7.5 sacks) and Chop Robinson (four sacks) were both drafted into the NFL this summer, but PSU returns Abdul Carter (4.5 sacks) and Dani Dennis-Sutton (3.5 sacks).
“For them, I think it starts with the two ends, Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter,” Brown said. “What gets lost a little bit on their d-line is they’ve got a number of guys they play. It’s going to be hot on Saturday and so they’re going to be able to rotate a lot of different bodies.”
Even though Allen’s scheme should be similar to Diaz’s, Scott said the Mountaineers’ game plan will focus more on WVU’s strengths than trying to exploit any Penn State weaknesses.
“When you go into a game where you don’t know as much as you typically would if the coordinators were in place,” Scott explained, “you’ve got to do things you know you’re good at and be ready to make adjustments early in the game.”
Penn State and West Virginia will kick off for the first time in Morgantown since 1992 on Saturday. The game is scheduled to start at noon and will be broadcast on FOX.
FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show will broadcast live between the light blue and teal parking lots beginning at 10 a.m.
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