What did USC coordinator D'Anton Lynn say this week about the Penn State offense?
USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has not seen Penn State play in person since his playing days ended in 2011. That will change on Saturday. Unlike most program lettermen and school alumni, though, Lynn will not be rooting for his old school. That’s because he’s charged with running the Trojans’ defense, of course, during the 3:30 p.m. ET tilt on CBS.
“It’s exciting,” Lynn told reporters in Los Angeles Wednesday night. “I haven’t got a chance to see them play in person since I played there. So it’ll be cool. Two of my old teammates are on the staff, so it’ll be cool to see them after the game.”
Lynn played with current Penn State tight ends coach Ty Howle and Director of Life Skills Jordan Hill during his time in State College. The trio will surely share a warm embrace before kickoff. Then, it’ll be game on from there. The Trojans enter the Week 7 matchup at 3-2, while Penn State is 5-0 and ranked No. 4 in The Associated Press top 25. If Saturday’s home team is to win, it will have to protect the ball on offense and be explosive while containing the Lions’ attack on defense. The latter part is Lynn’s job, of course, and he’s aware of the challenge that lies ahead.
“A lot of personnel groups,” Lynn said. “A lot of formations. A lot of adjustments. You really have to be on your Ps and Qs as far as communication. They have the ability to control the ball on the ground. But, they have a very explosive offense in terms of plays in the air. So they’re a very tough offense to stop.”
What else did D’Anton Lynn have to say about Penn State?
You can watch the full video of his Wednesday news conference below courtesy of our On3 sister site, WeAreSC. You can also read his comments below on Penn State.
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On the Lions’ running backs
“It’s two of the better backs we’re going to play all year. They run hard. They’re downhill. But they also have the ability to score at any point in time. They make plays out of the backfield in the passing game. Any time you have backs that can do as much as their backs do, it’s tough on a defense.”
On PSU using various players at quarterback in the red zone
“When they bring him in they bring him in for a purpose. It’s a different offense. There’s usually more game plan [specific] plays, there’s usually more gimmicky things, so we just have to make sure that we’re in the right personnel group and that, obviously our call sheet gets a lot smaller.”
On PSU QB Drew Allar:
“He definitely has the strongest arm of anyone we’ve played so far. He throws the ball really well, especially down the middle of the field. And for a bigger guy, he does a really good job extending plays in the pocket. We have to do a great job containing him. And, we have to do a great job staying in coverage downfield.
“They do a good job of keeping defenses on their heels, just with the personnel groups, with the formations, with the shifts; they do a good job of making you communicate and think as much as possible, and then the ball’s snapped.”
