Penn State's Secret Weapon Vs. Ohio State Might Be Analyst Gabe Infante
Gabe Infante joined Penn State's football staff as a defensive analyst in 2022 after coaching in Philadelphia for more than a decade. And he just might be a secret weapon as the Nittany Lions prepare to face Ohio State on Saturday.
Infante spent nine years as head coach at Philadelphia's St. Joseph's Prep, where his teams won 91 games and four state titles. At St. Joseph's Prep, Infante coached Kyle McCord and Marvin Harrison Jr., whom the Lions will try to stop Saturday in Columbus. McCord is Ohio State's first-year starting quarterback, and Harrison is the team's All-American wide receiver. McCord and Harrison were instrumental to St. Joseph's Prep's victory over Harrisburg in the 2018 Pennsylvania Class 6A championship game. And Infante won the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year award that season.
Infante stepped down following that season to join the Temple football staff as running backs coach under, yes, then-head coach Manny Diaz. Diaz left for Miami in December 2018 after just three weeks at Temple, but Infante remained on Rod Carey's new Temple staff. He became recruiting coordinator in 2021. Infante and Diaz reunited in 2022, when Diaz became Penn State's defensive coordinator.
(In yet another example of college football's churn cycle, Patrick Kraft was the Temple athletic director who hired Diaz. Kraft, of course, now is Penn State's athletic director.)
Franklin raved about both of Infante's former players, particularly Harrison, the only Big Ten receiver averaging 100 yards per game this season. Harrison tormented Penn State at Beaver Stadium last year, catching 10 passes for 185 yards, both season-highs. Franklin drew comparisons between Harrison and former Penn State receiver Jahan Dotson.
"The thing that jumps out to me is his body control and his ball skills," Franklin said of Harrison. "He's got the ability to contort his body into positions and catch the ball effortlessly. That's the first thing. The other thing is, he's just so smooth and fluid. A guy who I think was smooth and fluid similar to him is Jahan. The difference is, this guy's doing it at 6-3, 6-4."
Of McCord, Franklin said he wasn't surprised at the quarterback's first-year starting success. McCord ranks second in the Big Ten in quarterback rating (165.87) and third in completion percentage.
"If you look at his touchdown-to-interception ratio [11/1], really good. Really good," Franklin said. "So I'm not surprised, obviously. His high school coach is on our staff. You know, we recruited him. We know a lot about him. We had a ton of respect for him out of high school and continue to. We think he's going to be a challenge for us on Saturday as well."
Injury Updates
Neither Franklin nor Ohio State coach Ryan Day delivered much news regarding injuries, though the Buckeyes have more concerns.
Day was asked Tuesday about the possible returns of running backs TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams and Chip Trayanum; receiver Emeka Egbuka and cornerback Denzel Burke. While not specifically addressing the injuries, Day said, "hopefully we'll have all those guys back for Saturday."
Henderson, Williams and Egbuka did not play against Purdue last week. Trayanum, who started the game, and Burke were injured against the Boilermakers.
Penn State's injury situation appears more limited. The only starter who didn't play last week against UMass was left guard JB Nelson, who was carted off the field two weeks prior at Northwestern. Franklin said only that "we do expect to get JB back" but did not attach a timeline. Which means that Nelson's injury was not season-ending.
Vega Ioane, who began the season as a reserve guard for the Lions, made his first career start in Nelson's place. Franklin said that Ioane "will continue to play for us."
James Franklin's 'Coach Crush'
Franklin crushed pretty hard on two Buckeyes during his press conference: tight end Cade Stover and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg. In fact, Franklin used the term "coach crush" when referencing Eichenberg. Stover caught six passes for 78 yards and fourth-quarter touchdown against the Lions last year. Eichenberg leads Ohio State with 30 tackles. "He's fun to watch," Franklin said.
Penn State's Red Zone Defense in Context
Diaz's exceptional Penn State defense leads the Big Ten in several categories, notably yards allowed, sacks, tackles for loss and turnovers forced. But it ranks last in the conference, and tied for last nationally, in one curious statistic: red-zone defense.
Penn State's opponents are a perfect 7-for-7 on red-zone scoring opportunities, with five touchdowns. But here's the context: Penn State has allowed the fewest number of red-zone drives in the nation. Which means its defense gets off the field, or forces a turnover, before opponents get near the red zone.
While Franklin wants the scoring percentage to improve, he cautioned about taking the statistic at face value.
"That's a defensive stat, but really the way we're playing, it's truly a team stat," Franklin said. "I think one of the things that's been really good is [for] Manny to get up and address the defense but talk to the offense about what the offense is doing to put the defense in the best position to be successful, and [offensive coordinator] Mike [Yurcich] doing that with the offense and then to the defense."
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