STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -Penn State’s front four looked as fearsome as ever against Eastern Illinois.
At their best, they easily create the game-changing plays that position coach and master recruiter Larry Johnson craves from his players. At no time was that more evident than in the Nittany Lions’ 52-3 blowout Saturday.
Linebacker Navorro Bowman was all smiles after his 91-yard fumble return for a touchdown, but defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu that caused the strip of Panthers quarterback Jake Christensen on a sack.
And no matter how many times tackle Jared Odrick gets double-teamed, he finds ways to cause problems. Odrick led the way on the pass rush with two of the team’s five sacks.
“You don’t want to have a letdown, so you want to coach the same, coach up,” Johnson said about preparing his unit for an overmatched FCS school. “No matter who we’re playing … I don’t want it to be easy for them. I want to make them work for some goals.”
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NFL fans might better recognize Johnson’s son, Larry Jr., a tailback with the Kansas City Chiefs who also starred at Penn State. The elder Johnson, a 14-year veteran of coach Joe Paterno’s staff, doesn’t speak to reporters often at midseason.
He gets his point across through the way his guys play.
In recent years, Johnson has coached standouts like end Tamba Hali, now with the Chiefs; and Aaron Maybin, who turned a standout 2008 season into a first-round contract with the Buffalo Bills. Jimmy Kennedy and Jay Alford are among other notable pupils under Johnson.
The latest is Odrick, a monstrous 6-foot-5 tackle with a seemingly nonstop motor. Odrick finished with five tackles against Eastern Illinois, including a career-high 3 1/2 for losses.
Johnson is held in such high regard that he considered an offer in the offseason to take over as defensive coordinator at Illinois. He decided to stay in Happy Valley, where continues to develop a virtual assembly line on the front line.
At defensive end, Maybin and veterans Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines left after 2008 for the NFL. No problem for Johnson, who has developed sophomores Jack Crawford (4.5 sacks this season) and Eric Latimore (2.5 sacks) into solid replacements with upside.
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Three solid tackles left the program in recent seasons because of off-field problems, but Odrick and Ogbu have become fixtures in the lineup. Often-injured sophomore Devon Still appears to finally be over his bad luck, and freshman Jordan Hill made his debut Saturday in the defensive tackle rotation.
“It’s huge, it’s huge,” Odrick said. “Just being able to take a few breaths in the middle of a game, or the middle of a series and stay fresh.”
Another young tackle, sophomore Brandon Ware, appears close to returning from a broken right foot. Penn State will need more bodies with nothing but tough Big Ten opponents remaining for the second half of the schedule, starting with Minnesota’s tough passing attack next weekend.
Like any good coach, Johnson puts an emphasis on getting his linemen to concentrate on little details to get better.
“Head is in the wrong position. Steps are the wrong way. Don’t lose contain on the blitz where you have contain,” Johnson said. “That’s what you focus on, because the next one is the real deal. They’re coming in with great football players.”
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