For Joey Porter Jr., season start offers both positives and room to develop
Joey Porter Jr. wants more from himself.
The redshirt freshman defensive back, who, to the surprise of some, earned one of Penn State's starting corner spots at the beginning of the season, wants to be more productive and more involved. His team, after all, is winless after three games, fresh off a decisive loss to a Maryland team that had been a punching bag for Penn State over the last few years.
But make no mistake, while his first significant taste of college football as a starter hasn't been perfect, Porter Jr. has proven plenty to himself.
"I know I can hang with the best of them," Porter Jr. said. "I still know I've got some growing to do, but I'm coming along well.
"I think I did a couple things well. I feel like I have a lot of things I need to work on. I feel like I should be worried about the things I need to fix in myself to help the defense... just me being more productive in the game, being more present in the game. I just need to work on me being more productive in the game. That's really it."
Statistically, Porter's start has been mixed.
He's been targeted 17 times and allowed 11 receptions. From those 11 receptions, opposition wide receivers have accumulated 120 yards and three touchdowns. As you might expect for a corner with Porter's 6-foot-2, 193-pound frame, his contributions against the running game have been a plus for him.
He's yet to miss a tackle in 10 attempts. Tariq Castro-Fields, his opposite number, has, missed two tackles in 11 chances, by comparison.
And, of course, Porter came up with a sack early on in Penn State's opener against Indiana. He'd intended to celebrate with his father's old post-sack routine, but he was too excited in the moment to do much of anything.
All of that has combined to leave Porter Jr. with a mixed bag. Plenty to build on, plenty to learn from.
"He hasn't even grown into the size of what he can really be, in terms of athletically," Penn State defensive end Jayson Oweh said. "He's got great instincts...He does a good job of rushing, understanding angles and all that. I feel like, once he just gets more reps in the game...experience, situations, stuff like that, he's going to calm down.
"Joey's doing great. He's fine. Once he gets his reps, once he gets confident and settles down, he's going to be great."
Penn State's secondary, which was billed as a strength by Penn State's players and coaches heading into the season, has struggled through three games. The Nittany Lions have the fifth-worst pass defense in the Big Ten heading into the fourth week of the season.
Last week, Maryland averaged over 15 yards per completion against the Nittany Lions, finding the end zone three times while compiling 282 yards in the air — but Penn State coach James Franklin thinks the issues are fixable.
"They got a couple man beaters against us that got us out of leverage," Franklin said Tuesday. "We didn't play a few things the right way. And those things that we need to get fixed and those things that we need to get corrected.
"But I think at the end of the day, if you make the tackle and get them down, those things happen against everybody. Guys are gonna make the right call in the right situation, and the guy's gonna make a play, but what you got to do is you got to get people on the ground. And we've done a pretty good job of limiting explosive plays, but we weren't able to do that on Saturday, especially early in the game."
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