Creating turnovers, getting to the quarterback, and in the backfield making plays throughout the scrimmage, Penn State’s defense had a nice afternoon Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
Meeting with the media following the performance, coordinator Brent Pry offered his perspective on some of the standouts on his side of the ball, areas for improvement this summer, and more.
Let’s get into our notebook from Penn State’s defense for the day:
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1) Kalen King was arguably the story of the day with his two interceptions, including a pick-six against Ta’Quan Roberson on the second offensive series of the afternoon, so we’ll start with him.
Bottom line, King’s performance this spring, on display for media and spectators for the first time Saturday, has had an impact on the Nittany Lions. Listed as a four-star corner out of the Class of 2021, King’s early-enrollment and subsequent three months in the programs have very much backed up his No. 135 national ranking in the Rivals250, if not more.
“We have seen some highlights from him. He's still learning the position as far as schematics and some techniques,” Pry said. “Terry's done a nice job with him. But he's got a really good skill set, very mature, very confident, and great instincts.”
Those qualities were of such a standard that Penn State even tossed around the possibility of moving Marquis Wilson to receiver, and did so for the past week and again on Saturday. As head coach James Franklin would describe after the scrimmage, the physical and character maturity of King all went into the two-interception performance that highlighted the Nittany Lions’ defensive effort Saturday.
“He’s got ball skills. You want to recruit guys that can play both sides of the ball. He's got tremendous confidence in his talents. And he's got ball skills,” Franklin said. “I know this sounds strange and I know this sounds funny, but he's made some great plays on the ball, but some guys like him, the ball just likes them. He's gotten a couple of interceptions where you just throw it to him.
“We had a guy a few years back that was very similar that played for us, and the ball just likes them. They get a number of turnovers by making great plays and they get a number that the ball just tips up and lands in their hands or just throwing to them by a misread. He's one of those guys. Part of it is he's always around the ball and I think he's got a pretty good understanding of what we're asking him to do from a scheme perspective. But you just continue to see. What you guys saw today wasn't new. We've seen it all spring.”
Excelling in an area that Penn State is determined to see take its next step this season, King’s turnover generation and what that might mean for the Nittany Lions in 2021 will be of great importance to the program.
