...Ped State's game plan v Nico in 2025
The game plans couldn't have been more different in scheme...or results.
What Jim Knowles of PSU did:
1. rushed 4 DL
2. didn't use a "spy"
(late in 2nd half, JK finally used a spy...but who did he pick for that role? A 275 lb DE who is, frankly, slow af. LOL. Not great, Bob.)
Ucla's D'Anton Lynn did this on passing downs:
1. used the "Bear Pack" DL: Latu, the Murphy Twins, and Carl Jones. (BTW, all 4 guys are in the NFL: Latu with Indy, Murphy 1 at Minnesota, Murphy 2 at Miami, Carl Jones is a LB with da Bears)
3. on the snap, Latu and the twins would rush, and Jones would spy Celeb.
The key thing is that CJ was 245 and ran a 4.4/4.5 forty. He was both bigger AND faster than Celeb. So Celeb couldn't outrun CJ. And he couldn't run through CJ.
The coaching CJ got was crucial, too. It was clear that CJ was NOT trying to take Celeb's head off. He wasn't trying to blow him up. He was just trying to grab him. And not let go. And make Celeb realize..."f@ck, Latu is about to bash me from behind any second now...I need to get down."
So Celeb would basically self surrender at that point, and he'd be nowhere close to getting a 1st down.
The other great thing about CJ is that he played DE all year long. He knew how to defend the run, etc. So if Lincoln Riley had told Celeb to kill the pass play on 3rd and long and run GT counter directly at CJ...CJ knew what to do to blow that play up. He'd see the offside OL pulling, he'd crash down hard on them before they could build up speed, and cause a massive car crash pile that would make the RB give ground and ruin the run path.
I guess mighty Ped State doesn't have a player like Carl Jones on their roster.
Do we have a guy like that on this year's team? Probably not. Cole Cogswell could become that dude. Walls. But I think CJ was very underappreciated (and maybe underutilized) while he was at Ucla.