Matt Campbell's Penn State Debut Is Bigger Than the Marshall Game

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Hi, this is Isaac Shade, host of Lockdown College basketball and Lockdown Tar Heels. Today's episode is brought to you by ADT. Imagine you're watching the game at a buddy's house when you get a call that someone tried to break into yours. In a second, everything can change. That's why there's ADT. ADT security systems help keep your home safe 24-7 with the most company operated monitoring centers in the industry. The ADT Plus app keeps you in control the whole time. Don't leave your home wide open during an emergency. When every second counts, count on ADT. Visit ADT.com or call 1-800-ADT-ASAP. I have a few more thoughts as Penn State gets ready to kick off the Mac Campbell era. We have an understanding. We know what the offense is mostly going to look like, but the defense, that's honestly a mystery.

1:05You are Lockdown Nitney Lions, your daily podcast on the Penn State Nitney Lions. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. My name is Zach Seiko, your host is always and thank you so much for being here. One more time ahead of Penn State versus Marshall. I want to start things off by talking about the defense and could it be elite? Dayton Lynn was an exceptional hire. A lot of talent is on this defense, but there's so much mystery. There's so much unknown with this group. I think it's going to be a good test against Marshall today, but should Penn State be on upset watch? Because of that, we talked to Dave from Lockdown Sunbelt who says absolutely that it's going to come down to the wire in the fourth quarter. I don't know about all that, but let's talk about it, right? And stay tuned because this is going to feel and be so much different than the previous decade plus here under James Franklin as Penn State turns the chapter, starting with the defense though.

2:05Under the direction of Dayton Lynn, and you retain guys like Terry Smith and Dan Connor and you bring in coaches like Ekaika Maloy and Tyson bite who have defensive coordinator experience, play calling experience. This defense has the capability of being elite for a couple of reasons. Uh, one, the coaching that I pointed out here, you have so many intelligent minds that are going to be collaborating on a week by week basis and Matt Campbell basically is going to allow the defense to do just that. He'll be more involved with the offense because of it that it's self-sustaining. Dan Lynn has coaching experience in the big 10 at USC and was beginning to elevate that USC defense. That wasn't a, that was a work in progress. That wasn't, oh, you can fix this over, uh, fix this in, in just one night. No, but you saw the improvement year after year. So don't listen to any of the USC complaints.

3:06Well, it wasn't doing it quickly enough. Your defense was bottom 10 in the country and Dan Lynn had to fix that. He was beginning that and he comes to Penn State, right? But, uh, it was no accident that he had a top 10 defense in the nation when he was at UCLA the year before. And that's why USC hired him, right? Cause oh, if you can fix UCLA's defense, well, surely you can fix Lincoln Riles. Uh, so Dan Lynn is one of the, uh, one of the up and coming rising innovative minds in college football. And I think eventually he will be a head coach sooner rather than later. It's the supporting cast around him as well with Maloy and vice having other former play callers and defensive coordinators to collaborate with and their position coaches at this point in time. Or I think about somebody even, I know he's the special teams guy, but Justin Lustig who helps out with the outside linebackers. And in the secondary is the slot cornerbacks coach to go along with Terry Smith. So it's the collection of minds in this defense on this defensive coaching staff.

4:09And the reason I don't, uh, I'm not as focused or I'm not as worried about the offense. And maybe words too strong of a word here, but we have an understanding. We have a blueprint of what this offense is going to look like. It's Rocco Becht. It's Carson Hansen. The offensive line doesn't, it gives you an identity, but the skilled guys, you know, give it the extra layer of a personality within the offense, right? Cause they're the ones making plays. Okay. The, the offensive line holds it all together. It, it's Rocco Becht and Carson Hansen and Chase Soel and Ben Braimer and Brett Eskelson. And now you add in Andrew Rappley. And now you add in Kobe Howard, right? But the core is Iowa state. So there is a precedent here. That's the thing with Penn State's defense. There is no precedent. That's the mystery. It's okay. Our coaches, you have these talented players. You kept Tony Rojas. You kept guys like Darius Dixon, Ida Abyan Collins, you bring in Iowa state players, Marcus

5:09Neal, Jeremiah Cooper and others alike. You add in a bunch of other players from other destinations from other colleges. Think along the defensive line, the Alexander McPherson at defensive end or Armstrong, and Autumn at defensive tackle, all those guys, the Kiana Williams, Seattle, Tau Paki at defensive tackle. So it's all the moving parts on defense that I want to watch out for because how quickly is it going to come together? It's a puzzle and it's going to need to be built sooner rather than later, obviously. So I am willing to forgive the defense with some chemistry issues, some communication and mishaps those kinds of things because it's so many moving parts. You got Penn State players, you got Iowa state players, you got coordinators, former play callers, all of these things coming together, which can be really great for Penn State so long as you're able to put it together. And I trust that they do, but initially early on, are there going to be a few bumps in

6:13the road because there's so many moving parts? And I can see that. I can see Penn State not being a wet paper bag on defense, right? Where every offense just scores it will, but it's how quickly can they reach that peak? Is it going to take for a, hopefully not the entire season? Hopefully they'll put it all together by week 10, right? Is it just Marshall or do you have a semblance of, hey, this team's aggressive? Hey, the guys up front, you know, all the talk we've heard about the defensive line in the defensive tackles, man, they really are tough. They're not just big bodies up front. These are really tough players to move off the line of scrimmage for obvious reasons. So I'm fascinated by the defense. I really am and I'm more intrigued by it for all these reasons that I've laid out here. Marshall is a good test. Now Dave knows the sunbelt, okay? And he was on the show recently. If you missed it, I highly encourage you to go check out that conversation and it made

7:15me want to do a little more digging into Marshall because, okay, when you look at the foundation of this team, solid coaching staff, right? They bring back a majority of players, but then, okay, wow, they have some more talent on the line of scrimmage on the offensive line. Then maybe you would give them credit for it. But the story, everybody can find this out. This is easy to find. It's the quarterback. Carlos Del Rio Wilson makes this team go on offense, but then you find out, okay, they got some receivers. They got a couple tight ends they could throw to again, the offensive line is intact. So it's not just him playing hero ball, backyard football, and he's able to add lib and he can scramble and you can do all these things that Penn State is going to have to account for it. And basically, he's a one man show. Well, that's not the case with Marshall. So I think this is a great test, especially for the defense that you have a comprehensive group in a more or less low pressure situation, right? Penn State's a 24 and a half point favorite give or take, right?

8:15The lines are moving around and everything before the game, but they're over three, they're favored by over three touchdowns. This is a group of five school, group of six school, whatever we're calling it these days from the sun belt. And the offense at least can give you some resistance from the perspective of Penn State's defense is Penn State should Penn State beyond upset watch? No. And if you heard my answer the first time, but now I that needs a little more clarity because this isn't the same Marshall team we actually talked about 48 hours ago, 72 hours ago, the court systems are crazy because we have the situation going on with LSU. And then Marshall actually had two key players, one on offense, one on defense, actually arguably Del Rio Wilson is their best overall player for obvious reasons, their cornerback. And then you have your top cornerback go out and one of your main targets on offense.

9:35So now that changes significantly. So those two players are cornerback boogie trotter and wide receiver to mark is Floyd Lacey ruled in eligible for this game. That's only going to add to help Penn State, right? Because if you lose two key players like that, just days before these guys are factored in your game plan and trotter was the glue that kept the secondary together. So I am now is Marshall still going to score points? Yes, I'm inclined to believe that they're probably going to let up some more points in this game because that that is the guy that holds the back end of the defense together with the fact that they're going up against an offense that it is put together Taylor Mauser, the offensive coordinator quarterback running back multiple pass catchers. The Iowa State offense has they understand one another all the mood. There's no moving parts. There isn't everything's not scattered in this instance.

10:36So Marshall, I think Penn State is going to win comfortably here. I do believe that there's going to be jitters and everything else and that's and that's what I want to get into here because this isn't just another week one. It is a it is a turning of the chapter. We have an unprecedented amount of prospects, letterman alumni back on campus for game for this game, the start of the Mac Campbell era. It is a new chapter. What is it going to look like? What's it going to be like at beaver stadium on this Saturday? Well, we'll talk about that next year on Lockdown, Netany lines. Support for today's episode comes from square, the system powering so many places. We already know and love whether you're running a pack game day spot a local restaurant or growing a business square give sellers the tools to run their business without making things more complicated square brings payments inventory payroll invoices and customer insights

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13:48can use code locked on college football to get 15 off 15% off that is at take ultra dot com that's take ultra dot com for 15% off with code locked on college football and after you purchase they're going to ask you where you heard about them please support our show and tell them that we sent you this message is brought to you by apple card shaved ice by the beach a trip to the state fair and a throwback flick at the local drive in there's more than just items to check off the summer bucket list there's also opportunities to earn 2% daily cashback when you use your apple card with apple pay apply for apple card now and use in minutes with apple pay subject to credit approval apple card is issued by golden sex bank USA Salt Lake City branch terms and more at apple card dot com and another thought about Penn State being on upset watch Matt Campbell going into the season usually has struggled in the past now if you look at 2024 and 2025 actually he's been 4 and

14:510 but the years before that there were some ugly losses to say the least triple over time against northern Iowa that was back in 2019 2020 losing at home to Louisiana northern Iowa you only beat them 16 to 10 and then they lost 10 to 7 at Ohio in 2023 so that wasn't too long ago right so this has been brought up locked on hot guys drink condon friendly reminder that hey Matt Campbell doesn't really do well in the first few weeks of the season what what gives and they brought it up and I've I have to acknowledge it too okay these are not these are not results that you want to see at the end of the day even even the wins it's okay six points against northern Iowa got to got to check my notes again northern Iowa but but recently here in 24 and 25 4 and 0 undefeated no no scary results no no September scaries and anything like that

15:56and Marshall losing some of its reinforcements there give me more confidence that Penn State this Saturday will be a a a fun day a day to remember because it is a turning of the chapter it is true and we know this right but to put it into perspective the atmosphere the vibes if you will the past decade has been the same repetition okay Penn State football in 2016 got back to a special place and James Franklin deserves credit for that this isn't this isn't me trying to dunk on James Franklin because why why should I complain about a big 10 title in year three going to the Rose Bowl okay granted they didn't win but Penn State was now back in a position to be at least a competitor near the top of the big 10 but at some point expectations change

17:04okay and Penn State had reached its peak 10 years ago to this point the 2016 season and then it was the same thing over and over and over again where Penn State could not win the big games could not show up in the biggest moments and this wasn't just okay this was a handful of times or a majority of the time it was every time you knew how the you're not going to like a movie you're not going to like a TV show if you know how it ends every single time and for Penn State to always get to mainly Ohio State but then when Michigan would peak or basically anybody else in the big 10 Penn State was never never I don't use that word lightly winning those games at the time the ones that were truly consequential that made or break your season and then it was kind of insult to injury at that point where you would lose a follow up game after that because it's not

18:09like Penn State would bounce back okay you lost to Ohio State but then you followed it up blowing a lead against Michigan State and then you did it again the following year and then you lost to Ohio State again but oh you lose to Minnesota I don't mean to rehash the past but it was the same thing time and time and time again and that's why Penn State is changing now because eventually that house of cards finally collapsed and that's why we got the seven the seven and six season last year and Terry Smith doing a great job to to bridge everything for Matt Campbell to take over that's that's why we're here so it is I like the mystery of it I like the unknown okay whatever Penn State does this season it's still okay you know they get to you know USC Michigan or Washington what are they going to do in those games they may lose all of them heck they might win all of them we we don't know

19:15Matt Campbell I think off to a phenomenal start getting hired later in the process and just finding ways to get acclimated so quickly and we're seeing it the 2027 recruiting class isn't great but it's good because again he didn't have a head start there 2028 is off to a phenomenal start I know it's early but Penn State's in the top five and all Matt Campbell can't recruit you got to worry about his recruiting maybe that was more of an Iowa state issue and an AIMS Iowa issue then a Matt Campbell issue because we're seeing a hundred prospects on campus for this weekend at a Penn State football game where Penn State's playing Marshall Penn State's not opening against some non-conference juggernaut where it's oh it's a big 10 versus SEC battle or just anybody it's a it's a West Virginia right it's a regional it's a regional rival or something like that no this this Penn State team has the attention of prospects it has the attention attention more

20:18importantly from the alumni a record number 24 seven put this outlines 24 seven a record number of alumni are going to be in attendance for a guy that hasn't even coached a game I find that really intriguing that the Penn State that the yeah the the outside public is beginning they're interested in Matt Campbell but internally Matt Campbell already has a large amount of support even before there's a proof of content or how Brian puts it a proof of concept there's just so much newness here new offense even though we know it's the foundation of what was from Iowa State new defense a returning of letterman Terry Smith stays behind Matt Campbell's not starting completely over but it is still brand new and think about think

21:19about all of it Adidas instead of Nike brand new uniform supplier a renovated BVR stadium so a different look beaver stadium a new sound system right the new the new lighting it's all it it's all completely different but it's going to feel so familiar and and I think that fresh start is what everybody needed including James Franklin I think James Franklin needed that and Virginia Tech too but so did Penn State that's what we're concerned about here on a Penn State podcast what does Penn State need and Penn State needed something like this to happen needed to go in a different direction and how's that going to look how's that going to sound how's that going to feel it's been it's been over 270 days since Matt Campbell was hired we've been patient long enough it's finally here I'm expecting a record like crowd right I can't give you an

22:26accurate an accurate description of the numbers because what is the stadium threshold and everything else but it's going to be a nice day Marshall's Marshall okay yeah but a lot of people are going to want to be there to witness the first game of Matt Campbell's tenure and rightfully so that is where we're going to wrap things up on this edition of Lockdown Knitney Lions great to have you all here thank you so much for joining me thanks so much for stopping by all the post game coverage you can ask for more continued conversations around Penn State football Penn State recruiting Penn State wrestling what you need right here on Lockdown Knitney Lions so thank you if you're new to the show subscribe to the YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcast for the latest conversations around all your favorite Penn State sports teams I'll be talking to you very soon as we'll recap this one between Penn State and Marshall on cow she year trading against peers in a live market meaning there's no house and as the probability changes you can buy in and out of your position for a limited time download the cow she app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade 10

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