Lessons learned from last year's in-state showdown fuel Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Trace McSorley stood in the hallway at Heinz Field last September and composed himself as Tony Dorsett let out a series of "Hail to Pitt" chants that cut into the quarterback's post-game remarks.

At the time McSorley was unaware of where the cheers came from and in a cramped hallway it wasn't all that unusual for background noise to creep in as fans and families passed by. What stuck with Penn State's players walking off the field last season at Heinz Field was an all around bitter memory, one that was a tale of two halves and a lesson on growing pains.

"It was tough for our defense and offense," cornerback Grant Haley said on Wednesday. "Even though we fought back and climbed, it wasn't the outcome we wanted. There was a lot of disappointment. At the same time, when we went back and watched the film, it was a wakeup call. This can't happen. This was uncharacteristic of us."



The Lions' wakeup call at Heinz Field, coupled with a drubbing at The Big House, helped the team turn its season around and some of the lessons learned from those two games are still part of the Lions' preparation this season. Take Monday's routine as an example. It's the players' designated day off, but something that started last season after the Michigan loss was that players would get together on offense and defense and dissect film together. They realized their preparation wasn't enough for them to be able to hang at this level.

This week, after classes were finished on Monday that preparation continued as the Lions looked at Pitt's new quarterback Max Browne and the Panthers' defense.

"For us in the offensive room, DaeSean [Hamilton] and DeAndre [Thompkins], Juwan [Johnson], all those guys, they get as many receivers together as they can," McSorley said on Tuesday. "They watch film, cover specific stuff on their own, and then we'll do kind of with the offensive line, quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, pretty much everybody else on the offense, we'll get in, kind of be watching pressures, fronts, coverages, kind of everything at the same time. By doing that as a group, you're able to talk about things. You have two sets of eyes on the screen, you're not going to be able to see as much as if you have 20 or 30. The more guys you can have in there, guys are able to see different things and point things out."

The lesson McSorley said he took away from last year's Pitt game was that the Lions couldn't dig themselves in a hole in the first half. That theme played out the rest of last season and this year, especially in non-conference play, the Lions are looking to shed that stigma. In last week's win against Akron, the Lions' hot start was met by a more lax second half, a detail James Franklin said would be a focal point this week.

Becoming a four-quarter team is something the Lions spoke a lot about this week and the reality of what playing just one half of football at a high level looks like started last September at Heinz Field. Last year's slow starts altered how the Lions went about practices, a method they continued to alter again this spring and during camp. Mixing up the workout so the offense and defense would have to perform right off the bat as opposed to going through individual drills and then more position-specific work, was a change that Franklin still continue to implement at various points during the week.

But even for someone who didn't play in last year's game like senior linebacker Jason Cabinda, who was hurt and stood on the sideline at Heinz Field and watched as Pat Narduzzi's team unloaded speed sweep after speed sweep as the Lions' defense struggled to remedy it, there was something to take away from that feeling he had as he walked off the field. Cabinda called this game "an opportunity to correct that loss."

"That's something I look forward to to obviously participate in this game and actually play," Cabinda said on Wednesday. "I'm excited."

Cabinda's role on Saturday will be an important one, too. The senior middle linebacker is the captain of the defense and given all the shifts and motions that Pitt's offense likes to use, it'll be up to Cabinda to make sure the defensive linemen, linebackers and secondary all have the right call and are all on the same page.

"The defensive staff has done a great job of keeping the gameplan simple," Haley said. "We're going in there and realize they're trading and shifting a lot. These jet sweeps, fake jet sweeps and play-action passes. As corners, we have to stay disciplined in our coverage. ... Just read our keys, see our fits. We think they're going to do things similar to last year, and they had success last year. We're trained for that, and we're ready for those."

QUICK HITS

• Penn State identified Pitt's Quadree Henderson as a "game-wrecker" and in practice it's running back/special teamer Josh McPhearson and freshman wide receiver KJ Hamler both working as Henderson on the scout team, Haley said.

"Both have been working hard and watching film on him," Haley said. "They've showed a good look of things he'll do. They've been good this week and all camp and all last week, as well."

• Haley's parents met in medical school at Pitt and will be at the game this weekend. While the corner hails from Atlanta, his dad is from Pittsburgh and his mom did her undergraduate work at Penn State. Haley said he expects 12-14 people at the game on Saturday, including his relatives who still reside in Pittsburgh.

• Cabinda, one of the more outspoken players on the team who is also well aware of social issues and doesn't shy away from talking about them, was asked about why he doesn't hold back from sharing his opinion. The player who Franklin said on Tuesday will graduate in December with an Economics degree -- and who the head coach praised for having dialogue with teammates about seeing both sides of an issue -- said it's not one person who inspired him to do so, but rather it's just how he is.

"I don't think it's hard to speak out on things that are wrong, you know things that you don't think are morally correct," he said. "That's kid of what everybody should do. ... You shouldn't just turn a blind eye to it."

• Another thing Cabinda won't be turning a blind eye to is all of Pitt's shifts. Making sure the Lions are caught out of position is a job that falls on Cabinda's shoulders.

"To me, it's a lot of smoke and mirrors," he said. "The key to our success is just going to have to be reading our keys and trusting our keys and making sure guys are doing their job. ... Make sure guys aren't trying to do too much and do things that are outside of the framework of the defense."

• Franklin and defensive end Ryan Buchholz will meet with the media following Wednesday night's practice. I'll have a story off the practice session and intern Waiss David Aramesh will be on hand to capture the photos and videos.