The USC football game at Penn State contains so many rich plot points and storylines. One is that Penn State’s defensive coordinator spent the past two seasons at USC under Lincoln Riley. Now, D’Anton Lynn will go up against Riley in a fascinating chess match. We talked to Nittany Lions Wire lead writer Kevin McGuire about D’Anton Lynn so far at Penn State this season:
“I’m not ready to say the scheme of D’Anton Lynn is to blame yet, because it played so well in the first few weeks of the season in tuning up for Big Ten play,” McGuire told us. “And it was pretty goo against Wisconsin and forced three turnovers against the Badgers before just running out of gas on an ineffective night from the offense. But last week was jarring as it looked like Penn State’s defense just didn’t know how or want to tackle the way we have come to expect from Penn State defenses of the past. Of course, it is worth noting Northwestern offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was well aware of Lynn’s defensive styling too, and that didn’t help. That actually concerns me this week too.”
McGuire brings up a very interesting point. D’Anton Lynn coached under Chip Kelly at UCLA before moving to USC. Lincoln Riley will know what D’Anton Lynn likes to do on defense, but Lynn knows what Riley likes to do on offense. Which man’s understanding of the other’s habits and tendencies will prove to be superior in this game? It’s amazing that Riley’s USC tenure hangs in the balance and could hinge upon whether he can solve his former assistant coach’s defensive game plan. What a subplot to the larger battle between the Trojans and Nittany Lions.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: D’Anton Lynn versus Lincoln Riley is the ultimate chess match