Penn State prepares for Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Bowl appearance

New Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead may be present and accounted for in State College but he’ll not have much of a role in the game plan for Jan. 2’s TaxSlayer Bowl appearance against Georgia.

At Penn State’s Bowl Media Day on Friday afternoon, head coach James Franklin said that the game plan has been created and submitted already by quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne and staff.

“I told Bob (Shoop), and Ricky and Charles (Huff) that I wanted the game plans done by this Friday,” he said. “and then we can tweak them after that. That’s what this week is about. Our guys are taking finals, we didn’t really practice, and so it allowed us to grind through 100 percent of the game plan.

“Ricky’s done a great job. He’s handled this really well.”

The start of the recruiting dead period also has given the coaching staff free time in which to formulate their scheme, Franklin said. As they do/have done so, Moorhead has been sitting with offensive players and watching film, to get a better feel for the personnel he’ll inherit starting the day after the bowl game.

Quarterback Christian Hackenberg said he met with Moorhead on Thursday and watched a few hours of film with the coordinator.

“Picked his brain, I was intrigued about the offense (he will run),” he said. “Everyone thinks (it’s) the spread and stuff, I’ve never really ran what’s labeled as a spread offense. Never in my life. So I was just curious about how it worked and it was kind of cool how he broke it down, and the intricacies with it, how he teaches it to his guys and what he expects out of everyone.”

Receiver Chris Godwin also said he watched film with Moorhead, and said he noticed the latter, like himself, pays incredible attention to detail and the small points of emphasis within his offensive scheme.

“Coach Moorhead has been kind of buried away in the office these past through days studying our roster, studying our film as well as kind of going through a lot of the HR stuff that he has to do early on,” said receivers coach Josh Gattis. “So I know our kids are excited. We’re looking forward to having coach Moorhead around from here on out, and you know, after this bowl game, we’ll switch over and kind of make the switch and start learning his offense.”

But, for the time being, Penn State is preparing for a Georgia team that has lost both its coordinators, its linebackers coach and has an interim head coach in 31-year-old receivers coach and alumnus Bryan McClendon, but still poses a formidable threat.

“Well, their running back is really good,” said defensive backs coach Terry Smith, of sophomore Sony Michel. “Even though he’s the backup, Georgia just keeps a stable of running backs. He’s a legit 1,000-yard rusher.

“And then they have three receivers that are really good, they’re (also) explosive in the punt return game. I think they have three punt returns for touchdowns this season. And they’re dangerous in that sense that if you get them out in space, they have speed and they can score in one play. So we’ve got to contain the run game, shut that down, and force them to be one-dimensional in the pass game, and just not allow any big plays.”

The team practiced on Friday afternoon, and has Saturday off. Then, they will practice on Sunday and Monday, head to their respective homes for Christmas, and leave for Jacksonville on Dec. 28.

Carl Nassib healthy for bowl game

Franklin said defensive end and national sacks and tackles-for-loss leader Carl Nassib would be back and ready for action by Jan. 2’s TaxSlayer Bowl appearance.

The senior has been traveling all over the nation throughout the past two weeks accepting various awards and picking up All-American honors along the way.

“It was fun, it was tiring at points. I’m not built for public transportation,” he deadpanned. “It was tough sometimes. I thought I paralyzed my neck at one point because I was sleeping all crazy.”

But aside from the aches and pains of the traveling itself, Nassib’s accolades checked off some huge goals he once put on his list as a former walk-on.

“When I first got to Penn State, I walked by the All-Americans (on the wall in the Lasch building), and that was my main goal, to be an All-American,” he said. “Every day, that is all I wanted to be, and I never expected for everything else to go along with it. That was the one thing that was my goal from the start, and I’m very proud to achieve that.”

Added Franklin, “He’s a guy that really took this whole Penn State experience and ran with it. Really proud of him.”

Nassib said he met many “cool” people throughout his travels, and a highlight was talking to former defensive end Courtney Brown.

“I felt really honored to be in his presence,” Nassib said. Brown, like Nassib, never much liked interacting with the media, and Nassib said the two talked about that, among other things.

“I learned he didn’t like it as much, I know we had a connection there,” he chuckled.

But now that his award tour is over, Nassib is itching to get back onto the field — he seemed to be at full speed during the media’s observation allotment of Friday afternoon’s practice.

“It means everything (to be back),” he said. “I just want to put the Penn State jersey on and kick some (expletive). I just really, really want to get out there and hit somebody.”

Who’s coaching the tight ends?

In Tuesday’s introductory press conference with Moorhead, Franklin mentioned that some personnel re-shuffling would be needed because former offensive coordinator John Donovan was also the tight ends coach, while Moorhead specializes in quarterbacks.

“I think that Joe and Ricky, as well as our staff, create some flexibility,” Franklin said. “Those are some of the things we will be working through in the next week or two and then decide what is in the best interest of Penn State moving forward.”

Tight end Mike Gesicki said that Rahne, as well as graduate assistant Tommy Galt, were actually taking over as tight ends coaches, at least for the next couple of weeks.

“Tommy played tight end in college, so he’s been a good resource for us and has been great to us throughout these practices,” Gesicki said.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Penn State prepares for Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Bowl appearance."