During his video conference with media Thursday, Penn State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Brent Pry displayed an ample amount of salt and pepper in his beard.

“That’s what 0-5 will do to you!” Pry quipped. “(Shoot), I’m down about 20 pounds, too.”

The program lost the first five games of this season, a first in school history, before rebounding with a modest two-game winning streak.

The Nittany Lions (2-5) will look to build on that when they host Michigan State (2-4) in their Big Ten finale at noon Saturday.

A key element of those five defeats was pretty evident to Pry in ways beyond his cosmetic appeal.

“There was some pretty shoddy tackling going on,” Pry said. “Just loose. Not the normal fits. … There was just too much space. Not getting into good position to make the tackle. And when we did, we didn’t wrap. We didn’t roll. We didn’t bring our feet.

“It was a combination of things. We’ve identified problems with tackling in the past. Maybe it was a substantial number of overruns or not bringing our feet. In this particular case, it was a mixed bag of issues.”

Pry suggested Penn State’s subpar tackling isn’t exclusive to his program.

“I think we all know the last couple of years because of this concussion protocol, you don’t get tackling near like you used to in practice in the high school level and in college,” he said. “Tackling is a lost art. I don’t think we were very good at it at the start of the year. I look across college football, I don’t think anybody is good at it, if you want to know the truth. You practice it the best you can. … It’s obviously something we practice all the time.

“We saw some improvement in some areas. We’ve tackled well in the box. We just haven’t tackled well in space. We’ve worked on it. We’ve emphasized. I do think there’s been an improvement. It’s still not where I’d like it to be.”

A reason for a decline in Penn State’s tackling is the loss of linebacker Micah Parsons. An All-American last season, Parsons opted out of this season to prepare for the NFL Draft.

“Obviously, Micah’s presence was missed,” Pry said. “He’s somewhat of an eraser. When somebody’s out of the gap or not in their right place, a guy like Micah can go track them down. What could be a 12- or 14-yard gain can be a 5- or 6-yard gain with Micah on the field.”

“So we miss that a little bit. But I think the guys are improving. I’ve been pretty pleased with our stuff in the box. … We’re just not making the plays out in space that we’ve made in the past. That’s an area that we’ve got to continue to grow in and get better at. Particular, there’s been some missed tackle opportunities … that we expect to make. We’ve got to continue to work there. But when you lose a guy like Parsons that’s a 4.4 in the (40-yard dash) at 245 pounds, that’s big shoes to fill. We’re still a work in progress a little bit.”

Pry accepted blame for not adjusting the defense in the wake of limited practicing because of the coronavirus pandemic and suggested tweaks have led to improved results with recent road wins against Michigan and Rutgers.

“You see some things happen that you correct in spring ball, that you correct in camp,” Pry said. “Things that you fix and to be honest, I did a poor job. I should have scaled things back earlier without having spring (practice) and an insufficient camp.“

“We were trying to do too much which compounded the issue. There’s no doubt in my mind when we scaled things back, we started to see improvement coupled with the guys’ approach and getting back to basics and fundamentals.”

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