The Lions must regroup after a disappointing opener, and Mauti, the face of the defense, will be looked at more than ever for guidance.
"I really didn't think about all that before I did [the video]," Mauti said on Saturday, his long hair slicked back, his face mostly stoic. "What we felt we needed to do was go out there and send a message for our program and our university."
The message Mauti sent against the Bobcats was that he's ready to play. The 6-foot-2, 232-pound graduate student led Penn State with 12 tackles, five solo.
"He's a spark plug," Marple Newtown graduate Pete Massaro said. "You can see it if you look at him on the field. He flies around, always going 100 miles per hour."
But the defense on the whole seemed disjointed at times. Ohio converted 11 of 12 third downs in the second half, including a 5-yard touchdown with 2 minutes, 55 seconds to go in the fourth quarter to give the Bobcats their ultimate 10-point margin.
"We just didn't make the plays that needed to be made," Mauti said.
Mauti tried to rally his unit. In the third quarter, he huddled the defense around him and told the players to relax. There was still time left. There was hope.
"Sometimes you need to get in guys' faces for them to realize the task at hand and how to accomplish that," safety Malcolm Willis said.
For Penn State to rebound next Saturday, for the defense to stifle Virginia and force turnovers, Mauti might need to get in guys' faces - and get a little angry.
Just like he did a month ago.
