BREAKOUT YEAR
Miller was Penn
State's sack leader
last season, finishing
with five. Photo by
Steve Manuel
2 0 1 8 S E A S O N P R E V I E W
Shareef Miller
has been dropping
opposing QBs in the
backfield for the past
two seasons. Thanks
to one of his Penn
State predecessors,
he may be an even
bigger threat
this coming fall
A
s Shareef Miller enters his fourth
year at Penn State, the redshirt
junior is becoming a mentor to the
youngsters behind him. Meanwhile, he's
drawing on the experience of a former
Nittany Lion to refine his own skills. His
goal? To break the school's all-time sack
record, while helping lift Penn State to
championship heights.
Miller's stated objective for the coming
season is to record at least 10 sacks. That
would be a major accomplishment, but
in the back of his mind is an even more
ambitious plan to break the Penn State
single-season record that Carl Nassib set
when he racked up 15.5 sacks as a senior
in 2015.
It's a realistic objective in Miller's mind,
as he says he feels more comfortable and
confident in his role than he has at any
time since he arrived on campus three
years ago – just as Nassib was getting set
to go on his history-making sack binge.
Miller redshirted that year before ap-
pearing in every game as a redshirt fresh-
man in 2016. He was a 12-game starter
last season and has gained enough expe-
rience that, as he explained, "the game
has really slowed down for me now."
"I can read some plays before they
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