Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1052705
of those points came in blowout victo- ries in the nonconference season. Once Big Ten play began, the Lions' output began to steadily decline. Given the team's frequent struggles on o1ense, which have resulted in Penn State ranking at the very bottom of the league standings in time of possession (26 minutes, 51 seconds per game through nine games), I view the defense as having ex- ceeded preseason expecta- tions. The main reason why I be- lieve that to be the case is the superb play of the defensive ends, especially redshirt junior Shareef Miller, sophomore Yetur Gross-Matos and red- shirt sophomore Shaka Toney. I believe those three players form one of the two best groups of defensive ends in the Big Ten this fall. Together, Gross-Matos, Miller and Toney had combined for 16 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss heading into the Wisconsin game. Their performance was the No. 1 reason why Penn State was tied with Michi- gan for the Big Ten's top sack total and was second in the league with 67 tackles for loss. The year-over-year improvement of Gross-Matos has been nothing short of spectacular. As a freshman last season, he totaled 17 tackles, including two tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and three quar- terback hurries. It was an encouraging start, but it didn't hint at the kind of im- pact he would have as a sophomore, par- ticularly in the second half of the season. Through nine games, Gross-Matos had totaled 40 tackles, including a Big Ten- best 13.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and 0ve quarterback hurries. It is the type of performance that I BREAK ON THROUGH Gross- Matos closes in on Michigan quarter- back Shea Patter- son during the Lions' recent visit to Ann Arbor. Photo by Steve Manuel