P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >>
Penn State had given up only 14 points
to a Buckeyes team that had been aver-
aging just under 600 yards per game.
Two weeks later, the Nittany Lions
held the Spartans to an identical scor-
ing total – two touchdowns – through
the game's first 59 minutes, 41 seconds.
At Michigan in November, the defense
had surrendered only 14 points until
the Wolverines broke the game open
with two touchdowns (one on an inter-
ception return) in the final minute of
the third quarter. And in the Citrus
Bowl, Kentucky managed only 20
points on offense and might well have
lost if not for a series of special teams
gaffes by Penn State that included giv-
ing up a 58-yard touchdown on a punt
return.
If no one was heaping praise on the
defense after those losses last year, it
was because the games against Ohio
State and Michigan State called to
mind the team's most heartbreaking
defeats of the previous two seasons, a
52-49 loss to USC in the Rose Bowl that
capped an otherwise spectacular 2016
season, and a 39-38 loss at Ohio State
in 2017 that dealt a major blow to PSU's
Big Ten championship hopes. The
DEFENSIVE DUO
Yetur Gross-
Matos, below, and
Garrett Taylor,
right,
are expected
to be two of the
Nittany Lions' de-
fensive corner-
stones this coming
season. Both are
preparing for their
second starting
seasons, Gross-
Matos at defensive
end and Taylor at
strong safety.
Pho-
tos by Steve
Manuel
