Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1169916
G
oing into the 2019 season, Penn
State football fans had every reason
to believe the Nittany Lions' defense
would be one of the best in the Big Ten
and maybe even the entire country.
The team was returning nine players
with starting experience, and six of
those players – defensive end Yetur
Gross-Matos, defensive tackle Robert
Windsor, linebacker Micah Parsons,
safety Garrett Taylor and cornerbacks
John Reid and Tariq Castro-Fields –
were all considered to have All-Big Ten
potential. Gross-Matos and Parsons
were mentioned by several preseason
publications as possible All-America
candidates at their respective posi-
tions. ESPN's Mel Kiper said he be-
lieved Gross-Matos would end up being
taken in the top 15 of the 2020 NFL
Draft.
Coach James Franklin heightened the
expectations among Penn State fans
when he said this past spring that the
2019 team might boast the best group of
defensive ends he'd had in his 24-year
coaching career.
It was entirely understandable that
Franklin would feel hopeful about the
season to come. The Nittany Lions' de-
fense had been very impressive at times
during the previous campaign, ;nishing
;rst in the Football Bowl Subdivision
with an average of 3.62 sacks per game
and fourth with an average of 8.2 tackles
for loss. They had posted those numbers
despite going into the season with very
little experience. The only veteran
starters who returned in 2018 were out-
side linebacker Koa Farmer and defen-
sive ends Shareef Miller and Ryan
Buchholz. And that small contingent of
experienced starters was reduced to two
even before the season began, as Buch-
holz announced during preseason camp
that he was giving up football due to re-
curring back problems.
Going into the 2018 season, most peo-
ple – myself included – felt that the of-
fense would be the cornerstone of the
team. A=er all, the Lions were bringing
back one of the best quarterbacks in
school history in Trace McSorley. Even
though there was some rebuilding to do
elsewhere, McSorley's return seemed to
bode well for Penn State's o