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oped a superb four-man rotation at de- fensive tackle. Robert Windsor and An- tonio Shelton have been starting, but the Lions have been able to bring Fred Hansard and P.J. Mustipher into games without skipping a beat. That depth has allowed the team to improve its play at both defensive tackle positions since last season. Mustipher had 18 tackles, three TFL and one forced fumble through seven games. Hansard's statistics weren't as impressive – eight tackles, 3.5 TFL and one sack – but both of Penn State's backup defensive tackles weigh more than 310 pounds, and both de- mand double-team blocks. 7. DEFENSIVE SPEED I've never seen a faster Penn State defense than the one that James Franklin and coordinator Brent Pry have put on the 8eld this fall. Jack Ham told me during an interview in April that he thought the Nittany Lions had assembled one of the most athletic groups of underclassman linebackers that he had ever seen at PSU. This Penn State defense 9ies to the football and tackles well in space. 8. TIGHT END FLEXIBILITY I love what Penn State's two-tight end sets have brought to the o:ense. They help with the running game, giving the o:ense a lead blocker into the hole from the H- back position on counter running plays. Also, Pat Freiermuth and Nick Bowers can be 9anked out at the line of scrim- mage, providing the Nittany Lions with a variety of sets that make their o:ense harder to stop. It's worth noting that Bowers has the team's best yards-per- catch average (27.2). 9. DEFENSIVE END DEPTH Franklin said during the o:-season that he thought Penn State might just boast the best group of defensive ends he had ever as- sembled in his 24-year coaching career. That's certainly starting to look like an accurate assessment. The Lions are three-deep at both positions, with Shaka Toney, Jayson Oweh and Adisa Isaac at the weakside DE spot, and Yetur Gross-Matos, Shane Simmons and Daniel Joseph at the strongside position. Gross-Matos and Toney played like All-Big Ten performers in the 8rst seven games of this season. Gross-Matos had 23 total tackles, nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Toney had 21 tackles, including 6.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks. But it's been the play of Oweh and Isaac that has really sold me on this group's overall potential. In limited action, Isaac had 12 total tackles, three TFL and 1.5 sacks through seven games. Oweh, also in limited action, had seven tackles, two TFL and two sacks. Penn State defensive line coach Sean Spencer has shown a lot of faith in the ability of Oweh and Isaac, sending them into games on the oppo- nent's second or third o:ensive series. Now that's what I call depth. 10. PROTECTING LEADS Penn State found out in its 17-12 victory over Iowa that it doesn't need to lead the Big Ten each and every week in explosive plays. The Nittany Lions had only one play of more than 20 yards in the win over Iowa, a 22-yard touchdown catch by Hamler that gave them an early 7-3 lead. In three of its most memorable games during the previous three seasons – the Rose Bowl matchup with Southern Cal in January 2017 and its regular-season games against Ohio State in 2017 and '18 – Penn State held two-touchdown leads in the fourth quarter but wasn't able to hold onto them because it couldn't gen- erate 8rst downs with the running game. But at Iowa, and a week later vs. Michi- gan, the Lions were able to protect nar- row leads and end those games on o:ense. A;er getting the ball back with 2 minutes, 31 seconds le; in the game against the Hawkeyes, Penn State handed o: to Noah Cain 8ve times. Cain gained 17 yards on those carries, and PSU ran out the clock. It was the true freshman's sec- ond 100-yard rushing performance in as many games. Cain had 105 yards against Purdue a week earlier and 8nished with 102 against the Hawkeyes. His develop- ment is yet another reason to feel opti- mistic about the Lions' future. ■

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