Blue White Illustrated

T H E 2 0 1 9 S E A S O N few weeks ago, defensive tackle Robert Windsor was asked about the difficulty Penn State had experienced in its first few games as it tried to generate pressure on op- posing quarterbacks. The Nittany Lions had been expected to field a ferocious pass rush this fall, but the nonconference season had been a mixed bag. The Lions had obliterated Idaho, posting seven sacks in a 79-7 rout of the Van- dals, but they had trouble getting to Buffalo's Matt Myers and Pitt's Kenny Pickett, prompting coach James Franklin to say after watching his team squeak past the Panthers, 17-10, "We've got to get to the quarterback more consistently. We came into the season really feeling like that was going to be a strength of ours, and it hasn't necessarily shown up that way." The Lions rebounded sharply against Maryland, battering a hapless Terrapins offensive line en route to four sacks and a sur- prisingly easy 59-0 road win, but with Purdue set to visit on homecoming week- end, it seemed fair to wonder whether the Buf- falo and Pitt games were a cause for concern. Windsor thought not. "I'm not worried about the sacks," he said. "I know they're going to come." The senior defensive tackle turned out to be right. Boy, did he turn out to be right. The Nit- tany Lions came away with 10 sacks in their 35-7 victory over Purdue, one short of the school record, and they followed up that game with an- other big performance against Iowa a week later, totaling three sacks and seven tackles for loss in a 17-12 win at Kinnick Stadium. Windsor was a huge part of the latter victory, manhandling whomever Iowa stationed oppo- site him on its offensive line. He finished the game with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, and those numbers only hinted at the kind of disrup- tion he created throughout the night. It was a performance that will likely have some bearing on Windsor's future beyond the handful of games that remain in his college career. As ABC analyst Todd Blackledge said during the broadcast, "He's making himself a lot of money tonight." With his show of faith in the de- fensive line, Windsor proved to have a pretty good handle on the unit's potential. And he did something else, too. PLAYING THE LONG GAME A Penn State may be fielding a youthful team this season, but some of its veteran players are making a big impression as they get set to wrap up their college careers BRINGING THE HEAT Windsor closes in on Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley during Penn State's 17-12 victory over the Hawkeyes. The sen- ior defensive tackle finished with 1.5 sacks in the game. Photos by Steve Manuel

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