W
ith consensus All-America line-
backer Micah Parsons leading the
way, Penn State was expected by
many to :eld the best defense of the
James Franklin era in 2020. But it didn't
turn out that way. Parsons opted out of
his junior season in early August, and
without him holding down the Will out-
side linebacker spot, the Nittany Lions
didn't come close to ful:lling those pre-
season hopes. They :nished sixth in the
Big Ten in scoring defense (27.7 points
per game), fourth in run defense (130.2
yards per game) and third in total de-
fense (328.8 ypg). The one area in which
they fared roughly as expected in 2020,
at least from a statistical standpoint,
was pass defense, as they ranked second
in the conference a
