Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503568
A U G U S T 2 0 2 3 5 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T H E D E F E N S E / / / / / / / bear a strong similarity to last year's highly successful unit. After allowing Purdue to score 24 of- fensive points last September, the Nit- tany Lions were remarkably consistent in keeping opponents out of the end zone. Only Michigan (41 points) and Ohio State (37) eclipsed the Boilermakers' offensive output in Penn State's 13 games. And, more indica- tive of the group's success, it finished among the nation's best in practically every statistical cate- gory. The Nittany Li- ons ranked in the top 20 of the FBS in total defense (17th, 323.5 yards per game), rushing defense (17th, 111.2 ypg) and scoring defense (10th, 18.3 points per game). They walled up at the goal line, finishing eighth in red zone scoring percentage (73.8). Diaz took particular pride in his unit's refusal to allow points following turn- overs, calling it the "secret stat." His de- fense held opponents to a total of only 17 points after 14 Penn State turnovers, and he's looking for the Nittany Lions to be every bit as resilient this fall in sudden- change situations. "The ability to not be surprised in a game is a big part of the development of a player, and to be able to have anticipa- tion and understanding what to expect," he said. "I feel like that's something we improved on every week as the season went on a year ago. Hopefully, we pick up where we left off." At every level of the defense, the Nit- tany Lions will have that opportunity this season. On the back end, junior cornerback Kalen King finished second only to Brown in total snaps last season with 557. He enjoyed one of the most produc- tive seasons of any cornerback in college football, finishing third in the FBS with 21 passes defended. This year, he'll pair with senior Johnny Dixon, a six-game starter in 2022 who by all accounts en- joyed a breakout spring. Junior Curtis Jacobs (550) and sopho- more Abdul Carter (514) will anchor the linebacker corps after finishing third and fourth, respectively, in total game reps last season. Nearly the entire linebacker unit returns this year, with redshirt sophomores Dominic DeLuca and Kobe King, junior Tyler Elsdon and redshirt freshman Keon Wylie all having played last fall. In addition, high-profile new- comers Tony Rojas and Ta'Mere Robin- son will enter the fray after enrolling in January. Redshirt senior Adisa Isaac, one of five PSU defensive players to surpass 500 snaps last season with 504, leads the line. Junior end Chop Robinson and redshirt senior tackle Hakeem Beamon both played more than 400 snaps. De- spite missing four games due to a sus- pension, junior Coziah Izzard racked up 194 game reps. Those players will be joined by such rising stars as redshirt sophomore safety Zakee Wheatley and sophomore defen- sive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, giving Diaz an abundance of options. His task in preseason camp will be to convert po- tential into reality. "Confidence comes from having had success in a game before," he said. "The fact that we do return a lot of guys who have made a lot of positive plays in games in the Big Ten Conference gives them confidence individually, which gives the group confidence collectively. "But every season, everyone's role changes. You're never the same as you were the year before. You're never the same team as you were the year before. "There's always something. What's the saying? 'A man never crosses the same river twice, for he's not the same man, and it's not the same river.' That, to me, is how I look at every season. So, they've done it. That's good. But they're different ques- tions being asked of them now." Those questions, both for Diaz and for the Nittany Lion defense as a whole, no longer concern whether or not they'll be good this season. Ranked fourth in the nation by ESPN this summer, the unit has instead given rise to questions about just how good it can be. Diaz's ambition, and that of his play- ers, is to rise above the lofty standard they set in 2022. "Our players have high expectations," Diaz said. "That's the important thing. The irony of that is to act as if the standard has changed, and it hasn't. We had high expectations of how we were going to play defense a year ago. I don't feel like we were going to hope to have a good season and then fell into 11- 2. The standard is the standard. "But I do think our players now know from the reps when they were not suc- cessful, or from the drives when we weren't successful, the quarters when we weren't successful, the games when we weren't successful, to be self-aware as to why that was. They're mature enough to try to fix those things the next year. "You never assume that what you did well last year, you will automatically do well again and you'll just have to fix the things you didn't like. You have to rebuild the whole thing from the ground up, al- ways. But I like our guys' maturity. I like their level of expectation." In the coming weeks and months, they'll have the opportunity to back it up. ■ F A S T F A C T S : D E F E N S E Coordinator: Manny Diaz (2nd season) Starters returning (7): DT Hakeem Beamon, OLB Abdul Carter, S Keaton Ellis, ILB Tyler Elsdon, DE Adisa Isaac, OLB Curtis Jacobs, CB Kalen King Other returnees with starting experience (5): CB Johnny Dixon, DT Dvon Ellies, CB Daequan Hardy, DT Coziah Izzard, DE Smith Vilbert Starters lost (5): S Ji'Ayir Brown, DT PJ Mustipher, CB Joey Porter Jr., OLB Jonathan Sutherland, DE Nick Tarburton "You never assume that what you did well last year, you will automatically do well again and you'll just have to fix the things you didn't like. You have to rebuild the whole thing from the ground up, always." D I A Z