Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1511150
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 3 31 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M tion. He had suffered an unspecified in- jury at Ohio State on Oct. 21 and hadn't stepped on the field for the Lions since then. In his absence, teammates such as redshirt senior Adisa Isaac and sopho- more Dani Dennis-Sutton knew they needed to keep up the pressure. "I definitely felt bad for him," Isaac said. "We had to get [into the backfield] for him, and that's what we did." The Nittany Lions' performance at Maryland was consistent with their season-long trends. They've been among the nation's best at putting heat on opposing passers, having amassed an FBS-best 38 sacks through nine games. The Lions were averaging 4.22 sacks per game prior to their show- down with Michigan on Nov. 11. No other team in the country was averag- ing more than 4. The Lions were also ranked fourth nationally with 76 tackles for loss, and they were especially tough on the Terps. Maryland finished the game with minus-49 rushing yards. That number was skewed of course by Tagovailoa's 47 lost yards, but even with his sacks factored out, Maryland running backs Roman Hemby, Antwain Littleton II and Colby McDonald combined to lose 6 yards on 7 carries. Of the five Maryland players who rushed the ball against Penn State, only one finished with positive yardage — backup quar- terback Billy Edwards Jr. with a 4-yard gain on his lone carry. One of the reasons for the Nittany Lions' success throughout the sea- son has been that they've never been a one-man show. Through the first nine games of the campaign, 19 players had collected at least 1 sack, and 10 players had 2 or more. In addition, the Lions have shown they can bring pressure from any- where. The defensive ends were lead- ing the way heading into the season's final three games, with 17 sacks coming from edge rushers. In addition, though, the linebackers had produced 8.5 sacks and even the cornerbacks had gotten in on the action, totaling 6 quarterback drops. But while they boast an abundance of depth and versatility on their de- fense, the Lions have been eager to get Robinson back in the lineup. When Penn State arrived at SECU Stadium in College Park, the 6-foot-3, 254-pound junior wore his regular warmup gear and even put on pads for that portion of the team's pregame routine. Then, with kickoff approaching, Robinson emerged from the visitors' locker room in sweats. Coach James Franklin explained after the game that there was a reason for the wardrobe changes. " We t rave l e d h i m f ro m a re h a b standpoint," Franklin said. "When you have certain injuries, there are things that you've got to do to work back and be able to get back on the field. Being able to get him out — be able to run and be able to get some movement stuff without any contact — is part of his protocol to come back. That's why we did that. "In the old days, there may have been a little bit of [an effort] to hide who's healthy and who's not. We have to turn that information in now, so we weren't doing that." Franklin flashed back to Robinson's performance in Penn State's 30-0 shutout of Maryland last year, a game in which the first-year Nittany Lion had a pair of sacks. "This is a big game for him," Franklin said. "He had a huge game last year. Not having one of our most explosive players on defense and still being able to play the way we did [was gratifying]. … And we wanted to play well, not only for Penn State, but also for Chop. We wanted him to understand that we were playing well for him." Isaac said that in talking to Robinson before the game, it was clear he was itching to play against his former team. "It was a little emotional," Isaac said. "That was obviously a struggle, but we've got more season to go. You're going to see more Chop coming soon. That's something to look out for." Robinson wasn't the only Penn State defensive end who's been out of action lately. Junior backup Amin Vanover was also hurt against Ohio State and ended up missing the Indiana and Maryland games. And yet the Lions hardly seemed shorthanded. Against Maryland, they played nine defensive linemen, eight of whom finished with at least 1 tackle. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz ordered blitzes from all over, and the Lions' 6 sacks and 12 tackles for loss stood as a testament to their ability to generate pressure no matter who is on the field. "The depth has been huge," Franklin said. "Coming into the season, I felt like it's the best depth we've had, re- ally since we've been here. Not hav- ing Amin or Chop now for two weeks, that's been big. So hopefully we'll have both of those guys back and now you've got [freshman defensive end] Jameial Lyons, who's played and gained confi- dence from that. So that will be really big." Isaac is one of the players Penn State has been leaning on. Since missing the 2021 season with an Achilles tendon injury, he's started all 22 games over the past two campaigns. Through nine games this year, he was third in the Big Ten with 6.5 sacks and fourth with 10.5 tackles for loss. A 6-4, 249-pound standout from Brooklyn, N.Y., Isaac is looking to maintain his pace with Penn State's regular season winding down. "I feel like I'm playing pretty good," he said. "I just have to keep going and finish off strong." ■ "We wanted to play well, not only for Penn State, but also for Chop. We wanted him to understand that we were playing well for him." J A M E S F R A N K L I N