Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1512721
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 31 A t this time a year ago, Penn State's linebackers were enjoy- ing the end of a regular season in which they put to rest any preseason concerns about how good the group could be. Led by then-freshman Abdul Carter and third-year sophomore Curtis Jacobs, the Nittany Lion line- backers took a huge step forward during the 2022 season. But that was just the beginning of their journey. They knew they would be expected to raise the bar again in 2023. After all, Carter had made multiple freshman All-America teams. Redshirt sophomore Dominic DeLuca was now on scholarship after starting out his career as an invited walk-on. DeLuca's classmate Kobe King was moving into a bigger role at middle linebacker af- ter having previously been locked in a battle with junior Tyler Elsdon. Jacobs was on track to become the primary playmaker in the latest incarnation of Linebacker U. And true freshman Tony Rojas was already turning heads in practice after arriving on campus in January. The Penn State defense as a whole has ended up fulfilling its considerable promise this year. In fact, the Nittany Lions were fielding the nation's best defense statistically at the end of the regular season. Opponents were av- eraging just 223.2 yards per game and 3.91 yards per play, both FBS-lows. The Lions were the only team in the country that was allowing fewer than 4 yards per play. Penn State was also ranked first in the nation in sacks with 48, six more than second-place Texas A&M, and it was second in tackles for loss with 101. As a result of all those plays in the opponent's backfield, PSU was third nationally in scoring defense, allowing 11.4 points per game. The Lions shut out Massachu- setts, Iowa and Michigan State, and they allowed only two opponents — Michigan and Indiana — to surpass 20 points dur- ing the regular season. The stats offer evidence of how well the defense meshed under second-year coordinator Manny Diaz. "We've been fortunate to play good defense here for a while, but I do believe that Manny has done a phenomenal job of taking what we've been able to do here over 10 years and taking it to an- other level," head coach James Franklin said. "We've discussed the slightly dif- ferent style. With this style, you have the ability to be more suffocating be- cause there are just not a whole lot of gimme yards on the field with as much press coverage as we play. "I think he's done a really good job of teaching and promoting the stan- dards of what Penn State defense is all about." Because of all the sacks and turnovers that Diaz's high-pressure scheme has Penn State's linebackers have upheld the program's storied history at the position Standard Bearers G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M