Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528325
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 4 2 7 I llinois was stubbornly refusing to let Penn State pull away for the com- fortable win that the oddsmakers had envisioned ahead of the teams' Big Ten opener Sept. 28 at Beaver Stadium. The Illini had somehow found answers for a lot of the problems that the Nit- tany Lions had been expected to pose and trailed by only a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. There was, however, one problem that they hadn't figured out how to coun- teract. That problem had a name: Zane Durant. The junior defensive tackle had been menacing the Illini backfield all evening. On a first-and-10 play at the Illinios 26- yard line early in the fourth quarter, he broke through in the most literal way possible, squeezing into a gap between the tackle and guard and heading straight for quarterback Luke Altmyer. Before he could even think about tak- ing evasive action, Altmyer was on his back. The 7-yard loss proved insur- mountable, and Illinois ended up punt- ing, yet another empty possession in what would turn into a 21-7 Penn State victory. Defensive tackles don't often en- joy moments like that; theirs tend to be thankless jobs that entail lots of dirty work and relatively few star turns. All of which is fine with Durant. More than fine, actually. The 6-foot-1, 288-pound defensive standout knew what he was signing up for, and he isn't particularly hungry for the kind of attention that sta- tistics bring. "I've never really been a stat guy," he said. "I just want to play football and have fun dominating up front. That's all I do. That's all I really worry about when I step on the field." A Perfect Fit Durant certainly isn't underappreci- ated in the Lasch Building. Head coach James Franklin and defensive coordina- tor Tom Allen have been gushing about the job he's done in the middle of a Penn State defense that was tied for ninth na- tionally in points allowed (14.5 per game) at the season's halfway point. While ju- nior defensive ends Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton have been the stars of the defensive front, Durant is a force that opponents have to account for. "It's easy to get lost in all the talk about our ends, what Abdul does and Dani," Al- len said. "And then there's Zane Durant, this powerful, twitchy, explosive player. "His best quality is his motor, and it's every day. People don't see that, but it's every day. It doesn't matter. "He's one of the alpha males in our entire defense. He's so consistent, and he matches it with great pad level, a tremendous motor and twitch. He has explosive power that not all D-linemen have. He can change direction. He's a perfect fit for what we do schematically, the movements that we have, and the ability to redirect and sprint to the ball. The guy can flat-out run, you know? I just think he's a tremendous player." Franklin thinks so, too, noting that Durant "has been as impactful on the quarterback as anybody" on Penn State's defense. "If you're strictly looking at a stat sheet, it wouldn't tell you that," he said a few days after the Lions' victory over Illinois. "But real football people, they "His mindset is that he's just going to dominate whoever is across from him every single snap, no matter what the call is, whether he's moving, not moving, playing vertical, playing lateral, playing whatever. He's a huge part of our defense, and he's going to continue to be." D E F E N S I V E C O O R D I N A T O R T O M A L L E N O N D U R A N T Through Penn State's first six games, Durant was tied for seventh on the team with 15 tackles and was second in both tackles for loss (5.5) and sacks (2.5). PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL