Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543434
4 8 M A R C H 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 2 6 / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / As part of this new ap- proach, there will be little distinction between three- technique and one-tech- nique defensive tackles. After watching the defensive film of USC and UCLA, it be- comes clear that Lynn does not differentiate between the two positions; each player needs to be able to play both spots. When you distill the po- sition down to the most im- portant traits, you cannot have a 285-pound defensive lineman routinely playing nose tackle and expect suc- cess. Accordingly, the ma- jority of the defensive tack- les will need to have nose tackle traits. Where There's A Will Defensive football is all about solving one fundamental problem: There are not enough players to defend the entire field and neutralize all of the threats an of- fense can present. Defenses need to take calculated risks based on alignment and personnel. In Lynn's defense, stopping the run is paramount. He sees it as the primary task of the front seven and is reluctant to sacrifice a player to the secondary on a full-time basis as the Nittany Lions did during the 2025 season when first- year coordinator Jim Knowles deployed a three-safety approach. In Lynn's defense, it's likely that the Lions will use a nickel defensive back in certain situations but will primarily line up in a 4-3 front. One rationale for this change is that los- ing the Sam linebacker limits a defense's ability to use multiple fronts and to stem in and out of them before the snap. Lynn's defense bases out of a four-man line, but the linebackers play a role in changing the front from a four- to a five-man surface. Iowa State transfer Caleb Bacon will play a big part in helping PSU morph be- tween fronts. A 6-foot-4, 240-pound redshirt senior, he's more of an edge de- fender than a linebacker in his movement skills. Iowa State walked Bacon down from the second level to change its three-man looks into four-down fronts from play to play. The only basic difference between Iowa State's plan and Lynn's is that the Cyclones also inserted a third safety into the box to play a pseudo-Will linebacker role when the team shifted its other line- backer to different parts of the field. One way to think about the racking and shifting of the front is to imagine the defensive line and linebackers as a con- nected circle. If you pull the linebackers to the right and bring one down to the line of scrimmage, the defensive line shifts left. If you pull it the other direction, the line- backers and linemen shift in unison. This approach will neces- sarily impact the edge rush- ers. For more than a decade, you could essentially predict where PSU's defensive ends would line up on every single play. Aside from their second year under Manny Diaz, the Nittany Lions used the same two fronts more than 70 percent of the time. The focus was to get edge rushers the best angles to the quarterback and gener- ate pressure at the highest possible rate. Now, that plan is changing. With the racking and shifting of the defensive line, Penn State's edge rushers will play in more positional alignments. Iowa State's Defense By The Numbers* Season Yds/Game FBS Rank Pts/Game FBS Rank 2016 452.9 102 31.3 88 2017 366.2 43 20.9 T-26 2018 349.2 33 22.9 T-37 2019 369.3 45 25.9 T-50 2020 340.4 21 21.4 25 2021 310.8 9 20.5 20 2022 285.6 4 20.3 18 2023 363.2 50 22.8 T-42 2024 353.9 51 22.9 41 2025 356.5 54 20.2 26 * During Matt Campbell's head coaching tenure D'Anton Lynn's Defenses By The Numbers Season Yds/Game FBS Rank Pts/Game FBS Rank 2023 UCLA 301.5 10 18.4 14 2024 USC 377.1 77 24.1 T-56 2025 USC 350.8 49 23.0 51 Linebacker Caleb Bacon was an honorable mention All-Big 12 choice last season at Iowa State after totaling 68 tackles, including 9.5 for loss and 3 sacks. PHOTO COURTESY IOWA STATE ATHLETICS