Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545675
6 6 A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 / / / / / / / 2 0 2 6 F O O T B A L L P R E V I E W / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern STARTERS ★★★ Penn State will look different up front, both schematically and in terms of its personnel. All four starters must be replaced, one of whom — edge rusher Zuriah Fisher — will be lining up for future opponent USC this fall. It appears that redshirt seniors Siale Taupaki and Keanu Williams will be the starting defen- sive tackles after their transfer from UCLA in January. At 326 and 317 pounds, respectively, they'll present a very different look to Penn State's opponents than was the case during the James Franklin era. Franklin's coaching staff tended to favor lighter, quicker defensive tackles. Leading the defensive end corps are sopho- mores Yvan Kemajou and Alexander McPher- son and redshirt senior Ikenna Ezeogu. Kema- jou and McPherson are relatively untested, with the former having played primarily as a backup in 11 games during his true fresh- man season and the latter seeing action in 10 games for Colorado last year. Ezeogu is a 6-foot-5, 273-pound veteran who played in all 12 games for the Cyclones in 2025. EXPERIENCE ★★★ Penn State is very old in the middle and very young on the outside. Due to a combination of redshirts and eli- gibility waivers, Taupaki and Williams have spent a combined total of 12 years in college. There can't be a more experienced defensive tackle tandem in the country. The defensive end corps, however, boasts very little proven productivity. Seven of the nine scholarship defensive ends on Penn State's 2026 roster have either freshman or sophomore eligibility. Ezeogu is the lone se- nior, and the lone junior — Mason Robinson — has yet to see action for the Lions. DEPTH ★★ The Lions will probably be fine in the middle, even though Taupaki was slowed by an injury this spring. The concern is on the outside, where the backups are almost entirely un- proven. Redshirt sophomore Max Granville has been hailed as a potential difference- maker, but he missed last season with a torn ACL and was slowed this spring by a back injury. Sophomore LaVar Arrington II has changed positions from linebacker to defen- sive end, while Jackson Ford and Dayshaun Burnett are both freshmen. OVERALL GRADE ★★★ Penn State's defensive front has frequently been a team strength, and that could again be the case even with all the changes. Interior players like Williams, Taupaki and redshirt sophomore Armstrong Nnodim bring their own athletic gifts and boast varying degrees of quickness, agility and explosiveness. The dif- ference from previous years is that coordina- tor D'Anton Lynn and his position coaches will clearly trade a bit of athleticism for size, power and length on the inside. At defensive end, the Lions will be banking on versatility. To operate Lynn's scheme, PSU needs multifaceted players at the defensive end spots who, along with their traditional as- signments, can play inside the tackles or drop into coverage. Granville would be a great fit for that role, but he'll have to get healthy first. This is an area in which the Lions would like to have gotten more help out of the transfer portal. PERSONNEL POSITION COACHES Ikaika Malloe (defensive tackles): After spending the past four seasons as an as- sistant at UCLA, Malloe has taken charge of Penn State's defensive front following Deion Barnes' move to South Carolina. Malloe coached the Bruins' outside linebackers and served as special teams coordinator before moving to oversee the defensive line in 2023. He arrived in Los Angeles following a six-year stint at Wash- ington, his alma mater, from 2016-21. During his playing career with the Huskies, he was a decorated safety and outside linebacker. After D'Anton Lynn left UCLA for USC following the 2023 season, Malloe was promoted to defensive coordinator. That tenure was cut short when the Bruins fired head coach DeShaun Foster last Sep- tember and dismissed Malloe two days later. Christian Smith (defensive ends): Like Malloe, Smith is getting set for his first season as a member of Penn State's staff. He's been on a quick ascent up the coach- ing ladder. A defensive line coach at South Dakota State for six years, he made the jump to Northwestern ahead of the 2023 season. Prior to his time with the Wildcats, Smith was considered a critical component of the Jackrabbits' climb to the 2022 FCS championship. His group ranked first in the FCS in rushing yards allowed (88.1 per game), while also surrendering only 274.1 total yards per contest. RETURNING SCHOLARSHIP PLAYERS Defensive Tackle LIAM ANDREWS R-So. | 6-4 | 276 • Played in four games as a redshirt freshman, totaling 4 tackles. • Did not see action in 2024 while mov- ing from the offensive line to the de- fensive front. TY BLANDING R-Jr. | 6-1 | 301 • Saw action in all 13 games last fall, finishing with 9 tackles, including 2 for loss. • Played in six games as a redshirt fresh- man, compiling 3 tackles, including 1 for loss. BY THE NUMBERS 7 Years since super senior defensive tackle Siale Taupaki first enrolled in college. Taupaki arrived at UCLA in June 2019. He redshirted as a true fresh- man, received a bonus year of eligibility due to COVID, and later was granted a medical waiver after missing nearly all of the 2021 and '22 seasons with an injury. 142.5 Rushing yards per game allowed by Penn State in 2025. The Lions finished 56th in the FBS in that category, a steep plunge from 2024 when they gave up only 101.9 yards and finished ninth. 217th Elijah Reeder's rank among all prospects nationally in the class of 2026, per the Rivals Industry Ranking. Reeder, a consensus four-star edge rusher from Central Regional High in Bayville, N.J., was the top-rated signee in Penn State's class. Sophomore Yvan Kemajou is set to start at defensive end after totaling 5 tackles for loss in his first season with the Nittany Lions. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS