Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546586
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 31 Head coach Matt Campbell has chal- lenged an unproven defensive line to become more reliable, and McPherson knows that getting his assignments right is essential to earning the trust of Campbell and defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn. "Coach Campbell talks about it a lot. The main thing is trust," McPherson said. "No missed assignments. Being where you're supposed to be. Being able to make plays within the scheme while doing your job is the main key to what he's looking for." Campbell has stressed that point throughout the offseason. All of the team's defensive ends have something to work on, whether it's learning a new position, getting stronger or returning from an injury. In the days before the Sept. 5 opener against Marshall at Beaver Stadium, Campbell liked the competition at de- fensive end but wanted to see how the group would respond in a game. "I think it's still a race, but it's a [com- petitive] race, which I think is really ex- citing," Campbell said. "We're excited about what that group looks like." Showing Promise Penn State started senior Ikenna Ezeogu and sophomore Yvan Kemajou against Marshall. Ezeogu spent the off- season taking on a new role after trans- ferring from Iowa State. He moved from Jon Heacock's 3-3-5 defense, in which he had 12 hurries last year on 306 pass- rushing snaps, to Lynn's 4-2-5 scheme, adjusting to a different front while re- taining the flexibility to play multiple roles. Meanwhile, Kemajou looked to build on a freshman season in which he played 120 pass-rushing snaps in 10 games, totaling 1 sack and 8 hurries. McPherson added weight and studied the new defense, aiming for more con- sistent play than he had shown in the spring. Redshirt sophomore Max Gran- ville returned from an injury that cost him the 2025 season and contributed a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry against Marshall. Senior Caleb Bacon took a less direct route to the position. A former Iowa State walk-on who missed most of the 2024 season with an injury, he spent the spring at linebacker before moving to the edge during preseason camp. Bacon had shown his versatility at Iowa State, and Lynn saw a chance to make greater use of it with the Nittany Lions. "He did some things on the edge in practice that made us think, Man, this guy can do more than just play inside linebacker," Lynn said. "He can set an edge on early downs, he can drop in cov- erage, he can rush. He can just do a lot of things from that position." Bacon showed what he could do in Penn State's season-opening 45-0 win against Marshall. He finished with 6 tackles, including 3 for loss and a sack, and a quarterback hurry. Penn State recorded 7 hurries as a team, four of them by defensive ends. Bacon also gave Lynn another player he could move around to suit the matchup. Redshirt junior linebacker Tony Rojas, senior nickel defender Zion Tracy, redshirt senior safety Jeremiah Cooper and junior safety Marcus Neal Jr. offer similar flexibility. Lynn saw promise in the way Bacon brought his linebacker experience to a new role. "His inside 'backer background gives him a high football IQ for a guy on the edge," Lynn said. "He's a guy you can do a lot of different things with. We're go- ing to keep on trying to be creative with how we implement him in the plan." Lynn won't judge the ends solely by their sacks, pressures or tackles for loss. Their assignments will change with each opponent, and he wants them to handle those jobs well. Stepping Forward Penn State had only 2 sacks against Marshall, but it closed off running lanes and held the Thundering Herd to 44 rushing yards. The Nittany Lions also kept quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson off balance. He threw for just 102 yards, and Marshall finished with 103 passing yards overall. "I feel like the D-line is always tough [to evaluate] because you can't just go off the stat sheet," Lynn said. "I feel like they did a lot of good things. They af- "A sack is great, but at the end of the day, it's really about winning and helping the team to the best of my ability." S O P H O M O R E D E F E N S I V E E N D A L E X M C P H E R S O N Iowa State transfer Ikenna Ezeogu started at defensive end in Penn State's 45-0 season- opening victory over Marshall and was credited with 2 quarterback hurries. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT