Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547107
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 6 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M units graded out at midseason, with Penn State 3-3 overall and 0-3 in Big Ten play. Defensive Line Lynn offered a blunt assessment after the Northwestern loss. Injuries had lim- ited super senior defensive tackle Siale Taupaki and redshirt senior defensive end Ikenna Ezeogu, but the coordinator was still caught off-guard by how thoroughly the Wildcats' offensive line dominated his unit at the point of attack. "What surprised me was just the line of scrimmage," Lynn said. "I don't know if we won the line of scrimmage once. We didn't lose every time, but we didn't win at all. We weren't getting knockback, and it was really just controlling the A and the B gaps, whether it was with our D- line, whether it was with our run fits, or whether it was missed tackles. "A lot of it starts with missed tackles. There were definitely some runs that creased, and there were a lot of runs that could have been 2-, 3-, 4-yard gains that went for 20-plus yards because of missed tackles. Then there were some runs that should have been 8-, 9-, 10-yard gains that went for 30-plus because of missed tackles." At the season's midpoint, Penn State's starting defensive tackle duo of redshirt senior Keanu Williams and Taupaki had 14 and 13 tackles, respectively, with Tau- paki notching 1.5 tackles for loss. The team's starting defensive ends — Ezeogu and sophomore Yvan Kemajou — had 11 and 13 tackles, respectively. Defensive linemen do not always pile up tackles, but Penn State needs more from its pass rush. The Nittany Lions had just 8 sacks through six games, and most came from the linebackers. Redshirt junior Tony Rojas accounted for 4, while senior Kooper Ebel and soph- omore Alex Tatsch had 1 apiece. The de- fensive line produced the others, with redshirt senior Caleb Bacon and Kemajou each recording 1 sack. Official statistics credited Kemajou and Ezeogu with 4 quarterback hurries apiece and sopho- more defensive end Alexander McPher- son with 2. Grade: D Linebacker Rojas has been Penn State's best and most consistent defender through the first half of the season. The fourth-year player has largely returned to form after a season-ending ACL injury last fall, giv- ing Lynn a versatile athlete he can count on. Rojas led the team with 44 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 2 inter- ceptions through six games. The rest of the linebacker group has struggled with inconsistency and inju- ries. Tatsch, who was also returning from an injury sustained last season, played limited snaps against Wisconsin and Northwestern before missing the USC game. Redshirt freshman Cam Smith has not played since the opener against Mar- shall due to an unspecified injury. With Tatsch and Smith limited, Penn State has been forced to ask Rojas and Ebel to carry much of the workload, with junior Cael Brezina providing depth. Ebel ranked second on the team with 36 tack- les at midseason. Ebel struggled against Northwestern and had another tough night against USC. Lynn has stressed the need for more consistent play from the group. Grade: C Secondary Penn State's defensive backfield has been a study in contrasts. Redshirt senior cornerback Audavion Collins is playing the best football of his career, leading a promising position group that also in- cludes sophomore Daryus Dixson and redshirt freshman Jahmir Joseph. Ver- satile true freshman Josiah Zayas and senior safety/nickel Zion Tracy have also contributed in coverage. The safeties have generally supported the run well, but seniors Jamison Patton and Jeremiah Cooper and junior Mar- cus Neal Jr. have struggled at times in pass coverage. Cooper is returning from an injury and getting back up to speed, but Lynn has called for more consistency throughout the unit while acknowledg- ing that breakdowns in front of them have made their jobs harder. "Safety play has been good, but it needs to just be more consistent," Lynn said. "That's a position where you can't afford to make some mistakes that the guys up front can. Guys up front can make a mistake and it gets covered up by the linebackers. Linebackers make mistakes, and it gets covered up by the safeties. The safeties make mistakes, and there's no one to make up for them." Grade: C Audavion Collins led Penn State with 8 pass breakups through six games, helping make cornerback the defense's stron- gest position group. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL