Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547542
3 8 D E C E M B E R 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 P enn State head coach Matt Camp- bell recognized how far his de- fense had fallen during the open- ing weeks of Big Ten play. The challenge was turning stretches of good football into complete performances. Coordinator D'Anton Lynn's group struggled badly at Northwestern to open October, but its performances against Wisconsin, USC and Michigan offered reasons for encouragement, even as the losses accumulated. Against the Badgers, freshman cor- nerback Josiah Zayas delivered a 51-yard pick six, sophomore cornerback Daryus Dixson followed with an interception and return deep into the red zone on the next possession, and redshirt junior linebacker Tony Rojas intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter. Against USC, Penn State stayed within reach for most of the night be- fore falling 31-23. The Trojans scored 14 points after halftime, including their final touchdown in the fourth quarter. At Michigan, Penn State held the Wol- verines scoreless in the first half, with senior nickel Zion Tracy and Zayas each intercepting passes before U-M head coach Kyle Whittingham changed quar- terbacks at halftime. Those promising stretches did not last. All four games ended in losses and included second-half defensive let- downs. The low point was a 34-13 defeat at Northwestern in which Penn State allowed 413 rushing yards. Michigan gained 174 of its 211 rushing yards after halftime. "The hard part for all of us is there is a lot of good, and you see the growth that's happening around the good, and yet there are some things that continue to show up that I think, from a frustra- tion standpoint, that's where it starts with us as coaches. How do we help our- selves?" Campbell said. "The Michigan game is a great example. We played great run defense in the first half of that foot- ball game, and then they rush for about 150 yards in the second half. Why does that happen? How do we get off-kilter? "There are some areas that continue to show up [and underscore] why we haven't made that next step of playing great in the second half." Since the late-October bye, Penn State has shown improvement in consecutive wins. After allowing Northwestern, USC and Michigan to average 7.5, 4.3 and 6.0 yards per carry, respectively, the Lions held Purdue to 33 rushing yards and 2.2 per attempt. Washington averaged 5.4 per carry, but Penn State limited the Huskies to a 4-of-12 showing on third downs. The second-half problems resurfaced at Washington, where a 28-6 halftime lead dwindled to a 28-25 victory. Still, the defense kept the Huskies out of the end zone until late in the third quarter, showing the kind of play Campbell wants to sustain. "I still believe this: If you play defense and you can run the football, that travels, and it travels in any weather," he said. "At the end of the day, that's always been our philosophy. We've been really good at that no matter where we've been. Get- ting our team to that point and building PROGRESS REPORT DEFENSE Strong cornerback play has been PSU's greatest strength this season NAT E BAU E R | N AT E . B A U E R @ O N 3 . C O M Redshirt junior linebacker Tony Rojas led Penn State with 66 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks through nine games. He also had 2 interceptions and a forced fumble. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT