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DEFENSE CONTINUED FROM 11 UNDER PRESSURE Penn State five credible defensive ends. Jones has to be considered Penn State's defensive MVP so far. He's a definite contender for All-Big Ten recognition and may have played his way into the second round of the NFL Draft with his performance in the first half of the season. Redshirt freshman Austin Johnson and redshirt junior Kyle Baublitz have complemented Jones well at the onetechnique tackle position, and the coaches have to be encouraged with the play of redshirt freshman Brian Gaia. Gaia has fared quite well at nose tackle when Penn State has used a five-man front. That was especially true in the game against Michigan. If Penn State is to bounce back from its trouncing at Ohio State, the defensive line will have to elevate its performance and take some inspiration from Jones. Barnes needs to provide a more effective outside pass rush. Johnson and Baublitz must keep complementing Jones at the one-technique tackle position, and Olaniyan and Zettel need to build upon their encouraging efforts in the first half of the season. If all that happens, Penn State's front four can become the consistently effective unit it was expected to be at the start of the season. LINEBACKER These are probably the most difficult defensive positions to evaluate coming out of the Ohio State game. Outside linebackers Mike Hull and Nyeem Wartman have been playing hurt much of the season and have not been able to fulfill their potential. Hull suffered a knee injury in the opener against Syracuse and missed two of the Lions' first seven games. He's been getting better, however, as evidenced by his performance against Michigan. In the third overtime period, he was caught in man-to-man coverage against the Wolverines' 6-foot-6, 250pound freshman tight end Jake Butts inside the 5-yard line. Hull handled the coverage perfectly. He watched Butts' eyes, jumped, and knocked down Devin Gardner's flat pass just as it arrived on Butts' fingertips. O C T O B E R Jones has been Penn State's most effective defensive player this season. Bill Anderson Wartman has played in all seven games, but in the majority of them, his left shoulder was tightly wrapped. It's not known when Wartman injured his shoulder. Like Hull, he played a strong game against Michigan, finishing with eight tackles. But neither he nor any of Penn State's outside linebackers were able to do much to slow down Ohio State. The one starter who has been physically ready to play the entire season has been middle linebacker Glenn Carson. The senior is Penn State's leading tackler heading into Saturday's game against Illinois, having made 55 stops, including four tackles for loss. Next to Jones, he has been the most dominant player on the defense. The area where Carson has improved the most from his junior season is in pass coverage. Last season, he was almost always taken out of the game in third-and-long situations, but he's become a three-down linebacker this year. The only way Penn State can hope to go 4-1 the rest of the way is if Carson, Hull and Wartman stay healthy. Carson 3 0 , 2 0 1 3 12 must continue his superb play. Hull must perform his playmaking ability on defense and Wartman needs to continue to grow in his role as the Sam outside linebacker. The linebacker corps also needs the boost that converted safety Stephen Obeng-Agyapong has provided. O'Brien indicated earlier this week that Obeng will be playing primarily at outside linebacker for the rest of the season. SECONDARY Statistically, the Lions are better at pass defense (fifth in the Big Ten) than run defense (seventh), but I tend to agree with the sentiment that the secondary needs more improvement than any of Penn State's defensive units. However, I'm not convinced that the cornerbacks are the biggest problem. Sophomore cornerbacks Jordan Lucas and Trevor Williams have played about as well as I expected they would, and Lucas showed in the Michigan game that he's made dramatic strides. His interception on Michigan's second offensive series showed that he has done an SEE DEFENSE PAGE 13 B LUE WH I T E ON L I N E. COM

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