Blue White Illustrated

If they're doing it right – and there is ample reason to believe that they are – game day should be one of the easier days of the week for the members of Penn State's defensive line. The unit's position coach, Sean Spencer, is a high-energy guy, and the same is true of Spencer's boss, James Franklin. Players say the two coaches have set a tempo in practice that makes games much easier to cope with. "We practice hard every play," redshirt sophomore defensive end Garrett Sickels said earlier this week. "The games are easier. That's Franklin's philosophy. If we practice hard every play, the games will take care of themselves." That approach has been yielding some impressive results, as Penn State's de- fensive line has been nothing short of ferocious through four games. The Nit- tany Lions are only surrendering 90.5 rushing yards per game, which is 14th- best in the Football Bowl Subdivision. And as effective as they've been against opposing linemen and running backs, they've cracked down even harder on opposing quarterbacks. Penn State's 18 sacks heading into this weekend's games lead the nation, and those sacks have resulted in huge losses – 148 yards total. The next-closest FBS team is Florida with 108 yards in losses on 14 sacks. Senior defensive end Carl Nassib is re- sponsible for seven sacks, the most in the nation, and he ranks third nationally with nine tackles for loss. Redshirt junior defensive tackle Austin Johnson is tied for the team lead with 23 tackles, includ- ing six tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, and he turned in the play of the game last week against San Diego State, returning a fumble 71 yards for a touchdown. Sen- ior defensive tackle Anthony Zettel has 19 tackles including five tackles for loss, while Sickels has two tackles for loss and a sack. The defensive line's early-season suc- cess comes as no surprise to the players. They were confident going into the sea- son, and the results so far have validated their optimism. The key to their success, Sickels said, has been to expect a double- team block on every play. "With our front four going into the sea- son, we knew how good A.J. was and how good Carl was going to be, and how good we were going to be up front," he said. "But it's one of those things where you don't know who is going to get double- teamed, so you can't think about being free. You have to attack each play like you're going to get double-teamed. … You just have to go hard and make the best of every play." The Nittany Lions have been especially tough late in games, with 11 of their 18 sacks coming in the fourth quarter. It's an indication that they are wearing down their opponents. Said Sickels, "That just shows we're in good shape." It also shows that the Lions have been able to rotate in their backups effectively throughout the game. Ends Evan Schwan and Curtis Cothran and tackles Antoine White, Parker Cothren and Tarow Barney have all seen significant action in Penn State's first four games. "We've been for- tunate that we've been able to do that," Franklin said. "That's been really helpful for us. And you see young guys like An- toine White getting more and more reps and having success. That's going to help us even more." Penn State probably won't be adding substantially to its sack total this week. Army has thrown 36 passes all season, an average of nine attempts per game. But the defensive front will be tested by Army's triple-option offense, which av- erages 294.5 rushing yards per game. The key will be for players to be disciplined. Said Sickels, "Everyone has to take care of their job – defensive line, linebackers and the back end. We have to do our job every play, and we should be fine." M A T T   H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 13 First line of defense Defensive front plays crucial role in Lions' early-season success HEAT TREATMENT Sickels bears down on San Diego State quarterback Maxwell Smith. The Nittany Lions totaled five sacks in their 37-21 vic- tory over the Aztecs. Photo by Steve Manuel

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