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P enn State's defensive line has played a high-profile role in games this season – both good and bad. The Nittany Lions had sacked the op- posing quarterback 27 times through their first nine games, tied for No. 23 na- tionally, and all of those sacks had come in victories. Of that total, 21 were attrib- utable to the defensive line. Additionally, Penn State had allowed 1,497 yards on the ground heading into its visit to Indiana, with nearly half of that total coming in the Nittany Lions' two losses on the year. In their consecutive victories over Minnesota, Maryland, Ohio State, Pur- due and Iowa, the Lions averaged 3.4 sacks per game while limiting opponents to just over 128 rushing yards per game. Redshirt freshman defensive end Ryan Buchholz said the unit's steadily improving depth has helped hasten its improve- ment. "In the games, it's extremely helpful because of how fresh people are. When I first go in I've got fresh legs, and if Gar- rett [Sickels] needs a blow, or Shareef [Miller] needs a blow, then someone with fresh legs can come in. That's why we never have to step back, we always reload," Buchholz said. "I think it's extremely helpful to have a fresh D-line in because that's kind of the starting point for every play on defense, so I think it's awesome that we play as many guys as we do." Buchholz said the competitive nature of the defensive line has allowed the Nittany Lions to mix and match in prac- tice to better prepare players for contin- uous substitutions on game day. "In practice, sometimes I'm with the ones, sometimes I'm with the twos, sometimes I'm with the threes," he said. "It's like that for everyone. You just throw people in there, because you never know what situation you're going to be in, who you're going to need in a game." Defensive end Torrence Brown echoed Buchholz's thoughts on the importance of having fresh legs in the trenches. Against Purdue, Penn State used 14 de- fensive linemen. A week later against Iowa, it used 11. That depth helped the Nittany Lions hold the Boilermakers to seven points in the second half of a 62-24 victory in West Lafayette. And Penn State clamped down even harder on Iowa, holding the Hawkeyes to 30 rushing yards, 138 yards below their average. Brown, a redshirt sophomore, said he's been happy to see so many of his team- mates getting significant playing time. "I think it's fun to see so many guys go in, younger guys, and older guys," he said. "We're always fresh when we go in, it's a great thing. We never lose a beat. No matter who's in there, we all have confidence in each other. It's really fun to play with that type of alignment." Windsor and Parker Cothren on the field at the same time, two guys who are tech- nically both noses, but we put Windsor at the three-technique to get a little bit more size on the field. Kevin [Givens] has been able to put some size on since get- ting here, but he's still somewhat of an undersized defensive tackle. So being able to rotate those things and give those guys a number, but also put them in position to be successful, is important." As for the defensive line's overall im- provement, Franklin sees no reason to overthink it. To the Lions' third-year coach, it's simply a matter of "having success, being coached hard, being really demanding on those guys, and those guys gaining in confidence and experience and [knowing] what to expect. "They've realized that they can be good, individually and collectively," he said. "When you have success, your confi- dence grows every single day, and those guys are doing that." ■ | Depth is key to Nittany Lions' improvement GIVING CHASE Brown (19) pressures Pur- due quarterback David Blough. Photo by Steve Manuel

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