Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/904141
T H E 2 0 1 7 S E A S O N THE BEGINNING OF THE ENDS Shaka Toney and his fellow freshmen are on an even faster track than expected as injuries add up on PSU's defensive front haka Toney was resolute. Fresh off a dominant performance at North- western, the Nittany Lions' redshirt freshman defensive end found him- self urged by Penn State's strategic communi- cations personnel to meet with the media. He refused. Twice, Toney had sacked Northwestern quar- terback Clayton Thorson for critical losses even though he had played only 13 snaps in the game. One of the sacks forced a fumble that ended up in the hands of fellow defensive end Ryan Buch- holz. The other dropped Thorson for an 8-yard loss in the final moments of the first half to move the Wildcats out of field goal range. But despite being one of the game's undeni- able stars, Toney wanted no part of having mi- crophones and cameras pushed in front of his face. And, were it not for the influence of teammates Buchholz and Shareef Miller, Toney just might have gotten his wish. Instead, escorted out into the packs of as- sembled media, Toney lingered against the metal barriers underneath the end zone stands at Ryan Field. Asked to describe how much the performance might have lifted his confidence moving forward, he said it hadn't affected it in any way. His mindset? "Same as always: up- beat, high confidence. [There's] nothing, re- ally, that gives me more confidence," he said. "I feel like I did my job well, and my teammates and the rest of my D-line helped me make that happen." During the first half of Penn State's season, that job was about as straightforward as it gets on the Lions' defensive line. He wasn't asked to drop into pass cov- erage or handle run-stopping du- ties. Toney's job was to enter the game in obvious passing situations and make the quarterback's life miserable. Although the breakout against Northwestern was the first multi-sack game of Toney's young career, he had already produced a tackle for loss in the season opener against Akron and a sack against Georgia State to wrap up the non- conference portion of the schedule. He had shined in limited action, leading the Nittany Lions with four sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss as the team cruised to a 7-0 start. In fact, Toney's specialization paid huge div- idends for the Nittany Lions, as half of his tackles to that point in the season were for negative yardage. The template wouldn't last, though. With starting defensive end Torrence Brown already lost for the season due to a knee injury he suffered in week three, the Lions' depth dwindled even further when Buchholz exited the Ohio State game on the Buckeyes' first play from scrimmage. Buchholz's injury threw the Nittany Lions' rotation into chaos, as defensive line coach Sean Spencer and coordinator Brent Pry were forced to expand Toney's role dra- matically. Toney finished with only two tackles on the afternoon, as the Lions fell to the Buckeyes, 39-38, but he nearly doubled his previous sea- son-high in snaps played. Left with few other choices, head coach James Franklin lamented the trial-by-fire situation in which Toney found himself. "Shaka probably played too many plays on Saturday, but it was the situation we were in," Franklin said. "We have to continue developing those guys and get some of the veteran guys back. Some of those injuries are starting to add up for us a little bit at certain positions." S |