Amidst Penn State’s weekly existential crisis on offense, it is often glossed over that the Nittany Lions have put together an absolutely dominant defense. Forget the lack of explosive plays. Forget the challenges that Drew Allar has faced in his first year as Penn State’s starting quarterback. Forget about the receiver issues or the lack of an actual offensive coordinator. Forget about that.
Think about Chop Robinson running past offensive linemen like traffic cones. Think about Johnny Dixon and Kalen King swarming to receivers or Curtis Jacobs making the most of one final year. It’s Abdul Carter flying to the ball; Adisa Isaac swatting away blockers. Think about 13.1 points per game, 239.7 yards per game. Think about 41 sacks, 30.37% conversion rates on third down or 83 tackles for a loss.
“Oh, it has been fun,” defensive tackle Dvon Ellies said with a grin on Saturday after Penn State’s 27-6 win over Rutgers. “I tell you what, it’s a lot of fun to put your hands on [other teams]. That’s the heart of football. You know? That’s why we all put on the pads every single day, to hit somebody and get away with it.”
Ellies’ eyes light up when you ask him about dominating another team. Whatever Penn State’s overarching woes this year might have been and continue to be, the Nittany Lions’ defense certainly isn’t one of them. Penn State has spent the year putting every team it has faced in a vice grip for most or all of the game. Sure, Penn State lost to Michigan and Ohio State, but it wasn’t because of this group. It wasn’t because defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and company didn’t show up.
But with those biggest games behind them, it is fair to wonder what gets a player up for the rest of it. Penn State is playing one final game in which the stakes are not particularly high in comparison to just a few weeks prior. Yes, the game matters, but winning is more about not losing than it is about the road ahead. Aside from the fact the Land Grant Trophy exists there is nothing to be won next Friday in Detroit against Michigan State and no transformational ticket to be punched. And so close to a bowl game, the offseason and the NFL Draft, some groups might just want to try a little less hard and call it a day.
And honestly given some of Penn State’s offensive struggles, you couldn’t really blame Penn State’s defense if they threw their collective hands in the air and mailed it in.
But then you’d be missing the core of what makes this group so good. Sometimes you forget that football players like playing football. That sometimes the standard matters.
“There’s a lot of people who just go out there to play. We actually love playing football and playing together,” Ellies said. “That’s the heart of our defense and how we operate with each other. That’s the true love of football. Regardless of what happens — coming back [from a loss] we love the football. That’s exactly what we came here to do, to play football and football things are gonna happen and it’s all about how you respond.
“We have an identity that we’ve set for ourselves. We have pride in the work that we put forth. We have pride in the things that we do day in and day out. So to let [an opponent] who we feel shouldn’t be playing [at our level] play with us, that’s something that we take personally just because we know exactly who we are. We know what we came to do.”
The root of this identity is a collection of things. It’s Diaz, who has embodied James Franklin’s mantra of turning his assistants into head coaches of their position groups. It’s a collection of veteran players who know the NFL is in their future and act accordingly. It’s success, too. Nothing helps hammer home coaching points quite like success. You can buy into the things that work, that’s often why it can be so much easier to maintain success that create it from scratch. Just keep that ball rolling.
Or in the case of Penn State’s defense, keep it from going anywhere at all.
“That’s what he hits on,” Penn State safety KJ Winston said of Diaz. “Do this because is all comes back to [that] you love this. You get to go out there with your guys, the guys you spend all your time with and just go out there and have fun with it. And that’s the main thing. We’re just going out there having fun … study the game plan all week to know how to do our job. So when we get to the game it’s time, but let all the nerves free. Let everything go and just have fun.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Robinson, a quiet player off the field but a loud and explosive one on it.
“It just starts with Manny Diaz,” Robinson said. “He just comes in every day, and he pushes us and we know what we’re capable of. So we just try to do what we’re capable of.”
Sometimes it’s just that simple. Then again, if simple things were easy then everyone would be good, and almost nobody is as good as this Penn State defense.
