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Introduction
Throughout all the ebbs and flows of James Franklin’s eventful tenure at Penn State, the one constant year after year has been the Nittany Lions steady and strong defense (2020 notwithstanding, cough). No different in 2022. Despite all the off-season upheaval (losing 5 defenders in the NFL Draft, losing folksy-sounding DC Brent Pry to Virginia Tech, and bringing in a complete outsider in Manny Diaz) this year’s Penn State defense did more than maintain the status quo. They set a new standard of excellence.
Dominant but in a different way, Diaz’s defense leaned on arguably the best secondary in program history so that the front seven could unleash absolute chaos at the line of scrimmage. The result? A savage Saturday symphony of sacks, strips, and swats. Man, it was beautiful, wasn’t it? But don’t just take my word for it…the basic and advanced defensive stats from this season back all of that up. Let’s dive in.
