Sunday Column: Nittany Lions Open With a W Thanks to Persistent and Surprisingly Prolific D

The offenses made it look like the first game of the season. Penn State’s offense had 2 (!!) rushing yards and 43 total yards at halftime, and minus-2 (!!) rushing yards through the first three quarters. Wisconsin’s offense turned the ball over three times in Penn State territory. The Nittany Lions missed a 23-yard field goal and an extra point; the Badgers had a 25-yard field-goal try blocked. The teams combined for 13 punts and 11 three-and-outs.

All of those numbers, and the utter lack of offensive rhythm by either preseason top-20 squad, however, also help tell another, perhaps more important story: The defenses did not look like they were playing in the first game of the season. And, in a mild upset, Penn State’s was the defense that carried the day in Saturday’s 16-10 win in Camp Randall.

Wisconsin returned eight starters from a defense that led the conference in yardage allowed and was third in points allowed (albeit in seven games) and, despite inside linebacker Leo Chenal being a late scratch after testing positive for COVID-19, the Badgers lived up to that standard, putting constant pressure on Sean Clifford and his offensive line with a mix of stunts and pressure from various angles and forcing Penn State’s running backs to work hard just to get back to the line of scrimmage.

Penn State’s defense opened with a tackle in the backfield from defensive end Arnold Ebiketie, who wasted zero time introducing himself to a large chunk of the Nittany Lion fan base and Wisconsin running back Chez Mellusi. It would not be his last disruptive play of the game (he had the aforementioned field-goal block), nor would he be the only transfer player to come up with a big play for the defense; in the final three minutes of the game, former Lackawanna College safeties Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown had as many interceptions (two) as Penn State safeties had in all nine games of 2020.

Did the Nittany Lions bend? Certainly; the Badgers ran for 174 yards, piled up 29 first downs and possessed the ball for almost 43 minutes. That bending was to be expected given the struggles of Penn State’s offense in the first half, the humidity of the afternoon and Brisker and Ebiketie both missing extended time with minor injuries. What was not expected but was a welcome result was the way the defense locked down when the Badgers threatened to score; Wisconsin crossed the Penn State 10-yard line three times Saturday but crossed the goal line just once.

Penn State’s revamped front seven didn’t exactly enjoy a feeding frenzy on quarterback Graham Mertz, sacking him only twice in 37 attempts. What the defense did do was make Mertz move around or out of the pocket and give him different looks both around the line and in the secondary. Corners Tariq Castro-Fields, Joey Porter and Kalen King were quietly sticky in coverage, allowing some contested catches to wideout Danny Davis and tight end Jake Ferguson but rarely giving Mertz enticing targets. The Nittany Lions flooded the middle of the field with bodies on Wisconsin’s two late possessions in the red zone; Brisker’s pick was a pass attempt to Ferguson, but, with Brown in tight coverage, Mertz would have had to make an unbelievable throw to hit him even if Brisker hadn’t jumped the route. The pick by Brown (who just missed another earlier interception in the game) a possession later was closer to two other Nittany Lions than it was to any Wisconsin receiver.

It was the sort of aggressive, downhill play from Penn State’s safeties that has been missing from Brent Pry defenses that have been stout in most other areas. With a playmaker like Brisker playing center field and athletes like Porter, Castro-Fields, and King on the perimeter, opposing quarterbacks are going to have to be mindful of where they go with the ball. And if Ebiketie and Jesse Luketa can provide the same kind of edge pressure they did Saturday on a consistent basis, those quarterbacks won’t have much time to be mindful. The Nittany Lions will likely encounter more potent passing attacks than the one they saw in Madison, but they shouldn’t have to hold many more teams to 10 points to win this fall, nor should they be expected to.

It is a credit to Ebiketie, Brisker, and Brown that they have been able to make this sort of impact at college football’s highest level after arriving, at varying junctures over the last few years, from other programs. It is a credit to Pry and the defensive assistant coaches that they’ve been able to fit those players and their respective skill sets into the larger defense, which lost a good chunk of talent up front over the last two seasons but looked as formidable Saturday as it had at any point in those two seasons. Did Wisconsin leave more than a few points on the field? Absolutely. But for game one, on the road, the defense showed that it has plenty of room to grow and is also pretty solid and pretty dynamic already, which is huge even when you don’t consider how unevenly the offense played.

The Nittany Lions won the game, which is ultimately what matters most to the players, staff, and fans. If you believe that these sorts of gritty, one-possession road victories foster resolve and confidence — both qualities found in short supply until late November last year — then Saturday’s win wasn’t just the first of the year but also a potential building block for a truly significant season.

We don’t yet know if this Penn State defense will be special, but we know after Saturday that, for the first time in a long time, it could be, and that might be just as encouraging as the final numbers on the scoreboard.