Clifford, McSorley, Hackenberg: Former Penn State QBs talk shop
Penn State lettermen Christian Hackenberg, Trace McSorley and Sean Clifford answered audience questions during an NIL event before the annual Blue-White game.
The Penn State football defense was the best in the nation last year at tackling opponents behind the line of scrimmage.
The Nittany Lions led the FBS in sacks. They led the country in tackles for loss. They even were No. 1 in stopping the run.
But they can be better. And they probably should be in the fast-approaching 2024 season in the expanded Big Ten.
As in more timely, more impactful and even better at making big plays in the backfield. All because they should be better at defensive end — the position where they must replace an All-American at one spot and a team-leading 16 tackles for loss at the other.
Better than they were with Chop Robinson (fist-round NFL Draft pick) manning one edge and Adisa Isaac (third-round pick) at the other.
That’s the key to this all.
Because as good as those two were, Penn State’s ever-important defensive end group is deeper now. It might be even more talented and certainly could be more productive overall.
Take Robinson. While he was a relentless, menacing rusher, he still missed more than three games last season (injury, opt-out) and was a bit surprisingly unproductive when he did play (four sacks, 7.5 TFLs).
Overall, the defense was steady but unspectacular in Penn State’s three biggest games: losses to Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss.
How Dani Dennis-Sutton, Amin Vanover, Jameial Lyons lift up Penn State football
The most visible on those days was Dani Dennis-Sutton, who will finally become an every-down, full-time starter this season. The former 5-star recruit owns the talent to equal both of his predecessors.
And that’s just the beginning.
Last year, Abdul Carter was a standout linebacker but figures to surge with his move to defensive end. He’s now in position to do what he does best: Go after the quarterback and cause havoc in the backfield.
The backups, though, are what truly make this the best rotational defensive end group in the country. Sophomore Jameial Lyons is one of the nation’s top young edge prospects, flying after quarterbacks as if shot from a cannon. Junior Amin Vanover seems ready for a breakout season with his impressive size and length (6-foot-4, 270 pounds).
Then there’s junior Zuriah Fisher (16 tackles, three sacks), who was nearly as productive as Robinson last season, and sixth-year senior Smith Vilbert, who’s back from injury after breaking the school record for sacks in a bowl game three years ago.
Can any other defense possibly go six-deep on the edge with this kind of experience and ability?
Does any other have four standout defensive tackles for support; guys who’ve made a combined 46 starts?
Penn State must be able take advantage of this scenario and press the action in the most effective way possible. Meaning that a rotation of fresh, talented edge rushers should be able tire out offensive lines and make big plays later in games.
Meaning that while numbers are important, like how Penn State’s 3.8 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss per game led the nation last year, they only tell part of the story.
Penn State’s defense can take the next step by making the plays to win the most critical games on the schedule.
To give the Nittany Lions a shot at their first Big Ten title in eight years.
To get a playoff bid for the first time.
That’s what is at stake. And now, more than ever, the Lions have more reasons at one crucial spot to finally make it happen.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.