As good as the Penn State defense has been, they expect to continue to grow week in and week out.
After a top-flight defense in 2014, the Nittany Lions have continued to hang their hat on the defensive side of the ball through eight weeks of football.
The architect of the defense? Bob Shoop, second-year defensive coordinator.
Shoop’s defense features one of the most disruptive defensive lines in college football, now-headlined by senior defensive end and former walk-on Carl Nassib, who leads the country in sacks (13.5) and tackles for a loss (17.5). The dynamic duo of tackles Anthony Zettel and Austin Johnson have complemented each other well, combining for 84 tackles, with nine for a loss, respectively.
The linebacker unit suffered a crushing blow in the opening game versus Temple as junior linebacker Nyeem Wartman-White went down with a undisclosed season-ending injury. Luckily for Penn State, a star has emerged while filling the shoes of their lost leader in the middle. Jason Cabinda has stepped up as the vocal leader of the group in just his sophomore season. Cabinda has started all eight games, shifting from will to mike linebacker in place of Wartman-White, and has picked up a team-high 61 tackles, while serving as the liaison for the entire unit, getting play calls to his fellow players. Alongside Cabinda has been Troy Reeder, taking Cabinda’s spot as starting will linebacker. Reeder, a sophomore as well, has delivered crushing tackles all season, picking up 46 on the season, including 5.5 for a loss.
In the secondary, young contributors have made their presence felt. Freshman and sophomore cornerbacks John Reid Grant Haley each have two interceptions have 18 tackles on the season. Starting defensive back Trevor Williams made his first interception against Maryland, while picking up 18 tackles himself on the season.
A rough two-game stretch against mobile quarterbacks has taken a toll on a team that’s slated to play two more games before a Nov. 14 bye week.
On the weekly Penn State coaches teleconference, Shoop spoke about the recent slippage in productivity, play of the his unit in big moments, and more. Read excerpts of the Q&A below.
On improving missed tackles:
“Where we need to improve is eliminating big plays, plays that last year were eight to 10 or 12 to 15 yards have now become 18 to 20. That is continuing to work on pursuit and tackling. We’ve met our tackling grade during five out of the eight weeks, but it was just the last couple weeks that we’ve done a poor job as it relates to tackling.
I promise you that we are continuing to work to be the defense everyone wants to see by flying to the football with a bad attitude and a bad mindset and being good tacklers. We aren’t the first guy to miss a tackle on Ezekiel Elliott or JT Barrett. I can promise you that. And we won’t be the last. And last week, with some of the quarterback run pieces, we need to do a better job on that, as well.”
On stepping up in crucial moments:
“With the playing winning football piece, we’ve sat here a lot of times and said the defense played really well, but didn’t end up winning the game. I thought last week was a great example of playing well when the game was on the line and stepping up in the fourth quarter with five-straight three-and-outs. We had three takeaways in the fourth quarter. We had two fourth down stops and executed exceptionally well during the clock situation. To me, I like stats and I like numbers because they tell a story and share a picture, but the story of last week’s game was playing winning football and stepping up when the game was on the line. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys doing that.”
On Cabinda and Reeder:
“When Nyeem went down against Temple, on the bus ride back, Jason said put me in there, I got this. That’s kind of his personality. To me, he brings some things to the table that I’ve seen very, very few guys have. As good of a player as Mike Hull was, Jason has some of the leadership qualities at that position – from the personality to the vocalness to the commanding his troops – that is very rare and special to us. He has emerged as a significant leader on the defensive side as a very young player. When we moved Jason inside, we had to elevate Troy and Troy is a guy who had a really good spring. When his opportunity came about, he has risen to the challenge and played at a pretty high level during his first seven career starts. … these guys are young players and the future is very bright for Penn State and the Penn State defense.”
On the play of his defensive line:
“Up front, the d-line is the deepest position on the team. The success they have played with this year demonstrates that. We talked about before the season that a guy like Carl Nassib could emerge. And he sure has. To me, he deserves every ounce of recognition he is getting. He continues to stay humble. He continues to work hard. He continues to prepare. We need him to play at a super high level as the season goes on.”
