Penn State Football: 2017 Fiesta Bowl Position Grades
Secondary
A unit that didn’t receive much press all year until Ohio State and Michigan State shredded it, displayed a season-long progression. Against Washington, the defensive secondary didn’t record any major stats, but they stuck to UW’s playmakers like glue.
They heard all week about Dante Pettis and his game-breaking speed, and he made just one catch for 40 yards. Senior safety Marcus Allen cleaned up the traffic to lead the team in tackles with 7 in his final game. Fellow seniors Grant Haley and Christian Campbell added four more stops each.
Safeties Troy Apke and Nick Scott combined for five tackles and rounded out a quality showing on defense. What all these stats come down to is that the defensive backs made tackle when receivers made the catch. That sounds so simple and basic, but for a secondary trying to limit one of the most efficient passing attacks in the country it’s just sound secondary play.
A lot of this group will graduate or head to NFL, but one things for sure, they deserve high marks for a much-improved year.