Victory Bell Rings
Fansided

Penn State Football: Reviewing the year on defense

By Barry Leonard Jr.

STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 21: Kevin Givens #30 and Shareef Miller #48 of the Penn State Nittany Lions sack John O'Korn #8 of the Michigan Wolverines in the second half on October 21, 2017 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 21: Kevin Givens #30 and Shareef Miller #48 of the Penn State Nittany Lions sack John O'Korn #8 of the Michigan Wolverines in the second half on October 21, 2017 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Penn State football put up some impressive numbers on defense in 2017.

Heading into the new season it was expected that the Penn State defense would see a bit of a drop. Replacing both defensive ends and a key linebacker is never an easy task. Fortunately, there were several players ready to step in. Those guys, along with the veterans, made the Nittany Lions one of the better defenses in the country.

Moving the ball against the Penn State defense proved to be difficult for much of the season. Outside of the losses to Ohio State and Michigan State, Penn State prevented teams from racking up much yardage. Overall, the Nittany Lions finished 17th in the nation, allowing 330 yards a game.

The Nittany Lions ranked 14th with 118 yards allowed on the ground per game. Stopping the run was the strong point of the Penn State defense.

If there was a glaring weakness on defense it was stopping opposing teams through the air. The Nittany Lions ranked 47th by allowing 211 yards per game. They really struggled to stop the pass against Ohio State, Michigan State and Nebraska. All three teams racked up over 300 yards through the air against the Nittany Lions.

More from Victory Bell Rings

An area Penn State really shone in was keeping teams out of the end zone. The Nittany Lions allowed a seventh-best 16.5 points a game. That mark was good enough for second in the Big Ten.

Penn State started the season strong by allowing just one touchdown through the first three games. The defense finished the year with two shutouts (Akron and Georgia State) and held Northwestern, Rutgers and Maryland each to seven points or less.

Senior linebacker Jason Cabinda led the way for the Nittany Lions all season and consistently performed as on of the best players on defense. He finished with a team-high 88 total tackles. Fellow senior, safety Marcus Allen, finished second on the team with 72 total tackles. Linebacker Brandon Smith, a former walk-on, was third with 62 total tackles.

Shareef Miller, who claimed one of the starting defensive end positions, had a very strong season and ended the year with a team-high five sacks. His 11 tackles for loss also led the team.

Defensive coordinator Brent Pry did an excellent job this season in keeping his defensive unit in the conversation of one of the best in the nation. The strong play on defense set the tone in several games and helped to propel the Nittany Lions to a No. 9 ranking after the close of the regular season.

Penn State had a very successful 11-win season in 2017, and while the prolific offense received most of the attention, the defense had a very good season of its own.

Home/Penn State Football