Penn State Football: 3 players who will need to have a big day against Minnesota

Defensive tackles not named P.J. Mustipher

Penn State football was just flat out dominated by Michigan at the line of scrimmage last week.

The Wolverines had 418 rushing yards and were able to do whatever they wanted on offense against Penn State.

With the Nittany Lions playing another team with a strong offensive line and great running backs, the same alarm bells are ringing again.

James Franklin commented on his defensive line after the game, saying the team needs to get bigger upfront. Well, each guy is not going to add 15 pounds before this Saturday, so that tactic won’t work right now.

P.J. Mustipher is a fantastic defensive tackle and is also the Nittany Lions biggest defensive tackle. He is the leader of this group and has played well, it’s time for the others to follow suit.

This is a deep unit that will rotate as many as six or seven guys during a game. They may not have the size Mustipher does, but these guys have talent. This is going to be a physical game and they need to be ready to battle Minnesota’s solid offensive line.

It will be important for them to maintain gap discipline and not open any unnecessary running lanes for the Minnesota running backs.

If this group steps up, Penn State could win rather easily.