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

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STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 10: Curtis Jacobs #23 of the Penn State Nittany Lions reacts before a play against the Ohio Bobcats during the first half at Beaver Stadium on September 10, 2022 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

LB Curtis Jacobs

Curtis Jacobs is arguably Penn State’s best linebacker, and the team will need him to live up to that title against Minnesota.

As with the defensive tackles, it will be on the linebackers to help stop the Minnesota running attack. Michigan’s success last week was just as much on the linebackers as it was the defensive tackles.

There were numerous missed tackles and poor angles taken against Michigan’s running backs. A repeat of that against Mohamed Ibrahim, arguably the conference’s best running back, would spell trouble for the Nittany Lions.

Jacobs is the leader of this group and a big day from him could inspire the rest of the unit to play with their hair on fire.

It would also be huge if someone from this unit could force a fumble and give a struggling Penn State offense a short field to work with. This group, notably Jacobs, played incredibly well against Auburn.

If Jacobs and the rest of the linebackers can replicate their performance against Auburn, Penn State will have a ton of success in this game. His ability to rush the passer and also play the run makes him so valuable to this team.

Jacobs has the talent to be the next great one at LBU, a big game in a White Out would certainly help that case.

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