Penn State football has a long history of success developing pass rushers. In recent years, the Nittany Lions have sent defensive ends such as Abdul Carter, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Odafe Oweh, Chop Robinson, and Adisa Isaac, among others, to the NFL. In his long tenure at Penn State, James Franklin emphasized rushing the passer by playing an aggressive style of defense.
Recent Franklin defensive coordinators such as Jim Knowles, Tom Allen, Manny Diaz, and Brent Pry were all known for their pressure packages and aggressive defenses. Occasional big plays were allowed defensively if that meant an increase in pressure, and in return, an increase in turnovers.
New defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn likes to play a lot of base defense, allowing short gains with a bend but don't break defense. This means that Lynn likes to primarily send four guys, relying less on the blitz than past Nittany Lions defenses. Unfortunately, this new Nittany Lions pass rush has been abysmal, requiring a philosophy change during the team's bye week.
Meet Penn State's new defensive line for 2026
With the firing of James Franklin and the graduation of veteran defenders, Penn State had a new defensive line to pair with its new defensive philosophy for 2026.
Five new defensive tackles were brought in to State College from the transfer portal. UCLA big men Keanu Williams and Siale Taupaki, Utah product Dallas Vakalahi, and youngsters Armstrong Nnodim (Oklahoma State) and Alijah Carnell (Iowa State) all joined the Nittany Lions in the offseason.
Penn State returnee Max Granville was the top name at defensive end but suffered a season-ending injury in practice before the Temple game, marking two years in a row the Texas native had season-ending injuries.
Defensive end Ikenna Ezeogu came with Matt Campbell and company from Iowa State, immediately becoming one of the best players on the team at getting to the quarterback. On the other side, the Nittany Lions retained Yvan Kemajou, a key piece of the new pass rush. Add in transfers Caleb Bacon and Alex McPherson, and you are looking at a completely new defensive line.
Not only does the defensive line room look different, but so does the coaching staff. For the past three years prior to this season, Penn State letterman Deion Barnes coached the defensive line. With Campbell at the helm, he decided to hire someone to coach defensive tackles and defensive ends. Ikaika Malloe leads the defensive tackles, and Christian Smith leads the defensive ends.
Head coach Matt Campbell was excited about the new defensive outlook for 2026. In his opening press conference, he said, "We totally reshaped the d-line. I think my vision, our vision, [is to be] bigger and physical."
He added, "To have two guys, one to coach the edges and one to coach the interior; we've got to be good up front, and we've got to do great things there."
While the defensive line might have a priority for Campbell, the reality is the unit has been straight-up bad in 2026.
How has Penn State's defensive line been and what changed versus Purdue?
Prior to the Purdue game, Penn State had nine sacks in seven games. That mark was one of the worst in college football. Factor in that linebacker Tony Rojas had five of those sacks, and this new defensive line has been completely unproductive at getting to the quarterback.
Those remaining sacks came from Yvan Kemajou, Caleb Bacon, Kooper Ebel, and Alex Tatsch, the latter two being linebackers as well. This means that only two sacks came from defensive linemen. Add in the fact that Tony Rojas was the only one with a sack in Big Ten play before Purdue, and you see how ineffective the defense has been at getting to the quarterback.
Much of the lack of pass rush comes from the fact that Penn State plays a lot of base defense, lacking defensive line stunts or extra pass rushers. This means Penn State brings four rushers against five, often six, blockers. This creates a situation where guys have to win one-on-ones or double teams, without the help of a creative defensive scheme.
Base defense has not helped generating tackles for loss in general. Prior to Purdue, Penn State had 32.0 TFLs, also near the bottom of the sport.
Shockingly, even without a good pass rush and quarterbacks having time to throw, Penn State is third in the FBS in passer rating allowed, at 100.1 (after Purdue). Terry Smith's development at cornerback is evident once again.
With the defensive struggles, Campbell and Lynn changed their game plan for Purdue. If Penn State was going to get beaten defensively, it would do so aggressively.
Defensive tackle Keanu Williams hinted at the changes made during the bye week. "Really it was a mentality thing we had. The Michigan game and the [U]SC game were not the results we wanted, and going into the bye week, we were like, 'we could either fold, or we could do something about this.'"
The UCLA transfer added, "Certain things changed, the plan that we had, certain things got adjusted on that end as well." Coach Campbell said during the bye week, "We really dug a mile deep, and it gave us some great tangible evidence of what are we doing when we are at our best."
Against Purdue, those changes were on full display. Lynn brought a significant amount of pressure and stunts, speeding up QB Ryan Browne, who went 10/29 for 142, with 1 TD and 2 INTs.
Penn State had a 51.5% pass-rush win rate against the Boilermakers, resulting in pressure on 36.4% of plays. Even though Penn State still only had one sack (Kemajou) and three TFLs for the game, Browne struggled mightily to throw the ball.
An increase in extra rushers and defensive line stunts really mattered against Purdue. The eye test told even the most uninitiated fans that the Penn State defensive line wreaked havoc last Saturday.
These changes did not hurt the run game either. Penn State only gave up 33 rushing yards against a talented Purdue rushing attack. This new aggressive style made Penn State look like the juggernaut people expected on the defensive side of the ball.
When Penn State heads to Seattle for its clash against Washington on Saturday, the Nittany Lions are going to have to bring the heat against the Huskies. QB Demond Williams Jr. is a true dual-threat talent, and a QB spy might be needed if the pass rush comes. The Nittany Lions must contain Williams in the pocket and force him to beat the Nittany Lions cornerbacks with his arm.
However, if this new pass rush shows up again with the new-look Penn State defense, it will be a long day for the Washington offense.
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