Ten PSU defensemen received All-Big Ten honors Tuesday, whether it by coaches or media poll. The A unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection for Joey Porter Jr. highlight the group. Porter was the lone first -team player for Penn State in either poll.
Also making one of the three teams for Penn State were PJ Mustipher (second-team coaches, third- team media), linebacker Abdul Carter (second team-media, third-team coaches), defensive back Ji’Ayir Brown (third-team coaches and media), defensive back Kalen King (third-team coaches and media) and defensive lineman Adisa Isaac (third-team coaches, honorable mention media).
Defensive lineman Chop Robinson (both), linebacker Curtis Jacobs (both), defensive lineman Nick Tarburton (coaches) and defensive back Johnny Dixon (media) also received honorable mention nods for Penn State.
That Penn State Defense. 🔥#WeAre pic.twitter.com/U5DgunmX1D
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) November 29, 2022
The big story is four defensive backs receiving nods on one of the three teams or honorable mention with the highlight being Porter. As a unit, the secondary had the second-best passer efficiency ranking in the Big Ten and country, behind only Illinois.
Porter didn’t register an interception this year.
Collectively, the unit registered 12 which sits tied for 27th with a plethora of schools, but was as shutdown of a corner as they come with 11 pass deflections.
As for the individual performances, Brown (66) was the team’s leader in tackles this year while Carter (6.5) led the team in sacks. The team’s other second-team all-conference player, Mustipher, had 33 tackles this year and was a key cog in Penn State’s run-stuffing defense.
It’s no surprise to see so many honored from one of the conference’s top defenses. Penn State’s defense this year currently ranks No. 5 in the Big Ten and No. 18 in the country for yards per game with 317.8.
It also has the top red-zone defense in the Big Ten in terms of opponents conversion percentage and the seventh best in FBS while ranking with the Big Ten’s fifth-best rushing defense that also ranks No. 14 in the country, allowing just 105.1 rushing yards per game. Penn State’s defensive line also leads the Big Ten in sacks with 37, which is ninth-best in the country.
Penn State currently has one game left which will be a bowl game. There’s a chance it is New Year’s Six bowl, but that won’t be determined until after the conference championship games this weekend.
