University Park, Pa — There are going to be Saturdays when Penn State’s defensive tackles walk out of Beaver Stadium with sacks, tackles for loss and the type of numbers that jump off the stat sheet.
Saturday against Marshall wasn’t one of them.
That doesn’t mean they weren’t doing their jobs.
In fact, one of the more encouraging takeaways from Penn State’s 45-0 season-opening win might be what happened around Siale Taupaki, Keanu Williams, Dallas Vakalahi, De’Andre Cook and Ty Blanding rather than what appeared next to their names in the box score.
Marshall managed just 44 rushing yards on 26 attempts, an average of 1.7 yards per carry. The Thundering Herd finished with only 147 total yards and converted just one of 12 third-down opportunities.
That happened while Penn State’s interior defensive linemen combined for relatively modest individual production.
Taupaki officially finished with one assisted tackle and half a tackle for loss. Williams, Vakalahi and Cook each recorded one tackle, while Blanding added a tackle and a tackle for loss.
Those numbers hardly tell the story.
The beneficiaries were everywhere else.
Tony Rojas led Penn State with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. Caleb Bacon was arguably the defensive star of the afternoon with six tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack. Cael Brezina added five tackles, while Penn State consistently forced Marshall’s ball carriers sideways or into traffic rather than allowing clean downhill lanes.
That’s often what successful defensive tackle play looks like.
Absorb a block. Occupy another. Keep the linebackers clean. Prevent the offensive line from climbing comfortably to the second level. Force the running back to alter his path.
Then watch somebody else make the tackle.
Taupaki knows there is still work to do.
“There’s still a lot more left on the plate,” Taupaki said. “There are a couple things that we left out there technique-wise as a group.”
Yet his next point was important.
“As a whole defense, we did a good job hauling to the ball.”
Penn State certainly did.
Marshall’s quarterbacks weren’t overwhelmed by an avalanche of interior pressure, either. PFF credited Taupaki, Williams, Cook, Vakalahi and Blanding with no individual pressures despite a combined 51 pass-rushing snaps.
Again, the absence of numbers requires context.
Penn State still produced 17 total pressures by PFF’s charting, with its edge defenders and linebackers finding opportunities created around them. Ike Ezeogu recorded two hurries on just 15 pass-rush opportunities, while Yvan Kemajou generated three pressures. Rojas ultimately got home for a sack, and Bacon added another.
Penn State was officially credited with two sacks while Marshall averaged only 3.7 yards per passing attempt.
It was a collective suffocation rather than a defensive-line highlight reel.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.That makes Taupaki’s comments about the transition to D’Anton Lynn’s defense particularly relevant.
The UCLA transfer understands this system better than most players in the room after previously playing for defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe. He said his responsibility since arriving at Penn State has been helping teammates understand a defense that asks them to see the game differently.
“These were guys who played straight, go-get-it football,” Taupaki said. “With Malloe coming over and D’Anton Lynn coming over and expanding their horizons with the type of defense and the type of schemes that we want, I had to sit back a little bit and realize what type of players we had.”
That may help explain why judging Penn State’s tackles strictly on sacks and pressures misses part of the point.
There are assignments within Lynn’s defense that won’t produce individual statistics but can determine whether Rojas runs untouched into the backfield or Bacon gets a favorable matchup coming off the edge.
Saturday offered evidence that the structure can work.
Consider Bacon’s afternoon. Marshall’s Khalil Wilkins lost five yards on a first-quarter run when Bacon blew up the play. On the next snap, quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson lost two more yards on the ground, again because of Bacon. Rojas then got to the quarterback on third-and-17.
Penn State was consistently dictating where Marshall could run rather than simply reacting to it.
There is also considerable depth developing inside.
PFF charted Blanding for 24 defensive snaps, Williams for 22, Vakalahi for 19, Cook for 16 and Taupaki for 15. Nobody needed to shoulder an overwhelming workload in the opener, giving Penn State the ability to continually rotate bodies through the middle.
Cook’s emergence was particularly meaningful to Taupaki.
“I love that man,” Taupaki said. “I always made sure guys felt accepted and needed within our group. No one gets left behind. That’s not just a football thing. That’s a family thing.”
He praised Cook’s ability to contribute against both the run and pass while pointing to how much growth he has seen from him.
The challenge now is turning solid assignment football into more disruptive production.
Penn State won’t want its defensive tackles going entire games without generating a single pressure. Taupaki acknowledged there were technique issues that needed correcting, and PFF’s grades reflected a group that was generally steady rather than spectacular.
But the first requirement for an interior defensive line is making an offense uncomfortable between the tackles.
Marshall rushed for 44 yards.
Its running backs combined for just 14 yards on 10 carries.
The Thundering Herd scored zero points.
Penn State’s defensive tackles didn’t dominate the box score.
They helped make it possible for everybody around them to do exactly that.
