Penn State defense produces dominating effort to close home slate
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State defensive end Arnold Ebiketie understood the proposition.
His Nittany Lions, caught in an early volley of field position, were facing obstacles.
Sean Clifford was one of many players struggling or absent due to an illness that gutted the program. Rutgers was subsequently forcing Penn State into repeated punting situations.
Still, the Nittany Lions’ defense felt no particular cause for concern.
“We knew they couldn’t run the ball on us. We knew they couldn’t pass the ball on us,” Ebiketie said. “So for us, it was just a matter of continuing to do what we’ve been doing the whole game.”
The Nittany Lions did.
Suffocating the visiting Scarlet Knights all afternoon, Penn State’s defense produced its most dominating performance of the 2021 season. A 28-0 shutout, the effort was its second blanking of a conference opponent for the first time in program history.
The route taken to get there was just as impressive as the final result, though. Holding Rutgers to just 160 yards of total offense on 60 plays, Penn State allowed only 10 first downs. The Knights notched just 2.8 yards per play. And maybe most impressively, the Lions permitted the Scarlet Knights to reach their side of the field only once.
As Penn State head coach James Franklin explained, the Nittany Lions did so under circumstances that weren’t ideal.
“Our defense is playing unbelievable,” Franklin said. He noted that linebackers Curtis Jacobs and backup Tyler Elsdon both were afflicted by a bout of sickness Saturday morning. “I’m telling you guys, between throw up and IV, it was an interesting week. Literally, I’ve never been through something like this, especially at this point in the season when you’re already banged up.
“So just a ton of respect for our guys and how they handled it. They never flinched. They never panicked.”
The same was true even once the Nittany Lion offense turned the corner in the third quarter.
Able to produce a comfortable 21-0 advantage by that point, the Nittany Lions relented to give up 60 yards on 11 plays. It was Rutgers’ longest, most-productive possession of the afternoon.
Recovering from a 34-yard pass from Noah Vedral to Bo Melton to the 15-yard line, Penn State steadied itself. Clamping down to force a fourth-and-3 at the 8-yard line, Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker met Ebiketie in the backfield to sack Vedral. They also forced a fumble in the process to return possession to the offense.
“We had continued to get stops. It was like yeah, there’s no way they’re getting in the end zone,” Ebiketie said.
The first and only threat made by the Rutgers offense, that the Nittany Lions withstood the Knights’ best punch didn’t surprise its key pieces.
Having locked in on the moments that would define their final game played in Beaver Stadium for many starters and contributors on that side of the ball, Penn State found and took advantage of the opportunity.
“The whole week we were just preparing for our last moment in the game,” transfer defensive tackle Derrick Tangelo said. “This is our last half in Beaver. This is our last fourth quarter in Beaver. How do we want to go out?
“I just feel like everybody just really locked in on that moment, locked in on different moments throughout the game, and we just came out with the win.”
Cementing a season of performances at home unlike many the program has ever seen, allowing no more than 21 points at Beaver Stadium to any of their seven opponents, the last proved to be a fitting end.
