UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Perhaps more people would notice if this group didn’t share a locker room with an offense that’s averaging more than 40 points per game.
One that just happens to be led by the current frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy.
Heck, if the circumstances were a bit different, it might even get a headline or two.
But as the Penn State defense prepares to face Northwestern at noon Saturday at Ryan Field, it has to settle for having accomplishments, not acclaim. To wit, Penn State is:
• Allowing an average of just 9.4 points per game. Only Alabama and Georgia have been more stingy.
• The only Football Bowl Subdivision team that has held every opponent scoreless in the first quarter.
• Third in the nation in tackles for loss with 44, fewer than only Wake Forest and Ohio State.
• 13th in total yards allowed among FBS teams, giving up just 289.2.
• Tied for fourth in turnover margin at plus-9, thanks largely to the 14 the defense has forced.
But even though Saquon Barkley, Trace McSorley and the rest of the offense get most of the attention and highlights, not everyone is oblivious to the defense’s contributions to Penn State’s 5-0 start.
“They’ve really been the ones that kept us in games and have saved games for us,” wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton said Tuesday. “Our defense is playing very well. A lot of guys are making plays.”
Few, if any, are making more than senior linebacker Jason Cabinda.
He was in on 14 tackles and had a fumble recovery and a sack in Penn State’s 45-14 victory last Saturday against Indiana.
“I just felt comfortable,” Cabinda said. “I was playing fast. I was getting very clean reads. I was getting off blocks. All those kinds of things.”
His performance didn’t fly entirely under the radar — the coaching staff cited him as its defensive player of the game, and he was voted the Lott Impact award winner for the nation’s top defensive performance — but the defense, as usual, was largely overshadowed.
This time, it was by Barkley’s kickoff return for a touchdown and a spectacular one-handed catch, as well as Hamilton breaking the school’s all-time record for receptions.
Not that the guys who play on that unit seem to care much.
“It doesn’t really matter, as long as we win,” Cabinda said. “I think that’s the best thing about this team. We’re selfless.
“It doesn’t matter who gets the credit. It doesn’t matter who’s making the play. Making tackles, scoring touchdowns. We’re winning. That’s the goal, and everyone’s pulling the rope in the same direction.”
Defensive lineman Ryan Buckholz credited veterans such as Cabinda and safety Marcus Allen with making the defense so formidable.
“We have a lot of old guys who have a lot of experience and are able to help out the younger guys, even in the game, with plays and calls and stuff,” he said. “We communicate really well, so the experience those guys have helps.”
So does having a knack for creating turnovers, a priority for Penn State entering the season.
“We talk about it 24/7,” senior cornerback Christian Campbell said. “So it is very exciting that we can get those turnovers.”
That plus-9 turnover ratio is impressive. Almost as impressive as the Nittany Lions’ success at choking off opponents’ point production.
“We’re playing really good defense, scoring defense,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “Which, to me, is the most important number there is out there.”
Keep it up, and people just might begin to notice.
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NOTE — After declining to offer an update Tuesday on tight end Mike Gesicki, who was injured against Indiana, Franklin said, “we expect Mike to play on Saturday.”
Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG
First Published: October 3, 2017, 8:06 p.m.
