Penn State's Defense 'Chops' It Up at Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Maryland | It began with Chop Robinson, who appeared near tears before the game. Robinson knew he would not play after traveling with the Penn State football team to Maryland, his home state and former program, as part of his rehab protocol. Maybe Penn State's star defensive end, injured two weeks ago at Ohio State, will return for the Lions' season-defining game against Michigan.
In the meantime, Robinson's teammates played for him in a 51-15 victory over Maryland. After his sack, one of Penn State's six, defensive end Adisa Isaac flashed four fingers, a nod to Robinson's jersey No. 44. During the week, Isaac told Robinson he would get a sack for him.
"Obviously when we get on the bus," Isaac said Saturday night, "we're going to chop it up some more."
Penn State bused home from Maryland late Saturday following yet another strapping of the Terps, a 36-point win that improved head coach James Franklin's road record here to 4-0. Though quarterback Drew Allar's season-shifting performance was a huge story, the Lions' defense delivered the reboot it required.
The Lions fell on their defensive sword following last week's 33-24 loss to Indiana, a game that caught them off guard and off-kilter. During the week, defensive tackle Dvon Ellies (one of 14 Maryland natives on Penn State's roster) called that win over Indiana a "humbling experience." Practice was about redirecting that humility toward the season's final month, which began at Maryland.
Penn State responded by submerging the Terps' run game, holding it to minus-47 yards (an FBS-low this season) largely behind six sacks. Still, the Terps managed just minus-2 yards on its other 10 carries, with no run topping 4 yards. The Lions made 12 tackles for loss.
This looked again like the Penn State defenses that shut out Iowa, allowed one functional touchdown (before the reserves entered) at Illinois and held Ohio State to one touchdown through three quarters. Indiana had become the first team to score more than 20 points on the Lions since the Rose Bowl, and they internalized that. No matter how much coach James Franklin said he would not "apologize for winning," the defense felt at least that it needed to reestablish its dominance.
"I feel like our attitude when we got on the bus [Friday], that’s what really set the tone," said linebacker Curtis Jacobs, who had 1.5 tackles for loss. "We knew we had to come out here and set a statement with how as a defense we didn’t really handle business last week. So just being able to come out here and handle business, it gives us a good stepping stone to keep pushing as you make this final surge."
The final surge begins at home Saturday against Michigan, which will bring the Big Ten's highest-scoring offense (40.7 ppg) to Beaver Stadium. The Lions really need Robinson, injured the past two games, to return against the Wolverines. Franklin said that Robinson traveled and went through pregame warmups, in uniform, as part of his rehab process.
"Being able to get him out, be able to run and be able to get some movement stuff without any contact, is part of his kind of protocol to come back," Franklin said. "So that's why we were able to do that."
Robinson, a Maryland native who played linebacker for the Terps as a freshman, had a hugely satisfying game against his former team last season. He made two sacks in the Lions' shutout at Beaver Stadium. Not being able to play this year, teammates said, was difficult for Robinson and them. "We wanted to play well not only for Penn State but also for Chop," Franklin said. "We wanted him to understand that we were playing well for him."
In Robinson's absence, Penn State's defensive line slowly but resolutely took over the game. Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who completed his first 17 passes, did so under duress. He was sacked four times in that stretch and ultimately bowed to pressure on back-to-back turnovers. Dominic DeLuca intercepted Tagovailoa in the second half, and the Lions forced a sack-fumble on the Terps' next offensive play.
The Lions were especially adept at keeping Maryland off schedule. They allowed just 3.1 yards per play on first down and produced two sacks. Maryland committed all three of its turnovers on first down.
Every phase of Penn State's defense contributed, but the linebackers were notable. Jacobs had a huge game, Kobe King made three tackles, Keon Wylie made both of his tackles for loss, DeLuca had the interception and freshman Tony Rojas added another along with a forced fumble.
But the biggest surge came from Abdul Carter, who has blistered Maryland twice. He made seven tackles, a sack and forced a fumble last year and followed that performance with another gem: six tackles, a sack, and a pass breakup that was a near pick-six. In Robinson's absence, Carter assumed some of the third-down pressure work and consistently was in Tagovailoa's face.
"You see his versatility," Isaac said. "Now he’s rushing the passer. With Chop out for this game, that was a big lift for us, him holding down the end spot on third down."
After the game, Carter was asked whether that was his best game of the season. He answered by looking ahead.
"Well," Carter said, "the season's not over yet."
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