Arnold Ebiketie explodes onto the scene in first Penn State victory

Madison, Wisc. -- There was a running jab at Penn State defensive end Arnold Ebiketie during the Nittany Lions' summer camp.

"This ain't Temple," defensive tackle PJ Mustipher said teammates would tell Ebiketie.

It was and is a joke, of course, but the defensive end's play is no laughing matter for opponents, as Wisconsin found out the hard way on Saturday here at Camp Randall Stadium.

Ebiketie, who transferred in from the Owls' program this offseason, played a starring role in the Nittany Lions' 16-10 triumph over the Badgers. He had his 'welcome to Penn State' moment on the team's first defensive snap, as he blew off the edge and crushed Wisconsin running back Chez Mellusi for a loss of four yards.

By the time Ji'Ayir Brown intercepted Graham Mertz's pass to end it, the 6-foot-3, 256-pound redshirt senior amassed seven tackles (two for loss), a sack, and a quarterback hurry while also blocking a field goal, which turned out to be a crucial moment in the contest.

"Just coming out here with those guys, and just being around those guys, the energy we bring, I'm just blessed to be out here honestly," Ebiketie said.

Ebiketie's tremendous performance came despite the fact that a leg injury caused him to go to the locker room for a brief period in the third quarter. It's unclear what exactly was hurt, but whatever it was could be fixed quickly, which is a good thing, because the Nittany Lions needed the defensive end back badly.

The former Owl saved maybe his best moment for last. On the game's penultimate play, he forced Mertz to throw an errant pass out of bounds which led to a flag for intentional grounding, which didn't just back the Badgers up 10 yards but also caused a 10-second runoff. One play later, Brown's interception ended it, and the amazing part of the hurry was that Penn State rushed just three players against Wisconsin's five-man front.

It was the perfect play to describe the defensive end's play: He's super-fast, has a quick twitch at the snap, and is strong enough to shed blocks.

"We all joke around, we all knew what we had to do coming in," Ebiketie said. "We're family, so I just love going out every day and playing with those guys.

"I put a lot of work into my craft, so I had no doubt in my mind I was going to come in and do what I was supposed to do, because I'm confident that I put the work in."

And his teammates certainly took notice.

"I mean, he's fast," Mustipher said. You can't teach speed, and I don't think you can stop speed oftentimes, so he was able to use that to his advantage and just play reckless and had fun and he made a lot of plays, so, proud of him."

Added offensive tackle Rasheed Walker:

"I wasn’t surprised. I was just so proud. AK is one of the best pass rushers I’ve ever had to block. I kind of expected the performance that (he) had. He’s a great player. He’s one of the best pass rushers that I’ve seen since I’ve been in college. I’m just grateful to have him on the team. We battled each other every day in camp, every day in spring ball, we got each other better."

Linebacker Ellis Brooks, who had a team-high 11 tackles, credited the man they call 'AK' for his big performance.

"Playing behind AK was beautiful," Brooks said. "He's a special player, athletic as I don't know what, and he's going to have an amazing year. Playing behind him is perfect."

Head coach James Franklin said he wasn't surprised by the breakout performance, which isn't a shock considering the fact that the leader of the Lions was one of Ebiketie's biggest hype men during the offseason.

"There's been a buzz about AK since he showed up on campus," Franklin said. "He's an explosive guy, a productive guy; I think he'll only get better from this, and again going against this offensive line, one of the better offensive lines in college football, so to come here and that be his first taste of Big Ten football is interesting."

Ebiketie is undoubtedly an interesting player, and one opposing coordinators are now going to have to plan for. And the other interesting thing is that, while Saturday was his introduction to a national audience, there's so much more for No. 17 to accomplish this season.

"It was exciting, definitely," Ebiketie said. "I never felt anything like that. It felt good to be out here with these guys and playing in this environment."

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