What Penn State needs out of its defensive ends now after a strong start
Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry has been pleased with the play of his defensive ends throughout a 4-0 start, but now the longtime Nittany Lions assistant and play caller is seeking something else from the group as a whole as October begins.
"I like the play of those three guys right now," Pry told reporters Thursday morning.
"We need your fourth guy to step up. I don't know that we can go the season with those three guys just getting the amount of reps they're getting."
Arnold Ebiketie, Jesse Luketa, and Nick Tarburton are the trio of players Pry is referring to, of course. According to Pro Football Focus, Penn State's defense has lined up for 315 snaps so far this season, and those defensive ends have been out there for 212, 202, and 139, respectively.
On one hand, it's hard to take any of them off the field considering how well they have played. Ebiketie is a top-25 pass rusher nationally and leads the country with six quarterback hits, per PFF. Luketa is explosive off the edge and fearless when tackling a ballcarrier, and Tarburton has put others in a position to make plays while doing his job, even if that has only led to six tackles so far.
"All three of them are motor guys," They just play hard, one speed. They're all pretty instinctive guys. They're mature guys, and those three guys work their butts off every day."
The flip side of that equation, of course, is that the college football season is a grind, and if Penn State is to go as far as it would like to this fall, it will need these three to be both healthy and as active as they are now in November and December, which could prove challenging if someone(s) does not step up and help take some of the load off their collective shoulders.
Who could do that?
We probably shouldn't go much further before noting that the loss of Adisa Isaac for the season was a big blow to this position group. He was penciled in as a starter, and while the staff knew about his unavailability long before the public did, that doesn't mean time would automatically make guys who were expected to be down the depth chart contributors instant impact players.
That said, Pry did pick out two names to keep an eye on as the full Big Ten slate begins Saturday opposite Indiana at Beaver Stadium (7:30 p.m., ABC).
"Smith Vilbert is getting better week by week," Pry said. "Zuriah Fisher is getting better week by week."
The time element is the key to that statement, though. Vilbert has three tackles over three games during his third season on campus, while Fisher, who is in his second year, has yet to record one over the same number of contests. That's not a slight on either guy, as they are about where most expected them to be at this point of their respective carers. Yet, their continued progression toward being able to play more is a must for the Nittany Lions at this point in time.
In other words, Penn State is in a fine place along the defensive line with Ebiketie, Luketa, and Tarburton leading the charge, but the next step is having more players to trust in big games and key moments. It won't happen overnight, but even the slightest bit of progress will help the Nittany Lions, both now and in the future.
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