STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Jaylen Reed’s hands were still dirty and his face smeared with eye black as he took a seat in the Beaver Stadium media room.
The hard-nosed veteran of nearly 50 college football games looked weary after Penn State pounded Maryland on Saturday, but lit up as he watched media members gather around teammate Audavion Collins next to him. The sophomore was excitedly describing his first career interception. Reed grinned, his pride was evident.
One of Penn State’s captains, Reed loves when underclassmen earn playing time. He knows, especially on defense, the No. 3 Nittany Lions (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten, No. 4 CFP) will likely rely on them to make a run at their first national championship since 1986.
“Having that type of depth, having that type of guy that can step up and play the game every week, that’s something that’s going to help us down the stretch,” Reed said. “Having depth at all positions, I feel like that’s the main thing and I feel like we have huge depth.”
Reed knows Collins is far from the only reserve player who has been effective for Tom Allen’s defense this season.
Heading into Saturday’s Big Ten championship game against No. 1 Oregon in Indianapolis, Penn State has used 39 players on a defense that ranks seventh nationally against the run and pass. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions are fourth overall in total defense (266.8 yards) and sixth in scoring defense (14 points) entering the showdown with the Ducks’ 15th-ranked offense with a College Football Playoff first-round bye at stake.
It’s not just the starting 11 getting it done.
Since mid-October, Penn State has regularly rotated at least nine defensive linemen, six linebackers and nine defensive backs early and midway through games. As a result, seven players have snagged their first interceptions this season, while five others have recorded their first sacks.
“We believe in everybody coming in behind us,” linebacker Tony Rojas said. “Our defense, we know what we’re capable of and I feel like our defense is top tier, if not the best.”
It technically hasn’t been at full strength since Week 2 of the season. Then, star safety KJ Winston was lost to an unspecified long-term injury. He tried to play at Wisconsin on Oct. 26, but hasn’t seen action since.
In the meantime, Winston’s absence has allowed Allen and head coach James Franklin to get a good look at Collins and other young backend players like Eliot Washington, Zion Tracy and Dejuan Lane. Tracy and Lane have seen their snap counts go up since November, and both have interceptions since.
The Nittany Lions haven’t been immune to injuries up front, either.
Star end Dani Dennis-Sutton was limited midway through the season by an unspecified ailment. Before last weekend’s game against Maryland, Penn State listed defensive tackles Alonzo Ford and Kaleb Artis and defensive end Zuriah Fisher out with injuries.
While not near 100% healthy, Dennis-Sutton continued to suit up, but yielded reps to Amin Vanover and Smith Vilbert. Vanover and Vilbert are seniors who were slowed over the years by injuries but have stuck around, and are now shoring up the team’s depth.
“I think getting Dani back healthy, that’s been important,” Franklin said. “I think this was his first game back where he was really healthy, Abdul (Carter) the second half of the season, has gotten very comfortable playing defensive end. We’ve been able to rotate and get production out of guys like Amin as well, so I think all those things have been really important.”
So is the fact that Penn State’s defense has continued to close out games.
The Nittany Lions have allowed just 445 yards on 125 third-quarter plays this season. Meanwhile, they’ve outscored opponents 192-55 in the second half and overtime and held 19 of their last 22 Big Ten opponents to fewer that 100 rushing yards.
Like Reed, senior Dvon J-Thomas spent much of the second half against Maryland cheering on his freshman teammates. Notably, tackle Ty Blanding who had his first career tackle for loss in his first defensive series.
“I’ve seen a tremendous leap in their attention to detail,” J-Thomas said. “There’s not a lot of moments or times in your career where you’ll have an opportunity like this and I think they realize that.”
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