What a difference. Penn State began the 2018 season with nothing but question marks in the middle of its defense. Our Lions needed to replace its top three defensive tackles (Parker Cothren, Curtis Cothran, and Tyrell Chavis), as well as its MLB (Cabinda) and the best Hero of the past decade, Chico Hendrix. That’s a lot of new faces up the gut.
Predictably, the defense was a bit shaky at the start. But by the end of the season, PSU’s starting front four had piled up 53.5 tackles for loss - more than any other PSU front four from the past decade.