A year of transition for Penn State football’s defense quickly turned 180-degrees the other direction into a year of promise. Young players and relative unknowns having to be inserted into the lineup didn’t harm the Nittany Lions. In fact, it elevated the defense to a much higher level, specifically at linebacker.
Senior Koa Farmer returned as the lone starter. He gave the unit someone to model their games after. With that said, the team took to the game quicker than many expected. Former redshirt junior walk-on Jan Johnson stepped in at starting middle linebacker and became the second-leading tackler on the team, recording 72 stops.