Penn State’s defense received a big blow on Wednesday afternoon when redshirt junior defensive end Ryan Buchholz announced his retirement due to chronic back issues. While the Nittany Lions are deep at defensive end, Buchholz was arguably the team’s best defensive player so make no mistake about it, losing him is a tough pill to swallow.
Buchholz was slated to start opposite Shareef Miller this fall in what would have been his second season as a starter in what was shaping up to be one of the best defensive end duos in the Big Ten.