No. 8 Penn State's confidence is soaring on defense as Bowling Green comes to town

Published Sep. 5, 2024 12:52 p.m. ET

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Zakee Wheatley already feels like Penn State’s defense has generated a stadium full of swagger.

The junior safety experienced it in last week’s season-opening win and again when the No. 8 Nittany Lions gathered to study their drubbing of West Virginia.

“I look at the d-line, I look at the linebackers, I look to the left and right, the other safety, there’s nothing but confidence right there,” Wheatley said.

The Nittany Lions (1-0) have plenty of reasons to be confident and hope to sharpen their reputation as one of the nation’s fiercest defenses with a four-game home stretch starting with Bowling Green (1-0) on Saturday.

In that span, Penn State will also welcome Kent State, Illinois and UCLA to Beaver Stadium, where Wheatley and the rest of the Nittany Lions have forced 31 turnovers and held opponents to 13 points per game over the last three seasons.

The three turnovers Penn State forced at West Virginia last week give them 53 and counting over the last three years.

“It is a small amount of data,” coach James Franklin said. “But it’s a really good starting point.”

And it’s a good start for a handful of new faces in new roles, including coordinator Tom Allen, linebacker-turned-defensive end Abdul Carter and a re-tooled secondary with transfer cornerbacks A.J. Harris and Jalen Kimber.

“The standard’s the standard,” Wheatley said. “What I see on film is 11 guys sprinting to the ball. Backside corners, everybody sprinting to the ball, showing they’ve got that will and hunger for the ball. That’s how you create turnovers, havoc and that’s how you have a good defense.”

Finally back

Having 282-pound defensive end Smith Vilbert healthy has also boosted Allen’s defense.

The defensive end missed nearly two full seasons due to injuries before plugging into the Nittany Lions’ rotation where he chipped in a sack and forced a fumble at West Virginia. Although Penn State lost two of its best pass rushers in Adisa Isaac and Chop Robinson to the NFL draft, Franklin believes Vilbert will help Penn State maintain its feared pass rush.

“You’re talking about a guy who was a high-level basketball player when we recruited him,” Franklin said. “He is 6′6, 280 pounds. He can run, he can bend, he’s aggressive and he’s mature.”

Tough road ahead

Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler knows all about playing in hostile venues.

His Falcons visited Michigan’s massive facility a year ago, losing 31-6 in The Big House. Not only does he see similarities in Penn State’s sprawling Beaver Stadium, he thinks the Nittany Lions are perhaps as talented as last season’s NCAA championship squad.

“It’s as good as Penn State team as I’ve seen in a long time,” Loeffler said. “They’ll make a run, in my opinion for the Big Ten championship. I think that’s the type of caliber of team that we’re facing this weekend.”

Bowling Green visits Texas A&M on Sept. 21.

Unheralded QB

Bowling Green quarterback Connor Bazelak is 103 completions away from 1,000 in his career.

Only Washington’s Will Rogers and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel have completed more career passes than Bazelak, who enters the game playing some of his best football yet according to Loeffler.

Bazelak threw for 168 yards on 15-for-22 passing and ran for a touchdown in the Falcon’s 41-17 win over Fordham.

“He looked like a big-time quarterback. He was on rhythm the entire game,” Loeffler said. “There was zero indecisiveness.”

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