Penn State, which finished the regular season 7-5 overall and 4-5 in Big Ten play, features a defense that allowed 16.8 points per game, which is tied for seventh-best nationally. The Nittany Lions gave up 201 points, the fifth fewest in the country.
Penn State’s opponents scored 20 points or less in 8 of 12 games during the regular season. The Nittany Lions have two shutout wins — 24-0 over Indiana and 28-0 over Rutgers.
The Nittany Lions allowed 10 points at Wisconsin, 20 to Auburn, 20 to Illinois (in 9 overtimes), 14 at Maryland and 21 to Michigan.
Their 21 touchdowns allowed are the fewest among all Big Ten teams.
Penn State is led defensively by a pair of linebackers in senior Ellis Brooks and junior Brandon Smith. Brooks has a team-high 100 tackles, including 53 solos, and Smith is No. 2 with 81 stops.
Brooks recorded a career-high 16 tackles in the Nittany Lions’ 21-17 loss to Michigan on Nov. 13, and 14 in the 23-20 loss at Iowa in October.
Senior defensive end Arnold Ebiketie finished the regular season with a league-high 18 tackles for loss. Ebiketie is also third in the conference with 9.5 sacks.
He tallied at least 1 sack in 7 of Penn State’s final 9 games, and had a career-high 2 sacks against the Wolverines. Eight of his 18 stops behind the line of scrimmage came against teams currently ranked in The Associated Press Top 25.
Ebiketie and safety Jaquan Brisker were first-team All-Big Ten selections by media and coaches.
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Ji’Ayir Brown, a senior safety, leads the Nittany Lions with four interceptions this season. He returned an interception 87 yards for a touchdown against Maryland.
Penn State’s three interceptions returned for a touchdown this season are tied for second most in the Big Ten. It returned three interceptions for touchdowns in the previous five seasons.
The Nittany Lions are tied with Cincinnati for the third-best red zone defense, allowing scores in 66.7% of opponents’ possessions inside the 20. Only Georgia and Clemson were better in the red zone this year.
Penn State ranks eighth nationally in passing defense efficiency.
Tale of 2 halves
The Nittany Lions were one of the hottest teams in college football after a 5-0 start to the season that featured a season-opening road victory over Wisconsin and thrilling home win over Auburn in Week 3.
After peaking at No. 4 in the AP poll, they closed the first half of their schedule with a narrow loss at Iowa, which kicked off a bit of a downward spiral.
Penn State lost five of its final seven games, and its challenging finish to the regular season included a 20-18 loss in nine overtimes at home to Illinois, coached by former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema. The Nittany Lions also lost to Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State by a combined 16 points.
In its first six games of the season, Penn State rushed for eight touchdowns and an average of 129.3 yards. And in the back half of its schedule, it scored three times on the ground and rushed for 83.8 yards per game.
The Nittany Lions averaged better than three yards per rush only once after Oct. 9.
Defensively, Penn State held opponents under 400 yards of offense in its first seven games of the season. Three of its final five opponents topped that mark.
Strong special teams
Penn State’s numbers stand out in the third phase.
The Nittany Lions allow 14 yards per kickoff return, which ranks fifth nationally, and their 2.38 yards allowed per punt return are fourth best in college football.
Ebiketie has blocked two field goals for Penn State this season.
Elite receiver
Penn State’s offense features Jahan Dotson, who was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award.
Dotson has 1,182 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, and averages 7.6 receptions per game. He ranks in the top 14 nationally in all three categories.
Dotson has eclipsed 100 receiving yards five times this season, including a career-high 242 yards and 3 touchdowns on 11 receptions during a game at Maryland on Nov. 6.
Dotson also went over 100 yards against Wisconsin (102), Villanova (117), Ohio State (127) and Michigan State (137). He scored two receiving touchdowns against Indiana and Michigan State, and scored on a 2-yard touchdown run against Ohio State.
Loggains connection
Arkansas tight ends coach Dowell Loggains spent the first half of the year as an offensive analyst at Penn State.
Loggains was hired by the Nittany Lions in February after a coaching change for the NFL's New York Jets, where he was offensive coordinator. Loggains, who was a walk-on quarterback at Arkansas from 2001-04, was hired as the Razorbacks' tight ends coach in June after the departure of offensive line coach Brad Davis to LSU.
Davis was replaced by Cody Kennedy, who coached Arkansas' tight ends during the spring.
In April, Penn State coach James Franklin said he got to know Loggains while both men lived in Nashville, Tenn., when Franklin was head coach at Vanderbilt and Loggains was offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. According to 247Sports, Franklin said Loggains spent a lot of time at the Vanderbilt facilities during spring practice in those years.
"You know, you're talking about 17 years of NFL experience, you're talking about 10 years of coordinator experience in the NFL," Franklin said of Loggains in April.
"It's been great having him here. He's got great perspective."
Scott connection
Penn State’s defensive line is coached by John Scott Jr., who held a similar position for the Razorbacks for two seasons from 2017-18.
Scott was hired by South Carolina in his home state prior to the 2019 season.
In 2020, Scott and the University of Arkansas board of trustees settled a lawsuit after UA alleged in federal court that Scott was in breach of contract. According to the complaint filed in November 2019, Scott did not pay $187,862 in liquidated damages after he was hired by South Carolina.
Scott’s attorneys called the complaint “frivolous, unreasonable and groundless” in a court filing, according to reporting by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Details of the settlement were not available.
Gordon connection
Arkansas safety Trent Gordon transferred from Penn State following the 2020 season.
Gordon appeared in 17 games for the Nittany Lions between 2018-20. He did not record any statistics in his final season at Penn State, but in 2019 Gordon had 20 tackles and 5 pass breakups, and played significant snaps during the Nittany Lions' win over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.
Gordon has played sparingly for the Razorbacks this season. He has two tackles in seven games. He has played 51 snaps total — 28 on kickoff return, 15 on kickoff coverage and 8 on defense.
“Gordon’s been hurt, but he’d be playing a lot of ball for us now if he wasn’t," Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said Oct. 11.