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Best defense in the nation?

Posted by Joe Chuba on 10/26 at 09:43 AM

The Penn State defense is at or near the top

After Michigan’s first drive Saturday that resulted in an easy touchdown the Penn State defense slammed the door shut.  That drive was an aberration for the Nittany Lion defense, it was the first first half touchdown all season.  Just look at how Penn State stacks up against the rest of the nation:

• Scoring defense: 1st
• Total defense: 3rd
• Rushing defense: 4th
• Pass defense: 9th
• Redzone defense: 1st
• Pass efficiency: 4th
• Tackles for loss: 4th

The list could go on because Penn State ranks in or around the top 10 of just about every statistical category. 

Another important point is that the Nittany Lions have done all of this while dealing with some serious depth issues.  Sean Lee went sprained his knee in week three, he was the leading tackler at the time, and is still third on the team in tackles for loss.  Navorrow Bowman didn’t play a full game until week four, and seems to just now be returning to 100%.  Meanwhile the depth on the line is significantly shallow after losing four major contributors from 2008, and the secondary lost all four starters.

Watch Joe Paterno’s weekly press conference at 5pm Tuesday on WPSU to see what the coach thinks of his defense as they prepare for Northwestern this Halloween Saturday.