“We’ve been one of the best sack teams in the country over the last five or six years, and we made some philosophical changes last year in our rush against spread teams that we thought would help us be better,” Penn State DC Brent Pry said prior to Indiana game this week. “We were a high-sack team, but we also had more quarterback scrambles, and quarterbacks get out on us and we needed to minimize that.
“I look at when we got one-on-ones. How many of those are we winning? It doesn’t always equate to a sack. You know, to me, a win isn’t necessarily a sack. It’s quarterback pressure. You got to make him throw the ball. He’s got to feel it. … Get your hand in his face. Those things are just as valuable to me.”
| YEAR | BLITZ RATE | BIG TEN | FBS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43.3% | 1st | 12th |
| 2020 | 34.3% | 6th | 32nd |
| 2019 | 37.3% | 3rd | 18th |
Penn State needs a fourth defensive end to emerge, according to The Athletic, but the Nittany Lions are playing at a high level at 5-0 overall, 2-0 in the B1G East.
