Abdul Carter is having the best time of his football career, and his teammates on the No. 3 Penn State defense are benefiting from it.
They appreciate Carter’s aggressive pass rushes, his ability to tackle across the field, and his strong, crossed-arms celebration after making a play.
Most importantly, they value the way Carter’s presence creates opportunities for them. This season, opponents have to pay more attention to him as he transitions from linebacker to defensive end.
Carter leads Penn State’s fourth-ranked defense with four sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss. He also helps with plays that don’t show up in his own stats.
“You peep my blitzes?” safety Jaylen Reed joked, hinting at his own increasing sack total. “They double team Abdul, I don’t know why they leave me, but hey, it helps me. It helps a lot of us.”
The Nittany Lions (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) expect this trend to continue against No. 4 Ohio State (6-1, 3-1) on Saturday, a game that has major implications for the Big Ten championship and the playoffs.
Penn State might have an advantage. The Buckeyes could be missing key blockers to protect Carter, who can line up in various positions along defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s front on any down.
Ohio State already lost starting left tackle Josh Simmons to a season-ending injury at Oregon on October 12. Zen Michalski took over the role, but he suffered a leg injury last week against Nebraska and is uncertain for this week, according to Ohio State coach Ryan Day.
Day understands the situation. “You certainly have to know where (Carter) is on the field,” Day said. “He’s dynamic. Whether it’s the run game or the pass game, you have to do a really good job with him.”
That’s exactly what Allen is focusing on now.
After some quick talks with Carter and the rest of the coaching staff after he was hired to take over for Manny Diaz in the offseason, Allen decided that Carter should move from linebacker, where he played his first two seasons, to defensive end.
Allen wanted to strengthen the team’s defensive end group after stars Adisa Isaac and Chop Robinson went to the NFL. He also believed he could help Carter, who weighs 251 pounds, reach his full potential.
“I think you can see his comfort level at edge, or defensive end is growing each week,” Allen said.
“We’ll continue to enhance ways of utilizing him in different ways, but he’s been very impactful, TFLs, sacks, just doing a great job of making offenses account for him in every way, having specific game plans to block him, which is pretty obvious.”
Carter often faces strong protection from offenses on passing plays. Offensive tackles try to block him while receivers help with additional blocks. Running backs are usually asked to chip in as well.
Even though teams are targeting him more, Carter has learned to adjust. While he wishes he had more sacks, he has found other ways to disrupt opponents. He has broken up three passes, forced a fumble, and created three quarterback hurries.
Meanwhile, Reed and fellow defensive back Cam Miller have taken advantage of the attention on Carter, combining for 2.5 sacks. Defensive linemen Zane Durant and Dani Dennis-Sutton have also stepped up, combining for 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
“Don’t matter who it is, you put extra attention on me you’re going to leave someone else one-on-one and they’re going to win their one-on-one,” Carter said.
Reed recognized Carter’s potential the first time he saw him play as a freshman in 2022. Not only did Carter’s size impress him, but his speed and ability to chase the quarterback were also clear.
“When he came in here and he was making all the plays, if you really noticed and watched the plays, he made all his plays off blitzing and winning one-on-ones,” Reed said. “Since then, I knew. And he was already 250 pounds, so it was like, that’s got to be his natural position.”
Now that Carter is playing in that role, he is very happy.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing football,” Carter said. “To be able to play free, be on the edge, rush the passer, do what I do best, I’m having a lot of fun.”
