Nebraska Football: Talking Penn State with Victory Bell Rings

The Nittany Lion mascot works the crowd Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, during the PlainsCapital Bank Battle of the Bands at Texas Live in Arlington.122719cottonbowlbattleofthebands25
The Nittany Lion mascot works the crowd Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, during the PlainsCapital Bank Battle of the Bands at Texas Live in Arlington.122719cottonbowlbattleofthebands25
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STATE COLLEGE, PA – NOVEMBER 7: Shaka Toney #18 of the Penn State Nittany Lions reacts after the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Beaver Stadium on November 7, 2020 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA – NOVEMBER 7: Shaka Toney #18 of the Penn State Nittany Lions reacts after the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Beaver Stadium on November 7, 2020 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

 Husker Corner: So Nebraska has had trouble this year kind of getting their passing attack going, and it’s been a real issue. Are there any players specifically, either defensive ends or linebackers, that the team should watch out for?

Evan Smith: That’s a great question. I think we probably would largely agree that our best defensive player is probably Shaka Toney. I think that that’s… I believe he was just invited to the Senior Bowl, and I think the only Penn State-er that was invited, which obviously is not the best sign. He’s a heck of a player. Now we’re still recovering from the loss of Micah Parsons opting out. I mean, that killed us. He was definitely set up to be a, play that all, national-level player. Linebacker-level, probably the next player is Jesse Luketa. Now, he did miss a half for one of the targeting penalties. So that kind of hurt us definitely in the first half. He’s probably our best linebacker. but we’re definitely a little bit thinner than we expected. Not having Parsons really, really hurt.