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What's the latest on Chop Robinson, and how did the Penn State pass rush thrive without him at Maryland?

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•11/04/23•

GregPickel

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Penn State defensive end Adisa Isaac reacts after sacking Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa during the second half at SECU Stadium. (Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Penn State was without veteran defensive end Chop Robinson for the second time in as many weeks on Saturday at Maryland. The Nittany Lions pass rush thrived without him in a 51-15 blowout victory over the Terps.

First, let’s cover the latest on Robinson. The junior who used to play for this weekend’s opponent used to play for Maryland, of course. He was listed as out for the contest just minutes after he arrived at SECU Stadium. He wore his regular warmup gear and even put on pads for that part of the pregame process. But, as kickoff became imminent, Robinson emerged from the visitors locker room in sweats. There was a reason for all of this, of course. And, it could help him get back on the field next week against Michigan.

“We traveled him from a rehab standpoint,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “There’s certain things, when you have certain injuries, that you got to do to work back and be able to get back on the field. So, being able to get him out, be able to run, and be able to get some movement stuff without any contact, is part of his kind of protocol to come back. So that’s why we were able to do that.

“As you guys know, the old days, that may be a little bit of like, trying to kind of hide who’s healthy and who’s not. We have to turn that information in. So, we weren’t kind of doing that. But obviously, this is a big game for him. He had a huge game last year. Not having one of our most explosive players on defense and still being able to play the way we did tonight, those extra reps for Jameial Lyons were huge. And we wanted to play well, not only for Penn State, but also for Chop. We wanted him to understand that we were playing well for him.”

The Penn State pass rush answered the call

Penn State’s entire front seven was very good on this night. Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa was constantly harassed throughout the game. The Lions played nine defensive linemen. Eight of them had a tackle. Hakeem Beamon recorded a sack. And Manny Diaz blitzed from all over. It led to six sacks total, 12 tackles for loss, and a horrendous -49 rushing yards for the home team.

“The depth has been huge,” Franklin said. “As you guys know, coming into the season, I felt like it’s the best depth we’ve had, really since we’ve been here. Not having Amin [Vanover] or Chop now for two weeks, that’s been big. So hopefully we’ll have both of those guys back and now you got a Jameial Lyons who’s played and gained confidence from that. So that’ll be really big. “

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