As Turkey Day has drawn closer all season, Penn State’s defensive line has continued to dominate opponents up front while on a mission to feed the less fortunate of Centre County this Thanksgiving. 

Shortly after the season began, defensive line coach Sean Spencer announced the program would again donate one turkey to the State College Food Bank for each sack the Wild Dogs racked up this year. The team, of course, has not disappointed.

The Nittany Lions head into Thanksgiving with 38 total sacks — the most in the Big Ten and third most in the nation. 

Both of these figures place the Wild Dogs higher than Alabama, and far ahead of conference rivals like Michigan and Ohio State who have 31 sacks each.

Yetur Gross-Matos leads the team with eight sacks. His breakout season has helped fuel the big season from Spencer’s unit.  Behind Gross-Matos is Shareef Miller with seven, Robert Windsor with 5.5, and Shaka Toney with five.

If Miller elects to stay for his senior season, all five players could return to Happy Valley next year for another season of terrorizing quarterbacks and feeding the hungry. Alongside a more developed Micah Parsons, Shane Simmons, and Jayson Oweh, the Wild Dogs could become even more dominant in 2019. More dominance? More turkeys. 

As for the conclusion of this season, the Wild Dogs are in for one final regular season feast as they close at home against Maryland this Saturday. The Terrapins, who almost shocked Ohio State last week, are towards the high end of the Big Ten in terms of sacks allowed — they have suffered a brutal 2.27 sacks per game this season.

It is unclear whether Saturday’s sacks will contribute to the turkey total, but either way, Sean Spencer and his Wild Dogs will assist many less fortunate individuals this Thursday through an effort that is much bigger than football.