“He wreaks havoc,” Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel said.

Gabriel was referring to Penn State football defensive end Abdul Carter, who, along with the rest of Penn State’s defensive line, is primed to play a significant role as the Nittany Lions face the Ducks in the Big Ten Championship.

Carter, in particular, will need to play well on Saturday. He leads Penn State with 10 sacks and 19.5 tackles, along with seven quarterback hurries. His sack total is tied for 12th in the nation.

The Philadelphia native previously played inside linebacker, but first-year defensive coordinator Tom Allen thought switching Carter to defensive end would maximize his potential and fill holes left by Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac, who went to the NFL. It wasn’t initially easy, but Carter is coming into his own.

“I think you can see his comfort level at edge, or defensive end is growing each week,” Allen said in October. “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 presents arguably the biggest challenge the Oregon quarterback will face from a single player.

“He’s a disruptive player, extremely physical,” Gabriel said. “But also, his ability to go from extremely physical, to finesse and speed, I think it’s pretty impressive. [The Nittany Lions] have a lot of talented guys, but him, [they’re] allowing him to just play his game, and I think that’s why he’s had success.”

However, Carter is far from the only individual Gabriel should be focused on. Fellow defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton leads Penn State with eight hurries and four sacks. Carter and Dennis-Sutton’s ability to pressure quarterbacks from both sides of the defensive line isn’t unlike what Robinson and Isaac did last season.

“He’s just such an incredible athlete, and when you have him at his healthiest, he’s as dominant as they come. He has the size, the strength, the speed, to dominate any opponent,” defensive lineman Dvon J-Thomas said.

Between Carter and Dennis-Sutton are Zane Durant and J-Thomas. Durant, who has 35 tackles, three sacks, and two hurries, recently earned praise from James Franklin.

“Zane, I think, is playing really good. I think I made a big deal on Sunday out of it with our team,” Franklin said after Penn State defeated Minnesota when Durant had a season-high five tackles with 2.5 for loss. “He’s just the same guy every single day. He is mentally tough, physically tough. He loves, not likes, football. He loves football. 

“He understands and is willing to do the things that football takes, the sacrifices he has to make to be a great player,” Franklin continued. “He is the same way in the weight room, at practice, on game day. To me, he’s what you want, what you’re looking for in terms of the whole package.”

After the team found out it was heading to Indianapolis following last week’s win over Maryland, J-Thomas told reporters one of the reasons he returned to Happy Valley was to chase a Big Ten title.

All four players are expected to be fully healthy for Saturday’s affair. Their presence is crucial if Penn State is to defeat Oregon, as the Nittany Lions are tied for the No. 7-ranked rushing defense in college football. This would make for an intriguing matchup against the Ducks, whose 12 allowed sacks are tied for 13th-fewest in America.

J-Thomas, along with fellow defensive lineman Smith Vilbert, has been a veteran in the room for a long time. The opportunity to make history at Lucas Oil Stadium is “surreal” to him.

“We’re very thankful and honored to be in this position,” said J-Thomas. “And it’s just crazy. We’re here after such a long season, you’re going week by week by week. And then now it’s all of a sudden. It’s just here. The season goes by so fast, and we’re just so elated.”