Outside of Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State’s defensive line was somewhat quiet.

The senior defensive end held down the fort for the Nittany Lions, securing four solo tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and two forced fumbles. The only other highlight to come out of the defensive line was Zane Durant’s interception in the first quarter.

Durant started for the Nittany Lions as the first defensive tackle. In the second defensive tackle position, sixth-year senior Alonzo Ford Jr. failed to put up a stat while back-ups such as Enai White, Ty Blanding, and Owen Wafle all registered a tackle.

On the opposite side of Dennis-Sutton, Penn State was left without fellow starting defensive end Zuriah Fisher, as he deals with a lingering injury. In his place, redshirt freshman Jaylen Harvey started for the Nittany Lions. Harvey did not register a stat, while backup Mylachi Williams tallied a tackle.

Defensive line depth has been an issue for the Nittany Lions since the loss of players such as D’von J-Thomas, Coziah Izzard, Amin Vanover, and one of the best defensive players in the country, Abdul Carter. Compound that with the Fisher injury, and Penn State will be reliant on some new faces to step up.

Despite the lack of stats, Penn State’s defensive line got something much more valuable: Reps. This trend will more than likely continue as the Nittany Lions continue their season against lesser opponents in Florida International and Villanova before a bye week leading up to their Whiteout showdown with the Oregon Ducks.

“These three games are going to be critical in terms of getting these guys as many reps as we can and then continue to pour into them,” James Franklin said Monday during his press conference. “I think once you get into game four, game five, they’re no longer young players. They’re guys that played significant reps in college, and we need them to act like it.”

After the Nevada game, Franklin read off some names of players that he took note of within the position group. In the long list of names, he said that bright futures were ahead for nearly all of them, but the most interesting note was Texas A&M transfer Enai White.

“I think we have found a home for Enai White…He’s 276 pounds right now, and he’s really not even trying to gain weight. It’s just kind of naturally where he is. I think if we can get him up to 285 by midseason, he’s going to be a really nice guy for us to factor into that rotation,” Franklin said on Monday.

White is a special case because of his offseason shift from defensive end to defensive tackle. The change came late to the season, but he still found his way onto the field, demonstrating that defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and Franklin have a set plan for him to be a rotational player in the near future.

Franklin commented that the young guys will need to “grow up and grow quickly.” Despite this, he also called for the veteran players that the team depends on to get back into the rotation, specifically at defensive end. If Penn State can find a way to develop some of these inexperienced players before conference play, there will be very few sore spots on the Penn State defense.