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Elite defense: Penn State, Clemson have gotten tremendous pressure on QBs the last five years
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Plenty of college football teams can claim they’ve played at an elite level over the last five seasons. But when it comes to getting pressure on quarterbacks, Penn State and Clemson stand out among the rest.
According to a recent statistic tweeted out by Penn State football, the Nittany Lions and Tigers are the only two programs to register 40 sacks or more every season for the last five years. Considering the outstanding defenses we’ve seen across college football and in the B1G, that’s almost hard to believe.
This season, Penn State ended the year with 45 total sacks in 13 games. Here’s a look at the final sack totals for both Penn State and Clemson over the last five seasons (2015-19):
Penn State
- 2015: 46
- 2016: 40
- 2017: 42
- 2018: 47
- 2019: 45
- Total: 220
Clemson
- 2015: 48
- 2016: 49
- 2017: 46
- 2018: 54
- 2019: 42
- Total: 235
Those totals are a huge reason behind the success both teams have enjoyed over the last five years. Clemson has won two national titles and has a chance to claim its third against LSU on Jan. 13.
Penn State has won 11 games in three of the last four years and has claimed a B1G title.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB