Transfer DE Arnold Ebiketie endears himself to Penn State fans from Play 1

Talk about endearing yourself to Penn State fans in a rush!

Arnold Ebiketie sold himself as the best thing ever to come out of Temple — as far as the Blue and White faithful are concerned — from Play 1.

Yes, that was No. 17 — the 6-3, 256-pound grad transfer who came through the portal immediately ready to set the edge for the Nittany Lions — dropping Chez Mellusi for a 4-yard loss on PSU’s first defensive play Saturday against Wisconsin.

In a first half in which new OC Mike Yurcich wasn’t making anyone forget Joe Moorhead, or even his immediate predecessor, Kirk Ciarrocca, Ebiketie (Ebb-uh-KAY-tee) was busy proving the DE position was not going to be a weakness for Penn State despite the preseason loss of Adisa Isaac.

A couple series later, Ebiketie got Penn State off the field on third down with a pressure of Badgers QB Graham Mertz that was originally ruled a strip sack. On the next Wisconsin drive, Ebiketie blocked a 25-yard FG attempt, keeping the Badgers off the scoreboard.

With the defense on the field way too much in the first half, Ebiketie played a ton of snaps and looked perfectly capable of being an every-down player. Ebiketie entered the season as a rising NFL linebacker prospect after a breakout 2020 with Temple, and he looked the part Saturday. With the Owls, he became a starter last season and led the team in tackles for loss (8.5), sacks (4) and forced fumbles (3).

Even better news, Jesse Luketa and Nick Tarburton both played well working the other defensive end spot. Tarburton had a fumble recovery to end a long Wisconsin drive and nearly had an interception on the next drive.

Overall, the Penn State defense bent but didn’t break in the first half, and the DEs more than held their own. Wisconsin ran 43 offensive plays to Penn State’s 22 in the first 30 minutes, as Yurcich’s offense amassed just 43 yards and 1 first down. Penn State possessed the ball for a mere 8 minutes, 11 seconds.

Even with star LB Leo Chenal out (Covid protocol), Wisconsin’s defense — led by its other star LB, Jack Sanborn — befuddled Yurcich and the self-professed most confident quarterback in the country, Sean Clifford.

It was a miracle, produced by the defense, that Penn State got to the locker room in a scoreless tie.

Ebiketie was far from a lone star. LBs Ellis Brooks and Brandon Smith made stop after stop, combining on one to end Wisconsin’s opening second-half drive. But Ebiketie’s early play meant DC Brent Pry didn’t need to worry about, or cover for, a weak link on the edge. Far from it, a possible serious concern entering the season looked like a strength.

And then, just as things were perking up for the Lions, word came via the Fox broadcast that Ebiketie was in the locker room. After Penn State found some offense in the passing game and Clifford hit a long strike to Jahan Dotson to put the Lions up 7-0, Wisconsin answered with a TD drive of its own. The Badgers’ first score came with Ebiketie and star safety Jaquan Brisker both off the field with physical issues — perhaps related to being on the field so much in the first half.

Ebiketie returned in the waning moments of the third quarter (and Brisker later did too), surely a relief to Pry and Penn State fans everywhere.

And that’s a good thing, because the program has enough to worry about elsewhere. Even granting that Wisconsin plays really stout defense, Yurcich’s offense offered nothing dynamic, Clifford missed a wide-open Dotson deep for what should have been Penn State’s second TD, the offensive line played subpar and Jordan Stout missed a 23-yard field goal and an extra point. (No word on why Jake Pinegar has lost the primary place-kicking job.)

Through a bunch of adversity, the defense just kept coming back. Ebiketie and Brisker kept coming back. Brisker, a transfer himself after starting his college career at Lackawanna Community College, sealed Penn State’s 16-10 victory with a red zone interception with 2:26 left in the game.

The offense couldn’t close, forcing the defense to make a final stand over the final 71 seconds. After the Badgers moved the ball down the field, Ebiketie got to Mertz to force an intentional grounding call, thus getting credit for a sack. One play later, with Ebiketie again at Mertz’s feet, the QB threw a game-ending interception.

Start to finish, the transfer defensive end got home.

Ebiketie seems entrenched on one front edge of the Penn State defense, after taking quite the circuitous route to State College. Born in Yaounde, Cameroon — the same city as Philadelphia 76ers star  Joel Embiid — Ebiketie played his high school ball in Silver Spring, Md., and then wound up in Philadelphia himself before moving to the center of the state.

Bottom line, Nittany Nation should be celebrating the fact that he found his way to Happy Valley.

Luke Glusco

Luke Glusco is a Penn State graduate and veteran journalist. He covers Penn State and occasionally writes about other Big Ten programs and topics. He also serves as the primary copy editor for Saturday Tradition.