STATE COLLEGE | Penn State’s defense was stout throughout the team’s 45-0 shutout of Marshall last Saturday. The Thundering Herd amassed only 147 total yards, went 1-for-12 on third down and never reached the red zone.

Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn led that performance by the Nittany Lion in his Penn State coaching debut. Here’s how Lynn assessed his unit following a strong Week 1 outing and where it’s headed in Week 2 at Temple.

Why did Josiah Zayas start ahead of Zion Tracy?

Cornerback Zion Tracy is “getting back to full strength” after an injury in training camp, according to head coach Matt Campbell. Tracy played 18 snaps last Saturday but notably didn’t start. Instead, true freshman cornerback Josiah Zayas got the nod after he “earned the right to play” during training camp, Lynn said.

“With young players, a lot of time it's like the mental aspect,” Lynn said. “Now I'd say about halfway during camp, you just saw him thinking less, playing quicker, talking a lot more out there.”

Playing 34 snaps, Zayas saw the most action of all cornerbacks on Penn State’s defense, and he had two tackles for loss. Even before Tracy was injured, Zayas’ reps in practices were increasing, and he “took advantage” of that, Lynn said.

But Zayas’ increased playing time might not completely impact Tracy’s ability to be on the field because Lynn views Tracy as a defender who can play anywhere in the secondary.

“Zion, he's probably the most versatile DB we have on our team,” Lynn said. “He's a nickel with a corner skill set who's smart enough to play safety. Now that we have JoJo [Zayas], we want to keep on getting him reps in the slot.

“Zion's still going to be in the slot. There's going to be times where Zion's going to be at corner, there'll be games where Zion's playing safety. So he's kind of a chess piece that we can kind of move around each week.”

Who stuck out in the defensive end room? 

Defensive end Caleb Bacon was a key piece on Penn State’s defense in the victory over Marshall, earning co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors. Lynn said it’s possible to do “a lot of different things” with Bacon, who switched from linebacker to defensive end during training camp.

“He can set an edge on early downs,” Lynn said. “He can drop in coverage. He can rush. He can just do a lot of things from that position, and [with] his inside backer background, he has a high football IQ for a guy on the edge.”

Bacon recorded six tackles (three for loss) and a sack, but beyond Bacon, Lynn believed the defensive end room played well in general. The Nittany Lions’ defense had seven quarterback hurries, including two by defensive end Ikenna Ezeogu and one by defensive end Max Granville.

“I feel like they did a lot of good things,” Lynn said. “They affected the quarterback. They did their job in the run game, and you know there's times where the ball was out fast. Marshall did a good job of that, but I felt like they were doing what they were supposed to be doing.”

Granville notably returned to game action after sitting out all of last season due to injury. Lynn thinks that Granville “did a lot of good things out there” and is “improving every single day,” but he just needs to “keep on knocking rust off.”

Why did Lynn coach from the booth?

Lynn coached Penn State’s defense from the booth upstairs in Beaver Stadium instead of on the sideline, where he worked mostly as the coordinator at USC. During scrimmages in training camp, Lynn spent time coaching from the sidelines and in the booth, deciding on the booth for the opener.

“I felt like, ‘Man, you're able to gather so much more information in between drives,’” Lynn said. “I wanted to try it out Week 1. I liked it. The players enjoyed it, so we'll probably keep on doing it.”

Lynn, who was on the staff of various NFL teams from 2014-22, said he spent most of his time coaching at the professional level from the booth. With Penn State, Lynn said he trusts the rest of the Nittany Lions’ coaching staff on the field to handle any player issues on the sideline. Penn State has two other former defensive coordinators on staff in defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe and linebackers coach Tyson Veidt

Linebacker Kooper Ebel wears the green dot on Penn State’s defense, so he’s the player who relays Lynn’s play calling to his teammates on the field. Ebel said it was easier to hear Lynn when he was in the booth instead of on the sideline due to less impact from crowd noise.

No. 16 Penn State visits Temple for a noon ET kickoff Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. ESPN2 will televise.

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