In a four-day span last week, Penn State lost a pair of defensive ends with 13 starts, 19.5 tackles for loss and 53 appearances combined. But the retirements of Ryan Buchholz and Torrence Brown didn’t come as a surprise to the Nittany Lion coaching staff. They knew for a while and still expressed confidence in the defensive ends heading into fall camp.
With the season less than two weeks away, that trust remains — and clarity at the starting spots has come into sight.
Redshirt junior Shareef Miller and sophomore Yetur Gross-Matos look like Penn State’s Week 1 starters at defensive end, assistant coach Sean Spencer said Tuesday.