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I really, really hope that the Carl Nassib we saw on Saturday is the Carl Nassib we saw all season. If not, it's ok, he had his moment of glory, which is more than most people will ever have. But if so, hoo boy, Penn State's defensive line will be horrifing.
On a line that features the second-best defensive tackle combination in the country, the best player against Temple was, unquestionably, Nassib. Because of his monstrous performance, we here at Black Shoe Diaries would like to award him with the first BSD MVP of the 2015 season.
Nassib absolutely deserves the honor, and he showed everyone why James Franklin and co. rave about him. He was a beast off of the edge en route to 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. The most amazing thing was, going on the road against an experienced line and receiving more attention than you would probably assume that a person lining up next to Anthony Zettel and Austin Johnson would receive, Nassib was 100 percent cool, calm and collected. He looked more like a seasoned veteran who hasn't missed a start in three years than a former walk-on who was making his first career start.
So congratulations, Carl Nassib. Now we know why Bob Shoop calls you a beast, why nobody seemed to be worried about losing two veterans in Deion Barnes and C.J. Olaniyan heading into this season, and why you have such a bright future as a Wild Dog.
Honorable Mentions:
1) Brandon Bell - This f'ing guy, man. He got a little banged up, but when he was on the field, Bell was a monster and absolutely showed that he deserved to get the No. 11 jersey. Numerically, Bell has 7 tackles, 2.5 TFL, a sack and a forced fumble. When he's on the field, good things happen. He picked up a few knocks over the course of the game, and with the relative lack of experience behind him at linebacker, he is now Penn State's most indispensable player on defense.
2) Koa Farmer - He returned a kick and ran over a dude and that dude got banged up because Koa Farmer is an F-350. He also just, you know, looked really good on kick returns. The future is bright for this dude. With the unfortunate loss of Nyeem Wartman-White, there's a demand for someone to step in and make an impact as a linebacker. Could Farmer be that guy?
3) Nyeem Wartman-White - We love you, Nyeem. Here's to hoping we see you on the field again next year as the destructive, game-changing linebacker we all know you are.