Oct. 4, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Nittany Lion linebacker Jason Cabinda is not shy when it comes to facing a challenge head on.
The true sophomore was thrust into the role of being the focal point of calling the defense on the field at the middle linebacker position when Nyeem Wartman left the season-opener at Temple.
The responsibility that goes with playing the "Mike" spot is not an easy task for a senior like Mike Hull, who carried the torch in 2014, let alone a young player like Cabinda.
But you wouldn't know it watching the New Jersey native play.
Cabinda took the opportunity in stride, has watched film religiously, continues to refine his craft and plays better with each passing week.
He was at the heart of Penn State's sound defensive effort in Saturday's 20-14 victory over Army West Point. Cabinda notched a career-high 14 tackles against the Black Knights, marking the most by a Penn State player this season.
And arguably, the sophomore made two of the biggest plays of the day on the defensive side of the ball. Cabinda logged the first sack of his career on Army's second drive. He chased down quarterback A.J. Schurr for a sack and forced fumble. Cabinda added the second sack of his career on Army's final offensive play. The Black Knights were down six and driving in the waning minutes of action before Cabinda sacked Schurr on fourth down to seal the victory.
"It was on us at that point, 20-14, if they scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point that's basically the game there," said Cabinda. "So I think it was awesome that was on us and the defense to get that stop, so our offense could run their format and run the clock out. Being able to get that stop on fourth down was just awesome."
Sometimes you have to remind yourself that Cabinda was just playing in his 14th career game on Saturday. He certainly didn't perform like an inexperienced middle linebacker.
"Fourteen tackles in a game, and he had two sacks and a forced fumble. It's unbelievable," said head coach James Franklin. "You are talking about a guy who is a true sophomore."
Army finished with 293 total yards on a challenging day for the Nittany Lion defense. The triple-option attack is almost impossible to shut down completely, but the Lions did their part in holding the Black Knights to just two scoring drives one week after Army tallied more than 550 rushing yards.
"Very, very tiresome, that's a really good question," said Cabinda. "Those kind of offenses eat up the clock there, those drives are long. Twelve plays, 13 plays, 81 yards, 14 plays, 90 yards, so very tiring for sure, and again like I said the depth of our defense kind of helped to counter attack the tiresome offense to get fresh bodies out there and still play well."
A starter in all five games this year, including the last four at middle linebacker, Cabinda is leading Penn State in tackling with 37 stops on the season. He has also broken up four passes and made 3.0 tackles for loss in 2015.
Cabinda knows there is plenty of room for growth, but the foundation is in place for a very bright future. Focus is now solely on Big Ten play beginning with Indiana on Saturday in Beaver Stadium (Noon on ESPN2).
"It feels awesome to be 4-1 after going 1-0 this week," Cabinda said. "Now we are pumped up about Big Ten play and working hard to get ready for Indiana and going 1-0 again next week."