One of the most interesting developments from Penn State’s fall camp has been Caleb Bacon’s move to defensive end, and the early returns were hard to miss.
When reporters got their first look at practice during camp’s opening week, Bacon was lining up on the edge instead of at linebacker. Matt Campbell later confirmed the switch, and by the time Penn State opened against Marshall, Bacon was making his debut at defensive end and in college football at the position. He wasted no time looking comfortable.
In the first half alone, Bacon piled up five tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack, quickly emerging as Penn State’s most disruptive defender in the game.
Campbell said the move made sense because of what Bacon brings to the defense. Bacon spent four seasons at linebacker at Iowa State, where Campbell coached before taking the Penn State job, but Campbell believed the staff would have been leaving too much on the table by not using him on the edge.
“As we kind of got through spring, we kind of felt like, man, we’d be missing the boat not to add his multiplicity. He’s a great edge player.
He certainly has the ability to slide back and play Mike or Will linebacker at times as well because he’s great in coverage. He’s a smart football player,” Campbell told reporters.
Bacon said at Penn State’s local media day that the position change had been on the table for a while. He said Campbell had talked about it even during Bacon’s time at Iowa State and that the coach liked him as a pass rusher in both ’23 and ’25.
“I think Coach Campbell, even at Iowa State, brought that up to me. He really liked me as a pass rusher there, both in ’23 and ’25 when I played,” he said.
“I feel like that was even with very minimal coaching in the pass-rush game. I didn’t really work with the D-line there much.
A lot of it was just effort, attitude and rushing.“
Bacon added that his time in the defensive line room at Penn State has already paid off.
“I worked with them a little bit, but not too much. Being in the D-line room here has opened things up a little bit more, learning different techniques from guys like Coach C (Christian Smith) and Coach (Ikaika) Malloe. I feel like that’s really helped me so far in fall camp.”
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Matt Campbell has pointed to Zayas versatility and the way he has made impactful plays in practice, and the early returns carried over into game action. He showed up around the line of scrimmage with tackles for loss and held up in coverage well enough to earn more trust, even with a few minor mistakes mixed in. For Penn State, the bigger question now is how much responsibility a freshman can absorb as the games get tougher. [Read more 🡒]