Penn State’s defense is getting one of its most important pieces back, and Tony Rojas isn’t talking like a player easing his way into a comeback. He’s talking like someone who expects to be right in the middle of it from the jump.
Rojas, who tore his ACL in a late-September practice last year, said he expects to be ready for the season opener against Marshall on Sept. 5. More than that, he believes Penn State will be back “better than people expect.”
That’s a bold line from a linebacker whose 2025 season ended before it really had a chance to take off. But it fits the kind of year Rojas was building before the injury. In four games, he piled up 25 tackles, 4.5 for loss and two sacks, then watched the rest of the season unravel from the sideline.
The injury came just four days before Penn State’s loss at UCLA, and Rojas missed spring work while rehabbing. That part of the process, he said, tested him mentally.
“That was probably the hardest mental break I've ever had in my life, just going through that,” Rojas said. “But people were there to support me, and it was a good lesson for me to sit back and just see that from an outside perspective, and just help the young guys and just the guys in the room in general. And just having a good spirit with the guys was my big thing.”
The numbers show just how much Penn State missed him. With Rojas on the field, the Nittany Lions were allowing 8.5 points per game in regulation.
After he went down, that number jumped to 24.4. UCLA, which had averaged 14.3 points in its four losses before facing Penn State, erupted for a season-high 42 in the win.
The Bruins scored 27 in the first half alone, more than they had managed in 10 games.
Rojas said the aftermath was strange to watch unfold.
“So obviously it sucked, but it is what it is, and I can look forward as of now,” Rojas said. “But what happened after, just the season, it was kind of a weird feeling - not just playing, but just seeing what was happening with the losses and coach [James] Franklin [being fired]. … I think we'll be back better than people expect.”
Now he’s set to line up next to Iowa State transfer Caleb Bacon, a pairing that could give Penn State one of the better linebacker duos in the Big Ten. The room may be the team’s strongest position group, and Rojas is a major reason why.
There’s also a bigger picture here for the fourth-year Nittany Lion. If he puts together the season he’s capable of, he could climb quickly on NFL draft boards and potentially become the first Penn State player taken in the 2027 NFL Draft.
New defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn is another reason the fit looks promising. Rojas said in February that Lynn suits his game well, and he explained why.
“I'd say he likes to blitz a lot, which is my game,” Rojas said of Lynn. “I think we'll see a lot more of that this year, and I'm just excited because I feel like his play style is more of what I like playing - fast, downhill, blitzing.”
Even with the turbulence around the program, Rojas said he never wavered on coming back. There was interest from other programs around the country as a possible portal target, including Virginia Tech, but he never entered the portal. For him, staying put was the easy call.
“Obviously, I know a bunch of guys that stayed, but [Penn State] just felt like home,” Rojas said. “And I don't want to be in the predicament where, once I graduate, it's awkward going back to the college where I go for a year. Knowing that I can come back here anytime is a good feeling.”
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