For Yvan Kemajou, this was supposed to be his year. After all, when your school has continuously produced elite edge rushers over the past couple of years, chances are you will be next in line. However, that has not been the case for Kemajou and this Penn Statedefense as they have struggled to find rhythm up front in terms of generating pressure. Now, they will face perhaps their toughest test of the season against a USC offense firing on all cylinders. Therefore, the question remains: will Yvan Kemajou have a breakout game?
Last year, Kemajou was seen as more surplus to the overwhelming talent Penn State was able to deploy off the edge. Last year, Dani Dennis-Sutton was the player tasked with elevating a moribund defense. This year, not many
fans knew if there would be a perfect replacement with a lot of new faces. Kemajou was one of the holdovers from last season's squad who as a sophomore, was one of the promising young talents for the blue and white. Now, it just looks like he could be a failed experiment.
In D'anton Lynn's defense, it is expected for the edge rushers to clean up the work of the larger defensive tackles that Lynn deploys; on run plays, they can create losses, and on pass plays, they have the opportunity to get home due to interior pressure. That has not been the case for Kemajou, who at 6-3, 252, has the length, height, and athleticism to be a solid player, but only has 1 sack on the season thus far.
Against USC, Kemajou has a unique opportunity to get right this season and change the perception of the Penn State defense's future. As a younger player, there is no one more important to their success up front, especially if the defensive line is set to undergo a rebuild.
There's no time like the White Out game for Kemajou to finally be the player Penn State fans expect him to be.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Will Penn State's Yvan Kemajou have a breakout game against USC?
