Penn State Football: 5 players who earned game balls vs. Northwestern

If you aren’t familiar with Shaka Toney, trust me, you will be soon enough.

Previously a player who was only on the radar of the most passionate of Penn State fans, Shaka Toney was arguably the Nittany Lions’ best pass rusher in their Week 6 victory over Big Ten West opponents Northwestern, which is a trend that could continue after the team’s bye week.

A former three-star recruit from Philadelphia, Penn., Toney redshirted during his first year on campus before joining the Nittany Lions’ active roster in 2017.

In only five games of action, he did not play in the team’s road trip to Iowa, Toney has earned consistent playing time as a member of the Nittany Lions’ incredibly deep defensive line rotation, and in Week 6, Toney put the rest of the league on notice as to just how special of a player he has the potential to become in Happy Valley.

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After recording eight tackles, one sack and a forced fumble in his first four games, Toney doubled his pass rushing production for the season in one afternoon, with two crucial sacks on Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson and a forced fumble that ultimately helped to set up the Nittany Lions’ first score of the game, a 21-yard field goal by Tyler Davis.

While players like Shareef Miller receive all of the national attention, and for good reason, he also recorded a sack against the Wildcats and currently leads the team with three, Toney has quietly developed into a real weapon off the edge and could grow to terrorize the Big Ten for years to come.