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Lions' decimated linebacker corps suffers more losses

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Penn State coach James Franklin and his players struggled to find the words. "Our linebacker situation . . ." Franklin said. "I don't know if I've ever been through anything like this."

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Penn State coach James Franklin and his players struggled to find the words.

"Our linebacker situation . . ." Franklin said. "I don't know if I've ever been through anything like this."

"In years of playing sports," safety Malik Golden said, "I've never seen something like this."

It was the worst-case scenario for Penn State's defense in a 49-10 loss to Michigan on Saturday.

Not only were they going up against the No. 4 Wolverines, but they were doing so without their three veteran starting linebackers: Jason Cabinda, Brandon Bell, and Nyeem Wartman-White, a redshirt senior from Philadelphia who is out for the season.

And as the Wolverines pounded Penn State, the linebacker corps continued to lose players. In the second quarter, starting middle linebacker Brandon Smith, a walk-on who logged eight tackles against Temple, was ejected for targeting. Then Smith's replacement, Jan Johnson, left the game with an undisclosed injury, which Franklin said was season-ending.

At halftime, Penn State was down, 28-0. The defense had allowed 259 total yards. A disappointed Smith attempted to rally his teammates, trying to instill confidence in a depleted linebacker unit and a dejected team.

"He just told us that the game wasn't over," sophomore linebacker Manny Bowen said, "to keep going because you never know what could happen in the next half."

"You know he wanted to be out there playing with his brothers," running back Saquon Barkley said. "We wanted to play for him."

Defensive players said that in a game full of negatives, the biggest positive may have been that freshman linebacker Cam Brown showed promise in his defensive debut.

Brown finished with 10 tackles, six of them solo. Meanwhile, Bowen made seven total tackles and fellow linebacker Jake Cooper recorded six.

The loss forced Bowen and Cooper, both sophomores, to mature quickly.

"I kind of had to be the one getting on those guys and yelling at them, motivating them, [saying] that we can't give up plays like that," Bowen said. "Because those [veteran] guys weren't around to do it today."

Franklin doesn't discuss injuries, so it remains uncertain when Bell and Cabinda may be healthy again. But Franklin didn't sound optimistic.

"We are just going to have to keep moving guys," Franklin said. "Right now, we are going to have a hard time practicing with the number of guys that we have."

Franklin already had moved Koa Farmer from safety to linebacker last week after Wartman-White's injury.

"We are all ready," Farmer said, "because we got the worst possible situation today."

@ErinMcPSU