Penn State's Abdul Carter Believes He's the Best Player in College Football

The Nittany Lions defensive end did pushups after being "snubbed" for a national award. "I just like using things as motivation," Carter said.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Abdul Carter reacts after a sack against the Maryland Terrapins in a Big Ten football game at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State's Abdul Carter was a finalist for several college football trophies, including the Bronko Nagurski Award, which goes to the game's best defensive player. The night South Carolina's Kyle Kennard won — or the night Carter said he got "snubbed" — the defensive end did pushups. "I went to failure," he said, "until my arms gave out."

"I just like using things as motivation."

Carter, the Big Ten defensive player of the year who also believes he's the best player in college football, begins the third act of his final college season Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions will host SMU in a first-round game of the College Football Playoff, and few players have caused SMU coach Rhett Lashlee more night sweats than Carter, the defensive end who this season became Penn State's 45th consensus All-American.

"Abdul Carter is the best defensive end we’ve played against in my time at SMU, based on the film that I've seen," said Lashlee, the Mustangs' third-year head coach.

A former linebacker playing his first season at defensive end, Carter blossomed into one of the nation's most disruptive players this season. He led the Big Ten in tackles for loss (19.5), tied for second in sacks (10) and forced two fumbles. He consistently was among Pro Football Focus' top-graded defensive players in the country.

Carter's role evolved during the season, as he lined at more spots across the defense. Penn State deployed him in pass-rush and coverage situations and shifted him behind tackle Zane Durant on third downs to capitalize on a unique look. Defensive coordinator Tom Allen also took advantage of Carter's speed and history at linebacker. Against Purdue, Carter tracked down a screen pass from behind, which Penn State coach James Franklin called his favorite play of the game.

"Oh man.. that is scary!" 🗣️

Abdul Carter's track down speed is an offense's nightmare 👀 @PennStateFball #B1GFootball on CBS 📺 pic.twitter.com/WDKGp8D1Pj

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) November 16, 2024

“I mean, the play he made on the screen was phenomenal,” Franklin said. “For us, we try to spend a lot of time talking about real football people, studying the tape, NFL scouts, GMs, other college coaches. When you watch the tape, the guy is impactful. Whether it's sacks, whether it's tackles for loss, whether it's holding calls, whether it is obvious that they have a specific plan in how they're trying to limit his impact — keeping tight ends in, keeping running backs in, always sliding in his direction so there's double-team between the tackle and the guard — he is impacting the game in a number of ways, which creates opportunities for other guys on our defensive line and within our defense and causes a lot of headaches.”

And yet, Carter still finds (perhaps even seeks) ways to kindle his own fire. He was nominated for multiple national awards, including the Nagurski and the Chuck Bednarik, but won none of them. Carter also didn't get a vote in the 2024 Heisman Trophy voting, a case he tried to make personally after the Nittany Lions' final regular-season win over Maryland.

"It definitely gives me an extra edge," Carter said. "... I try not go get discouraged. I still feel like I'm the best defensive player, but not just defensive player, I feel I'm the best player in general. You know, we get categorized as defensive players, but we impact the game as much as offensive players. And it doesn't have to be [the best] defensive player, it's the best player overall. But I just use it all as motivation."

Allen has seen that in real-time this season. The defensive coordinator has moved Carter across the defense more and more, with Carter amplifying every opportunity. Allen has called Carter the most "disruptive" defensive player in college football and Tuesday went a step further.

"I believe he's best defensive player in the country, and he's proven that each week," Allen said, "Bottom line, as you get into this game with SMU, it's going to be another opportunity for him to be able to do what he does best, which is disrupt."

Carter traces the recent roots of his motivation to his sophomore season. He was a freshman All-American playing linebacker in 2022, leading Penn State in sacks (6.5) and finishing second in tackles for loss (10.5) despite starting just six games. He expected to further that success as a sophomore, which he did. Carter was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and second-team All-American by Sports Illustrated. But he wasn't pleased with the productivity (5.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks).

"I just was trying to do too much, just trying to make every play instead of just doing my job and allowing the plays to come to me," Carter said

That changed this season, as Lashlee noticed.

"He's just incredibly physical," the SMU coach said. "He flies around and makes plays [at linebacker], and then they move him to defensive end, and he’s got as good a get-off as anybody in college football. There's a reason he's a top-five, top-10 pick in the [NFL] draft. On top of that, our tackles have to deal with the noise [at Beaver Stadium] and trying to hear the snap count, so there's a lot of things in his favor that he doesn’t need on top of the fact that he’s as talented a pass rusher as he is."

Franklin also has noted how Carter impacts offenses despite playing through double-teams and his share of uncalled holds without getting frustrated. Carter downplayed the holding conversation this week, saying that, "if I get the call, I get it. If not, I just keep working, keep working and eventually I get a call.'"

"He's been great, his attitude's been great, he is coachable, he is becoming more and more of a leader every single day," Franklin said. "One of the cool things for me to do is after the game, for some reason, I can always find his dad and his mom in the stands. He has a hard time finding them sometimes, but I always seem to find them, and I've got a great relationship with them. So I'm more focused on how is he impacting the game, and how is his effort and his motor? Those two things are at a really, really high level. I think a lot of people are noticing it."

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