Penn State's Abdul Carter: 'You Haven't Seen the Best of Me Yet'

The Nittany Lions defensive end won multple awards for his performance against Illinois.

Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter celebrates after a stop during the fourth quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Penn State's Abdul Carter spent the offseason training the finer points of playing defensive end. Last week against Illinois, Carter felt he put everything together. Now what?

"Like I said, you haven't seen the best of me yet," Carter said.

Carter's transition from linebacker to defensive end was among the Big Ten's most-watched moves before this season, one that came with elevated expectations. Carter was earning first-round draft grades at a position he had not played in college. Then the two-year linebacker delivered upon his preseason promise, putting together a dominant performance at defensive end against the Illini.

Carter made seven tackles, including a career-high for four losses, and two sacks in Penn State's 21-7 win over Illinois. As the Illini turned to its passing game in the fourth quarter, Carter took over. He sacked Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer twice on the final series, forcing a fumble on his second sack that essentially ended the game. Carter also broke up a third-and-long pass dropping into coverage earlier in the game, underscoring his versatility in Penn State's defense.

Carter won multiple weekly awards for the performance. He was named the Big Ten defensive player of the week, the Bednarki and Nagurski Awards national player of the week and the Senior Bowl national co-defensive player of the week.

"Just playing fast, playing with a little effort, that’s one thing I pride myself on," Carter said. "Make sure I play the game with everything I've got, every play, and I feel like it showed [against Illinois]."

Carter, a junior from Philadelphia's La Salle College High, leads Penn State with three sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss, generating most of those stats against Illinois. The Nittany Lions' early opponents prioritized quick passes and shorter routes to limit their pass-rush opportunities. In addition, Penn State coach James Franklin said that Carter continues to make his position move in real-time.

"The good thing is, it's just going to get better," Franklin said. "The transition from linebacker to defensive end is a significant one. He's done some really good things already, but as he gets more comfortable there, and then like you saw last week, we started to put more on his plate where we're doing different things, whether it's just one time lining him up on the left another time on the right at defensive end. Just that alone so they can't game plan him and know where exactly he's going to be."

Against Illinois, Penn State lined Carter in multiple spots on the line, including just behind defensive tackle Zane Durant. Carter rushed from the spot but also dropped into coverage, where he broke up the early Illinois pass on third-and-long. Penn State continues to explore more defensive options with Carter, who also could play linebacker if necessary.

"Whether it's having him spy the quarterback and add-on in the blitz, whether it's lining him up over the center or guard and trying to get him matched up on running backs, which is what the offense doesn't want to happen," Franklin said. "As this goes on, as he continues to get more comfortable playing defensive end, but then as the coaches find more and more creative ways to use him, I think that's the exciting part. That's the fun part. I think just going to see him become more and more impactful each week."

Carter said he's looking forward to what's next.

"Just got to keep growing, keep learning, just keep getting better," Carter said after the game. "Keep taking these weeks week by week, just stack days, stack weeks, to get better."

More Penn State Football

Beaver Stadium named the "rowdiest" venue in college football

Penn State's latest College Football Playoff projections

James Franklin wants Penn State to take a "significant step" this week

Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.