Penn State linebacker Jesse Luketa eager to keep playing

With this season’s football schedule pockmarked by the coronavirus pandemic, the Big Ten conference added an extra game to every team’s schedule for what has been dubbed “Champions Week.”

A matchup between a 3-5 Penn State team and an Illinois squad at 2-5 doesn’t exactly resemble a conference title game, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t carry extra significance to Penn State’s players.

“There’s more to it, especially with our seniors having their senior day this past Saturday,” linebacker Jesse Luketa said during a video conference with media Tuesday. “They were honored. They had an opportunity to come out that tunnel for what was possibly they thought their last opportunity in Beaver Stadium. We have another opportunity to, in fact, return and play at home. That’s where we’re finding our motivation. We’re hungry to go out there and put another week together for our seniors.”

As far as the previous week is concerned, Penn State won its third consecutive game — a 39-24 home victory against Michigan State — thanks to a stout effort by the defense, which yielded only 69 yards rushing.

“The biggest word that fits is resiliency,” said Luketa, who had seven tackles (two solo, five assisted) in the contest. “As far as the (whole) season, we didn’t start off the way we wanted. But we stayed the course, we stayed together, we stayed hungry. … We came out and knew what we wanted to do from a defensive standpoint as far as our goals. And we achieved that, I felt. Holding a team to (69) yards rushing the whole game, that’s a big accomplishment, but that’s what we expect. That’s the standard. So we were really content with that. We just had to grit our teeth, put our foot down and get back to playing like we know we can play. … We just have to get back to playing our style of football and being consistent all across the board.”

Part of that success came from making the defensive schematics more basic.

“In terms of simplifying it, we had a lot of things that we wanted to throw out,” Luketa said. “Just going back to the basics would be beneficial for us. Just to get back to playing dominating football, especially in the trenches. The game is always won up front. Just going back to what we know our bread and butter is, I feel like that’s been beneficial to us.”

One benefit Penn State has gone without this season has been playing in front fans.

“It’s been tough, honestly, not having our fans, not having our student body,” Luketa said. “Because … we feed off of that. People come to Penn State because they want to feed off of the (106,572 capacity of Beaver Stadium). It’s a big factor. So not having that as a part of this season has been tough.

“But nonetheless, we’ve had to find ways to manage and keep moving forward. I say our biggest source of motivation and inspiration has been our brothers, each other. We’re reserved. We’ve been kind of staying out of the way and quarantining essentially so we’re with each other all day every day. Not to say we weren’t before, but it’s kind of even more emphasized now during this pandemic. I’m my brother’s keeper, really.”

Given that the NCAA has waived any record requirements for bowl games, Penn State can qualify for a postseason game even with out a winning mark.

That, too, would carry significance for Luketa.

“It would honestly would be a great opportunity and honor to receive a bowl (invitation),” Luketa said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity if it does come, and it will be an opportunity I’m going to maximize if given.”