How Penn State football LB Curtis Jacobs is taking the next step toward ‘LBU’ greatness
Curtis Jacobs’ initial reaction isn’t to yell when he makes a tackle.
He doesn’t scream, he doesn’t get fired up.
He laughs.
“I don’t know (why),” Jacobs said after practice Wednesday with a laugh. “I don’t know. Say somebody is small, you’ll be telling them they small. You laugh a little bit.”
Jacobs may laugh, but it’s hard to imagine Penn State football’s opponents are.
The sophomore linebacker has quickly turned into an impact player on Penn State’s defense and has a chance to be the next great linebacker to call Beaver Stadium home.
Jacobs may have had his breakout game when the Nittany Lions last took the field. The sophomore was all over the field in their 33-24 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus Saturday night, finishing with seven tackles — two for loss — and playing well in coverage.
“I feel like I had a solid eight games,” Jacobs said. “But I’m just playing in the framework of the team. My teammates did their job, I did my job. You get shine when you do your job.”
While he excelled Saturday and has generally excelled this season, Jacobs didn’t know he would get to that point when he was a freshman. He struggled on the field last season, making mistakes typical of a freshman — even a hyper-talented one.
He faced an issue he generally hadn’t had to deal with in the past and had to find a way to work past it in order to play well and establish himself as a player who can bring value to the defense.
“I’ll tell you right now, honestly, last year I didn’t believe in myself,” Jacobs said. “I wasn’t really confident in my decisions when I was playing. Now that’s really helped and that’s why I’m taking this big stride.”
Jacobs knew he would have to find that confidence in order to excel at this level, so he worked to find it.
After all, he wasn’t surprised that it was an issue — most freshmen have those struggles — so he searched for the moment that would allow him to break through. That time came between last season and this one.
There wasn’t a specific moment the linebacker remembers when things clicked, but he knows that they did. His preparation played a key role in that and eventually it all came around.
“Mainly I tried to play fast and play confident,” Jacobs said. “... Once you’re confident in what you’re doing and you’re playing in the framework, that’s how you’re gonna make plays.”
Now he’s a major player in a defense that doesn’t feature many holes. All 11 starters are capable of playing at a high level on any given play — a luxury most defenders don’t have within a defense.
That gives all 11 more room to take risks or even potentially make mistakes. It’s much easier to take a chance to force a fumble when your 10 teammates are rallying to the ball-carrier, just as it’s easier to try to jump a passing lane when the coverage behind has the receiver blanketed.
The benefits of that aren’t lost on Jacobs, who doesn’t take his talented teammates for granted.
“(Playing in a good defense) is a good feeling,” Jacobs said. “You can’t take it for granted because it’s not guaranteed that everybody is going to do their job every play. It’s great to have that trust in your brothers.”
The next step for the sophomore linebacker is to show he can do more than just play one spot.
He’s on a path that Penn State head coach James Franklin envisions for a lot of the linebackers he recruits. He wants Jacobs and the rest of the position to grow their ability to the point that they can play across all three spots at the second level of the defense.
Franklin saw him start on that road and now sees the flexibility he wants out of a linebacker within defensive coordinator Brent Pry’s defense.
“I think he’s been on a very similar path that a lot of our guys have gone through,” Franklin said. “Where they start out to the field (linebacker position) as a freshman, as a backup, and you’re kind of rotating. Then take that as a starting job, then depending on your body, how your body transforms, possibly moving into the WILL linebacker or moving into the MIKE linebacker depending on your control of the defense and understanding of the scheme. I think he’s got the flexibility to do that.”
Now that he’s found his confidence and is playing like one of the best players on the defense, Jacobs is trying to ensure those next in line — like Kobe King and Jamari Buddin — are ready to make that same jump he did.
He doesn’t want them to lose their faith in their own games.
Instead, he’s hoping to keep them on track and continuing to build the same tradition he contributed to and will continue to over the next two seasons.
“I feel like those guys are going to be big for us,” Jacobs said. “I’ve tried to mentor them, be what Jesse (Luketa) and Ellis (Brooks) were to me, to them. Make sure they know what they’re doing so they’re where they’re supposed to be and just make sure they’re playing fast. ... I’m really proud of how they came up. I love those two guys.”
Jacobs is helping mold the next generation just like those before him — including current Dallas Cowboys LB Micah Parsons — did for him.
He has a chance to ensure the linebacker tradition is carried on after he inevitably departs for the National Football League.
Because — while it may be early in his career — Jacobs is quickly transforming into the next great Nittany Lion linebacker.
