Penn State was experienced, yet not deep or overly-talented on defense this season, yet Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Bob Shoop led the unit to No. 2 nationally as the Nittany Lions reached a bowl game in its first year under head coach James Franklin.â€¨â€¨

Penn State gave up a paltry 278.7 yards per game in 2014 and was one of only five teams (Clemson, Stanford, Wisconsin and UCF were the others) to allow less than 300 yards per game on average this past season.

Penn State also ranked second nationally in pass efficiency defense, was No. 3 against the run (only 100.5 yards per game) and was seventh in scoring defense (18.6 points per game).

For his efforts, Shoop is the 247Sports National Defensive Coordinator of the Year for 2014.

Clemson's Brent Venables was a close second, but two factors gave Shoops the advantage: Without defense, the Nittany Lions would've been hard-pressed to even make a bowl, no thanks to the nation's No. 114 offense, and Clemson's defense wasn't exactly perfect; the Tigers surrendered 45 points to Georgia in the season-opening loss.

Big Ten landslide: Ohio State's Herman wins offensive honors

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the season for Penn State’s defense came on Oct. 7 against eventual national champ Ohio State. The Nittany Lions held the Buckeyes to 293 total yards (74 passing) in a 31-24 double overtime loss.

Penn State shut Ohio State out in the second half and rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to tie the game and send it to overtime.

That was certainly impressive considering the way the Buckeyes’ offense performed down the stretch during the championship run.

Indeed it was a situation of doing more with less when you consider that Penn State is still short roster-wise because of NCAA sanctions. Shoop is no stranger to building great defensive units in situations that aren’t particularly set up for it. During the previous three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt, the Commodores finished with the nation’s No. 18 (2011), 19 (2012) and 23 (2013) defenses as Vanderbilt went to three straight bowl games.

Franklin often talks about being surrounded by “smart guys” on his staff and Shoop would definitely fall into that category. A Yale graduate, Shoop is known throughout college football as one of the most intelligent coaches in the game, a master tactician and an excellent recruiter and talent developer.

Shoop had some interest from other programs this offseason (namely LSU) and elected to stay with Franklin and the Nittany Lions, agreeing to a new contract. With Penn State now recruiting at a high level on both sides of the ball and Shoop’s ability to maximize talent, one can only expect for the Nittany Lions to have one of the top defensive units in the B1G moving forward- a good thing considering they play in one of the toughest divisions in football- the B1G East- with the Buckeyes, Michigan State and a now Jim Harbaugh-led Michigan program, along with recruiting rivals Maryland and Rutgers.

Expect to see more success in Happy Valley moving forward.

Prior Winners

2013: Pat Narduzzi, Michigan State