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<p>At the end of Penn State&#8217;s fourth straight exhausting, down-to-the-wire game, Yetur Gross-Matos could admit how he was feeling.</p><p>&#8220;Yeah, tired,&#8221; Gross-Matos said with a smile. &#8220;Really, really tired. But we won. So I&#8217;m happy.&#8221;</p><p>The sophomore defensive end finished Saturday&#8217;s win over Iowa with Nate Stanley in his grasp as the Hawkeyes quarterback made a desperation pitch to one of his offensive linemen as the clock ran out.</p><p>That lateral prevented Gross-Matos from adding another number to his huge totals for the game. But it didn&#8217;t stop him from being named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.</p><p>Despite needing to leave the field briefly down the stretch following a minor injury, Gross-Matos finished the day with nine tackles (four for loss) and two sacks as the Nittany Lions held on for a 30-24 victory at Beaver Stadium.</p><p>Penn State&#8217;s defense hasn&#8217;t necessarily had that one dominant playmaker this season. But these last two weeks, the Virginia native has made a case for himself.</p><p>The breakout started a week earlier against Indiana, where he set a career-high with 10 tackles and had two more sacks. In the last two games, Gross-Matos has racked up 19 tackles (13 solo), six for loss and four sacks.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think my confidence has grown &#8212; I&#8217;ve been confident the whole time,&#8221; Gross-Matos said of his surge. &#8220;So I just go out there and make plays.&#8221;</p><p>Those performances helped Penn State&#8217;s defense close out a pair of wins after surrendering fourth-quarter leads in the two previous games, losses to Ohio State and Michigan State.</p><p>&#8220;It sucks to play that hard and for that long and then losing,&#8221; Gross-Matos said. &#8220;So closing that out (against Iowa) was huge.&#8221;</p><p>For the Lions to have a shot at an upset this Saturday at Michigan, it will have to be led by Gross-Matos and fellow starting defensive end Shareef Miller, who has had a solid year himself.</p><p>On Iowa&#8217;s final snap, it was Miller who beat his man cleanly to pressure Stanley and blow up the play, knocking him right into Gross-Matos&#8217; arms.</p><p>As the veteran of the defensive end group now, Miller has been impressed with Gross-Matos&#8217; progress.</p><p>&#8220;He just keeps grinding and working. and he&#8217;s been playing up front with the defense and making plays,&#8221; Miller said. &#8220;I&#8217;m real happy for him.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s just different. (When) he was young, like when he was a freshman, he just got it. Only thing was when he was coming from high school to college, he was learning the playbook and how to run the plays, that was setting him back. But that was the only thing. He&#8217;s a good listener. He&#8217;s always been able to listen me and the older guys in the room.&#8221;</p><p><strong>McSorley makes the cut</strong></p><p>Already on the short list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Trace McSorley was named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, a national player of the year honor.</p><p>The Maxwell Football Club cut its list to 20 players on Monday, with McSorley one of five Big Ten players still in the running along with Michigan running back Karan Higdon, Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore and Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor.</p><p><strong>CFP rankings set to debut</strong></p><p>The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2018 season will be announced at 7 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN.</p><p>With two losses already, Penn State isn&#8217;t on the radar to make the four-team bracket without a lengthy string of upsets, but the Lions will get to see where they stand nonetheless.</p><p>Penn State sits at No. 14 in the latest AP poll and is ranked No. 13 by the coaches, who have the Lions as the highest-ranked two-loss team in the country.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (center) was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after recording nine tackles (four for loss) and two sacks on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_AP18294682368927.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (center) was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after recording nine tackles (four for loss) and two sacks on Saturday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Doug McSchooler | AP file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Penn State’s Gross-Matos honored by Big Ten as hot streak continues