Six games into the No. 3 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions’ season and their Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff hopes are still alive.

Up to this point in Penn State’s 2017 campaign it has done everything it was expected to do. There have been blowout wins, ugly wins, and of course at Iowa there was a last second walk-off victory. But the most important thing is that the Nittany Lions have six wins and zero losses.

As most Nittany Lions enthusiast know, it was their offense that received a lot of the hype and praise coming into the season. The regard held for the Penn State offense was certainly warranted by both fans and the media because of the way it finished in 2016. The offense was explosive, showcasing its big play ability, which time and time again helped them to win football games.

This season, it’s no secret that most eyes are on Trace McSorley, Saquon Barkley and the Penn State offensive skill people. It’s hard to argue against focusing on Barkley to see what insane juke, jump, or acrobatic catch he’ll make.

But in my opinion, not enough eyes are on the Nittany Lions defense. Its performance has been vastly overlooked this season.

Just take a look at the numbers. Penn State ranks fourth in the Big Ten in total defense, fifth in rush defense (giving up just 3.1 yards per carry and 117 yards per game), and third in pass defense (nine interceptions).

Some people might look at those numbers and think they’re good, but not great. What I think people are missing with this Penn State defense is that yes, sometimes teams have been able to move the ball, but it doesn’t give up the big play, and most importantly opposing teams have had a very difficult time getting the ball into the end zone against it. In fact, the Nittany Lions are tops in the Big Ten and top five in the country in scoring defense as they’re allowing a stubborn nine points per game.

A good defense keeps teams at bay, as the Nittany Lions have done so far this season. But a great defense can force turnovers in key moments. Penn State has forced turnovers not only in important moments, but in all moments. It leads the Big Ten with 17 total turnovers forced (eight fumbles, nine interceptions) and on the offensive end the Nittany Lions (five turnovers) have taken care of the football, meaning they’re an impressive plus 12 in turnover ratio. That’s an average of a plus two turnover margin per game. There are not many teams that aren’t successful if they’re up two in the turnover department week in and week out.

Besides the defense, The Nittany Lions special teams have been under appreciated by the average football fan as well. That is except for the field goal kicking game. Tyler Davis is just 6-for-13, which is a far cry from his 22-for-24 performance last season. The kicking game needs to get figured out during this bye week as a late game-winning field goal may be needed with Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State on the schedule in the next three weeks.

Now, onto what the Nittany Lions special teams unit has been doing right. Let’s talk about drive-start average, which is something head coach James Franklin has talked about a lot this season. Penn State’s kickoff team has been elite and the numbers back it up.

The Nittany Lions are tied for the Big Ten lead with 23 touchbacks. Punter Blake Gilikin has also been a weapon for Penn State on special teams. The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in net punting average at 42.4.

Basically, all this means is that teams are not getting good field position for the majority of the game. To make a team consistently drive 75-plus yards for a score can really become frustrating for that team and in my opinion is a big reason why Penn State has been so productive in the turnover department.

Lastly, both the return units on special teams have shown the ability to come up with the big play on a consistent basis. DeAndre Thompkins has a punt return for a touchdown and Barkley has a kick return for a TD. The Nittany Lions also have a fumble return touchdown on their punt coverage team this season as well.

Penn State is number one in the Big Ten in kickoff return yardage, averaging 30.9 yards per return and its number two in punt return average at 15.8.

Don’t think I forgot about Penn State’s offense. I just want to give Penn State faithful a more rounded perspective on why the Nittany Lions are a top five team. The defense and special teams are often not given enough credit and in the case of Penn State, both units are a big reason for its success so far.

The Nittany Lions are third in the Big Ten in scoring offense as they’re averaging 39.7 points per game. Penn State is also third in the league in total offense at 456.2 yards per game. The passing offense is averaging 291.2 yards per game through the air and even though the run game has struggled over the past two weeks they’re still averaging 165 yards per game on the ground.

McSorley is leading the Big Ten in passing with 1,597 yards and 13 touchdowns with just four interceptions. His most impressive statistic is his completion percentage, which is up significantly from last season (57.9 percent) at 67 percent.

As anyone who reads this column knows, Barkley is also in the top tier of both the rushing and receiving leaders in the Big Ten. Barkley is fourth in rushing yards (649) and second in rushing touchdowns (six) and is fourth in receptions (29) and seventh in receiving yards (395). Barkley also ranks second in the country in all-purpose yards.

Here are my grades for each unit for the first six games of the season:

Offense (B)

I think the offense could be better even though it has been scoring enough points and amassing enough yardage to win. If the offensive line can get healthier in the bye week at right tackle and they can get just a bit more push in the run game, the potential for this offense is at elite level status.

Defense (B+)

The only thing that kept me from giving the defense an A is the play of the front four. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve played well, but I think this unit can be great. The middle of the front four needs to plug up the middle a little more in the run game and I definitely think they have the athletes to be more consistent with their pass rush.

Special Teams (A)

The only thing keeping this unit from an A+ is the field goal kicking struggles up to this point in the season. Besides that, they’ve been one of the best special teams units in the country.