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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> IN THE NICK OF TIME D E F E N S I V E B A C K S After graduating four starting DBs, the Nittany Lions need to replenish their secondary. Senior safety Nick Scott gives them the veteran leadership they seek ick Scott likes to keep the mood light. The fifth-year senior may be all busi- ness on the field, but away from it, he's a joker. So when people ask him why he volun- teered early in his career to move from running back to safety, a position he had played infre- quently in high school and wasn't expected to play at all in college, his answer practically de- mands a rim shot. "I tell them I could give them 26 reasons," he said. Scott had called up James Franklin about a week after the TaxSlayer Bowl in January 2016 and proposed trading himself to defense. He had come to Penn State as a running back, but he had seen what everyone else had seen during the 2015 regular season: Saquon Barkley left, Saquon Barkley right, Saquon Barkley up the middle, Saquon Barkley over the top of would- be tacklers. In a matter of months, No. 26 had gone from a promising but inexperienced freshman to the future of Penn State football. Scott understood that there weren't going to be a lot of opportunities for others to carry the football with a once-in-a-generation talent on the roster for the next two or three years. Hence the trade request. "It was best for me," he said. "There was a lit- tle hesitation because I knew I lacked some of the fundamentals. In high school, I was never really at this position. I was just an athlete. So when I trained on my own, I didn't train for a position. I worked out. I worked on straight- line speed, I worked on strength, I did some ladders and things, but I never really did a backpedal. In high school, because of my ath- leticism, I was able to get away with not being fundamentally sound. So that was something I was a little worried about going into it. But at the same time, I trusted my- self that I would put in the work to get those things down." He has since put in that work, and as he preps for his final sea- son at Penn State, he is expect- ing that it will pay off. Scott is in line to fill one of the vacancies that opened up when safeties Marcus Allen and Troy Apke graduated following the 2017 season. He has only made two starts in his career to date, and one of those was on offense in 2015 when Barkley was hurt, but he feels ready for a full-time starting role this fall, most likely at strong safety but possibly at free safety, since players cross-train at this position group to en- hance their versatility. The coaching staff has been encouraged by his development. "Nick has done a tremendous job," safeties coach Tim Banks said. "Starting with our off- season conditioning program, he was excellent and he really picked up where he left off during spring ball. He's a great leader right now. He's playing a lot faster. I'm excited about him. I think the sky's the limit this upcoming season." A special teams standout throughout his ca- | HIT MAN Scott has been a special teams standout at Penn State. Covering kicks helped him figure out his ca- reer path. "If I had never played special teams, I would have never known that I was a defensive player," he said. Photo by Steve Manuel N

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