Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1063223
V S . K E N T U C K Y to join the Class of 2014, verbally com- mitting the previous February. Ten months later, O'Brien and his staff de- parted, but Scott didn't waver. He held to his commitment, becoming one of the first players to sign with the Franklin- led Nittany Lions. At Penn State, Scott started out his ca- reer at running back but quickly came to realize after Saquon Barkley arrived in the Class of 2015 that he had a better op- portunity to earn playing time on de- fense. Scott made that switch in the spring of 2016 and was a 12-game starter this past season. He's also been a special teams mainstay and a team leader the past few years. He was named a captain in 2017 and again this past fall, serving with McSorley and punter Blake Gillikin during the 2018 season. "I definitely feel like a grandfather in the locker room," Scott said. "I'm an old head. I'm even a little old for my grade, so it adds to the fact. I look at that as kind of a blessing, because I'm able to pass on the knowledge that I have of this game and just my experience of being a college ath- lete. That's valuable information that you can pass on to guys coming up." Penn State's fifth-year seniors didn't have a big on-field impact as freshmen. All nine redshirted in 2014, but they began seeing action in 2015. Scott and Allen both earned starts at running back early in the season, while Thompkins and Farmer returned punts and kicks. Then came the 2016 season, in which McSorley established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision. During that season and the two that followed, Scott, Brown, Farmer, Oruwariye, Thompkins and Wright became either full-time or occa- sional starters. However, there was some disappoint- ment, too, as two of those careers were cut short. Brown suffered a career-end- ing knee injury in 2017, and Allen was forced to miss the Lions' 2018 Big Ten SENIOR DAY Penn State's gradu- ating seniors pose with James Franklin prior to the team's regu- lar-season finale against Mary- land. Front row (L to R): Donnell Dix, Frank Di Leo, Jake Cooper, Amani Oruwariye, Mark Allen, Trace McSorley, Jason Vranic; Middle row: Tyler Shoop, DeAn- dre Thompkins, Johnathan Thomas, Franklin, Nick Scott, Koa Farmer, Christopher Welde; Back row: Zach Simpson, Sterling Jenkins, Torrence Brown, Ryan Buchholz, Charlie Shuman, Joe Arcangelo, Chasz Wright, Kyle Vasey. Photo by Steve Manuel