Blue White Illustrated

S ean Spencer wouldn't go quite as far as James Franklin had gone one week earlier. Meeting with reporters following a spring practice session early last month, Franklin said that Penn State had put together "one of the better defensive end groups in the country" and maybe the best group that he had been around in more than two decades of college coaching. It was exceedingly high praise, and it didn't come out of nowhere; in 2018, the defensive ends had helped the Nit- tany Lions amass a school-record 47 sacks. But since the end of that season, the Lions have lost starter Shareef Miller, along with an excellent pass-rushing defensive tackle in Kevin Givens, who joined Miller in Penn State's contin- gent of early NFL Dra: entrants. So when Spencer was asked about the defensive line as a whole a few days before the Blue-White Game, he ex- pressed optimism about the season ahead but took care to note that plenty of work lies ahead. "We've got a good chance," he said. "We've had some great D-lines that have come through here, but we've de8nitely got a chance. We're very, very talented. We're fast, and I just think the cohesiveness of this group is tremendous right now. Those guys hold each other accountable, and when the room can hold each other accountable, it makes your coach's job a lot easier." Since arriving at Penn State along- side Franklin a little over five years ago, Spencer has proven himself to be one of Penn State's most effective assistant coaches in terms of player development and on-field produc- tion. The season ahead appears likely to further enhance his coaching creden- tials, with junior end Yetur Gross- Matos and senior tackle Robert Windsor returning to their starting roles, and major contributors Shaka Toney and Antonio Shelton also back at end and tackle, respectively. In ad- dition, the Lions boast a number of rising stars such as P.J. Mustipher, Judge Culpepper, Damion Barber and Aeneas Hawkins at tackle and Daniel Joseph, Jayson Oweh and Shane Sim- mons at end. Simmons is still recover- ing from an unspeci8ed injury, but as a whole, the group is shaping up ac- cording to plan. Spencer said one of his main goals this spring was to ensure that players continued to take steps forward rather than hitting a plateau. Two of the younger players in his position group – Oweh and Mustipher – made a big impression. Oweh, a redshirt freshman, will be "a problem off of the edge" for opponents, Spencer said, while Mustipher is becoming a more-refined talent than he was as a true freshman contributor last sea- son. Overall, Spencer said he was pleased with the group's development this spring and is excited about its poten- tial to take another step forward over the summer months. "I thought we had a great spring," he said. "We looked fast. We've limited the mental errors. That was a big em- phasis for us, and any time you've got younger guys stepping into a new role, you always worry about how they function when the bullets are 9ying. So I thought they've done a great job of that, in particular. "Watching guys like Shelton really take the next step [has been gratify- ing]. He's going to be a redshirt junior, and he's really taken the next step. He's playing within himself. He's big and strong, and that's how he's play- ing right now." –N.B. your game when you help somebody else." The Lions have needed to find leaders to take charge of a position group that fea- tures more first- and second-year players than seniors and juniors. Shelton has em- braced that role and has been pleased with the progress he's seen. "Everybody has been doing a really great job, just because we all understand the expectation and the standard that's set in this unit, with the fact that we re- load, we don't rebuild," he said. "But I definitely see Shaka Toney [stepping up], for sure. He's one of the smartest football players I've ever played with. He makes me better, he makes everybody else bet- ter." The younger guys have been similarly impressive, he added, noting that P.J. Mustipher, Judge Culpepper, Aeneas Hawkins, Damion Barber, Adisa Isaac and Jayson Oweh, among others, have been "taking steps forward" this off-season. "It's really cool to see it, because you know all the work that's been put in," he said. Determined to continue that work ethic and positive trajectory through the rest of the spring and into the summer months, Shelton and his fellow defensive linemen see that trend paying off in the season ahead. ■ P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> Spencer excited about potential of Lions' DL SPENCER

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