Blue White Illustrated

P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> five or six guys. And the reality is, we have to keep playing those guys to gain experi- ence and to gain [the staff's] trust. [The season opener] will give us a better deter- mination when we watch the film in de- tail: Who really played up to the level that we needed them to play? We think we're in a conversation between five or six guys at defensive tackle and five to six guys at defensive end. We probably have fewer questions at defensive end than we do at defensive tackle, but we're still talking five or six." It may seem as though it would be diffi- cult to amass that kind of depth, given the understandable desire of high-level prospects to sign with schools where they're going to play a lot. Penn State's linemen are coming off the field more fre- quently than they might at another school, but to assistant coach Sean Spencer, that's a feature of the system, not a bug. "Coach Spence emphasizes it during the recruiting process," defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher said. "He says we're going to rotate. Whether you're a starter or a backup, you're going to get reps. So you have to prepare all week long like you are a starter, like you are going to get the most reps, because that's how we rotate. There shouldn't be any drop-off in our performance when we rotate, and I don't think there was [against Idaho]. I don't think there's going to be all season." Penn State came at Idaho quarterbacks Mason Petrino and Colton Richardson in waves. Petrino, the Vandals' starter, was sacked three times, while Richardson went down four times after coming on in relief in the second quarter. At 285 pounds, Richardson was a hard man to bring down; a second-quarter solo sack by Gross- Matos looked like a wrestling throw. But the Lions' success at keeping both QBs under constant duress was a sign of their depth. Except for Gross-Matos, who fin- ished with 2.5 sacks, no one finished with eye-catching stats, but that was because the Lions played a lot of people. And be- cause they played a lot of people, they were able to keep up the pressure. They gave up only 4 rushing yards in their opener, and 141 passing yards. "You're best when you're fresh," Mustipher said. "So you're not playing a lot of snaps, but when you go out there, you've got to be able to dominate. That's why rotating helps. You always have fresh legs going against an offensive line that's been out there for a couple of plays. It helps us get after the quarterback, get after the running back and dominate." In addition to their conventional four- man fronts, the Nittany Lions also have some more exotic combinations that they can use to put the clamps on opposing of- fenses. One of those combos is an align- ment specially designed for third-and- long. The Lions will swap a defensive tackle for an extra defensive end, which means that the opposing quarterback will have to dodge Gross-Matos, Shaka Toney and Jayson Oweh, too. "I love playing inside," Gross-Matos said. "I love playing outside. I love rushing the quarterback. It's a great joy for me." It's a less-joyful experience for those quarterbacks, and for the offensive line- men charged with keeping Gross-Matos out of the backfield. Coming off a break- through sophomore season, he said he hasn't set any statistical goals for himself WRAPPED UP Thanks to players like starting defen- sive tackle Anto- nio Shelton, Idaho couldn't get any- thing going on of- fense. The Vandals finished with only 4 rushing yards in the game. Photo by Steve Manuel

• Cover