Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1322704
eighth in the Big Ten in scoring at 26.5 points per game. The team's scoring output is another concern, especially given that the prob- lems began last year. Prior to Penn State's Champions Week matchup against Illinois, it had topped 30 points in only three of its previous 15 Big Ten games. The only times the Nittany Lions topped 30 this year were against Indiana and Michigan State, and they needed overtime to do it in Blooming- ton, scoring a touchdown in the extra period but losing, 36-35, when the Hoosiers countered with a TD and a two-point conversion. After their recent victory at Rutgers, Ford addressed the Nittany Lions' overall direction. He sounded hopeful, but his optimism was tempered by the realiza- tion that success isn't going to happen just because it happened in years past. It's going to happen because everyone is putting in the individual work that's necessary to move the team forward. "Anything you do in life is about a mentality," he said. "If you don't have the right mentality with anything, you're not going to do it right." There will be more challenges ahead, both for Ford and the team. Ford missed the regular-season finale against Michi- gan State for undisclosed reasons, and in the fight for carries in Penn State's of- fense, he'll be competing against a rising star in Lee, one of several freshmen who made an impact this year. But competition is the whole point, and the more of it that Penn State can create internally, the better-equipped it will be to take the fight to its opponents on Saturdays. The Lions began doing ex- actly that toward the end of the season, overcoming the obstacles that had slowed them earlier in the year and gen- erating some momentum. "I feel like we finally found our men- tality – the mentality that Penn State plays with," Ford said. "You saw it [against Michigan and Rutgers], what we can do on the field. As long as we keep that up and continue that mentality, we can go get wins." ■ LT Rasheed Walker Des Holmes Will Fries LG Mike Miranda Des Holmes Sal Wormley C Michal Menet Mike Miranda Juice Scruggs RG Will Fries C.J. Thorpe Anthony Whigan RT Caedan Wallace Bryce E5ner Olu Fashanu QB Sean Cli5ord Will Levis Ta'Quan Roberson RB Devyn Ford Caziah Holmes Keyvone Lee WR Parker Washington Isaac Lutz Justin Weller WR Jahan Dotson Cam Sullivan-Brown Malick Meiga WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith Daniel George T.J. Jones TE Brenton Strange Theo Johnson Tyler Warren Zack Kuntz DEFENSE DE Shaka Toney Adisa Isaac Nick Tarburton DT Antonio Shelton Fred Hansard Judge Culpepper DT P.J. Mustipher Hakeem Beamon Dvon Ellies Coziah Izzard DE Jayson Oweh Shane Simmons Smith Vilbert OLB Brandon Smith Curtis Jacobs Lance Dixon MLB Ellis Brooks Jesse Luketa Max Chizmar OLB Jesse Luketa Lance Dixon Brandon Smith CB Tariq Castro-Fields Daequan Hardy Marquis Wilson Saf. Lamont Wade Ji'Ayir Brown Enzo Jennings Saf. Jaquan Brisker Jonathan Sutherland Tyler Rudolph CB Joey Porter Jr. Keaton Ellis Daequan Hardy P Jordan Stout Levi Forrest Jake Pinegar K (FG) Jake Pinegar Jordan Stout Levi Forrest K (KO) Jordan Stout Levi Forrest Jake Pinegar H Jordan Stout Rafael Checa Levi Forrest LS Chris Stoll Michael Wright Max Chizmar PR Jahan Dotson Parker Washington Marquis Wilson KR Devyn Ford Lamont Wade Parker Washington * As of mid-December D E P T H C H A R T * O F F E N S E D E F E N S E S P E C I A L T E A M S OR OR OR