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mary backups – Beamon and Hansard – both returning, Ellies having shown potential as a redshirt freshman and Izzard cracking the depth chart as a true freshman. However, defensive end is an area where Penn State has some questions to answer. Toney was the Lions' sack leader in 2020 with five, and while Oweh finished without a sack in his seven-game junior season, his off- the-charts athleticism made him a good bet to leave early for the NFL, which is exactly what he did when he announced on Dec. 26 that he wasn't coming back. So now the Lions will look to rebuild their depth chart around Ebiketie, Isaac, Tarburton and Vilbert. Isaac is, like Oweh, a high-ceiling former four- star prospect from the New York/North Jersey metro area. The two players are physically similar, with Isaac standing 6-4, 251 pounds. Vilbert has been garnering praise from coaches and teammates since his ar- rival in 2019, but he hasn't played much, seeing action in six games to date. Tarburton has been slowed by injuries and has only played in nine games during the past two seasons. Between them, Isaac, Vilbert and Tar- burton have amassed 30 tackles and three sacks to date, with Isaac ac- counting for 27 of those stops and all three sacks. Penn State finished fifth in the Big Ten with 21 sacks this past season. That sounds pretty good, but the Lions also played more games than all but two other teams in the confer- ence. So position coach John Scott Jr. will no doubt be looking for this unit to bring more heat next fall. QUOTABLE Scott on Isaac: "It was fun to watch him increase his strength over the summer, and then the way you see him striking and playing off of blocks, he continues to get better there. Adisa is a really, re- ally smart kid, and he's playing fast. There's not a lot of thinking going on with what we're doing on defense, >> T he expectations for Brandon Smith ahead of Penn State's 2020 season were predictably lofty. He had flashed his potential as a true freshman, dis- playing the talent that had made him a four-star prospect and the 39th-rated player in the Class of 2019 according to Rivals.com. Stepping into a starting role at the Sam outside linebacker position as a sophomore, he had the necessary ex- perience and he definitely passed James Franklin's eye test. "When you guys see [him], he's unbe- lievable," Franklin told the media ahead of the Nittany Lions' season opener at Indiana on Oct. 24. "I don't know if you guys have seen him walking around campus or town, but when I get off the bus, he's going to be standing right next to me." By the conclusion of the Lions' 36-35 overtime loss in Bloomington, Smith had earned a spot next to Franklin, but for entirely different reasons. Unable to make an impact against the Hoosiers, he was not credited with any tackles and struggled in pass coverage. According to Pro Football Focus's ad- vanced metrics, it was his worst game of the season, particularly with his grades for tackling (21.8) and stopping the run (44.9). But as Penn State's 0-5 start would demonstrate, Smith wasn't alone; the entire linebacker unit struggled in the first half of the year, as did the defense as a whole. Coming off a 13-game 2019 season in which only two opponents topped 30 points, the Nittany Lions sur- rendered 30 or more points in each of their first five games this past fall. The challenges were varied, but more than an inconsistent pass rush, coverage woes and tackling issues, Smith described the primary letdown as one of mentality and attitude. "A whole bunch of us were unfocused. We were too high on last year, as Cotton Bowl champions," Smith said. "It was just us being immature as a defense and taking things for granted. That's all it was. "We had a lot of momentum from last year. We were just feeling good about what was going on, and then we get hit in the mouth. We kind of fell apart a lit- tle bit." Determining that something needed to change but unable to pinpoint ex- actly what, Smith described the mood throughout the team as "dark." Players understood their assignments and were putting in the necessary effort, he said, but the results were not what they wanted. Eventually, though, the combi- nation of losing and the reaction of Penn State fans to the team's struggles created a point of resistance that took hold. "It was just basically us saying, 'Enough is enough.' Like the one kid that gets bullied, he has enough of it and stands up to the bully," Smith said. "That's kind of like the mindset that we COMFORT ZONE He got off to a tentative start at outside linebacker, but now that he's fully acclimated, Brandon Smith is looking like a difference-maker for PSU |

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