Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1410640
6 6 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M S top the presses, because we have breaking news to share on the Penn State football front two weeks into the season: The transfer portal can be a good thing for the Nittany Lions. It hasn't always felt that way over the past handful of years. In most cases, players who left because they weren't producing much or playing a lot in State College ended up thriving or at least doing more good things elsewhere than they did here. But aside from specialist Jordan Stout, head coach James Franklin's program hadn't really received much on the inbound side of the equation. That has changed in 2021 — a stellar class of additions from other colleges has already produced in both big and small but important ways through early September. It's not just FBS colleges that are a part of this equation, of course. We'd be remiss not to mention junior col- lege players who are making an impact. They may not be true transfer portal players, but they at least had a little bit of college seasoning under their respective belts prior to showing up for Power Five football. Lackawanna College has always had a good relationship with Penn State football, but it has been strengthened under the leadership of Franklin here and Mark Duda there. What a pairing it has turned out to be, too, as former Falcons are powering the Nittany Li- ons' secondary, where seniors Jaquan Brisker and Ji'Ayir Brown both start at safety. They're also making a push along the offensive line, where senior Anthony Whigan is rotating in at left guard. It's true that not every player from the Scranton school has always worked out — former offensive lineman Paris Palmer may start and end the list of previous impact players — but the hit rate right now is above average, and another player is on the way in 2022 safety commit Tyrece Mills, who opened the junior college season with an interception just as his old team- mates did during a 16-10 win at Wis- consin. Finally, Iowa Western transfer Jor- dan van den Berg has already made the travel roster, even if the sophomore de- fensive lineman only arrived a couple of months before camp began. As for the transfer portal players, almost all of them have shown why Penn State went out of its way to entice them to wear blue and white instead of whatever colors they wore at their old school. Former Temple defensive end Ar- nold Ebiketie is the clear standout of the group. The senior was dominant against the Badgers to the tune of seven tackles plus a blocked field goal in ad- dition to four tackles versus Ball State to back up all the preseason hype fol- lowing his All-American Athletic Con- ference career with the Owls. Beside him, former Duke standout Derrick Tangelo is eating up reps as a senior defensive tackle. And staying on that side of the ball, junior cornerback Johnny Dixon, formerly of South Caro- lina, has seen minimal reps at his true position but is a contributor on special teams, and so is junior position mate and former Florida State five-star A.J. Lytton. The experience isn't just helping on defense, of course. While former Baylor running back John Lovett was unavailable in the team's first two games for undisclosed reasons, another senior, Harvard transfer Eric Wilson, is sharing time with Whigan at left guard and could very well have the job all to himself by the end of the month, which is impressive considering that he didn't play at all in 2020 because of the pan- demic. Then, at receiver, former Ship- pensburg speedster Winston Eubanks has seemingly carved out the fourth pass-catcher role for himself as a se- nior backup behind slot starter Parker Washington. There are three main takeaways here: First, the Lions brought the afore- mentioned players in to improve their depth at a number of key areas, and it's so far, so good in that regard. Second, it's important to note that Franklin and his staff have found another way to build their program. Transfers and junior college players will never make up the majority of the roster, but there is certainly a good reason for them to make up part of it, since experience cannot be taught, and proven production at the college level can't be, either. Finally, as noted above, it turns out that the transfer portal can be a posi- tive for Penn State. The newcomers quickly assimilated with the other members of the roster and bought into what the program's leaders preach on a daily basis, and they certainly have made the 2021 version of the Nittany Lions better across the board. ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL gpic92@gmail.com Lions' Additions Make An Immediate Impact THE LAST WORD S e n i o r s a f e t y J i 'A y i r B r o w n h a s j o i n e d f e l l o w Lackawanna College transfer Jaquan Brisker in the Nittany Lions' starting secondary. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL