Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1430714
W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 2 7 they would be forced into expanded action at exactly the same time. But there's little doubt that they can only help each other get better at a time when Penn State needs it to happen rapidly. "Meeting somebody so young, you have a lot of time to build a relationship," Ellies said in early November. "Early on, you would never think that, 'Oh, you're going to be playing right next to him,' especially at that young of an age. "Here we are, now we're brothers for life, for sure. We just hope to build that relationship and keep growing together." Izzard earned the starting spot against Ohio State and Maryland, but the two played a similar number of snaps in those two games, their first games since being asked to take on larger roles. Izzard had a tackle for loss against the Buckeyes, and while Ellies had just one stop in those games, the most important thing was that they didn't look out of place and helped Penn State put together a pair of fine performances against the run. No one was going to singlehandedly replace Mustipher's size and production, of course. But together, the 6-foot-3, 295-pound Izzard and 6-1, 301-pound Ellies meet the position's physical require- ments and are truly living the meaning of "next man up." "You always want to be in a situation where you have a really talented guy as your starter with another starter in terms of ability and experience behind him, and then a young up-and-coming guy that you're excited about," Franklin said. "You really want to have that at every single position, and with some of the injuries that we've had, it's thrust those guys who were young, develop- mental guys who we were excited about into much more significant roles right away. "I thought Tangelo really did a much better job with the increased reps that he was playing and still played at a high level, and then obviously the reps that Izzard and Dvon Ellies, the number of reps that they have gone up, have gone up dra- matically, and I thought they battled." They will need to continue doing so, as will some other players who have moved up the depth chart. Penn State would prefer to still have five players to ro- tate at both end and tackle. Inside, redshirt fresh- man Amin Vanover has received more opportunities, as has junior col- lege transfer Jordan van den Berg. Outside, r e d s h i r t Redshirt freshman Coziah Izzard became a starter at defensive tackle after senior PJ Mustipher suffered a season-ending injury at Iowa. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL