Blue White Illustrated

August 2022

Penn State Sports Magazine

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6 2 A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M DEFENSIVE LINEMEN PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern STARTERS ★★★ When Penn State lost PJ Mustipher against Iowa last season, it proved to be a massive blow. The Nittany Lions were already struggling against the run, and it became an even bigger issue without him, most notably in the game that followed PSU's visit to Iowa, when Illinois ran for 357 yards in an upset that sent the season into a tailspin. Mustipher will return for one final season, with redshirt junior Dvon Ellies and redshirt sophomore Coziah Izzard expected to anchor the interior. Off the edge, Adisa Isaac returns following an injury that kept him out all season, but what kind of player he'll be as he enters his redshirt junior season remains unclear. Penn State did add for- mer Maryland linebacker Demeioun "Chop" Rob- inson in the transfer portal. He'll be expected to make a big impact, but replacing Arnold Ebiketie's 18 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks won't be easy. Redshirt senior Nick Tarburton is Penn State's most productive returning player, with 30 total stops, including 4.5 tackles for loss last season. EXPERIENCE ★★ Izzard and Ellies got plenty of reps following Mustipher's injury, with each totaling more than 400 snaps last season. They played their best games at the end of the year, which is a good sign, but both struggled at times against more mature offensive linemen. Another year in the weight room should help fix that. Tarburton also totaled more than 400 snaps at defensive end, but there's not much depth behind him. Robinson played more and more for Maryland as the season went on but still had just 240 snaps. Aside from those two, redshirt junior Redshirt junior defensive end Adisa Isaac is looking to rebound after missing the entire 2021 season with an Achilles injury. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL PERSONNEL POSITION COACH John Scott Jr.: Scott is entering his third season as Penn State's defensive line coach and his first as the team's run game coordinator. He came to PSU in 2020 after working with Brent Pry at Louisiana Lafayette in the early 2000s, as well as Georgia Southern in 2010. Because of those ties, many wondered if he was going to join the former Penn State defensive coordinator at Vir- ginia Tech when Pry announced his move at the end of November. That didn't happen, and now Scott may have his toughest challenge yet, with Penn State having to replace a highly productive player in Arnold Ebiketie. Scott has done a good job of taking players to the next level. Before he got to Penn State, he turned South Carolina defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw into a first-round draft pick. He's also helped three former Nittany Lions get to the NFL, most notably Baltimore Ravens defensive end Odafe Oweh, who was a first-round draft pick before Ebiketie went in the second round in April. Shaka Toney also made it to the NFL, and under Scott's leadership, Toney and Oweh became Penn State's first defensive end duo to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors since Court- ney Brown and Brad Scioli in 1998. RETURNING SCHOLARSHIP PLAYERS DEFENSIVE TACKLE HAKEEM BEAMON R-Jr. | 6-3 | 269 • Missed the 2021 season for undisclosed reasons. • Appeared in eight games as a redshirt fresh- man in 2020, finishing with 7 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. DVON ELLIES R-Jr. | 6-1 | 302 • Appeared in all 13 games in 2021, totaling 15 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. • Was one of 13 Nittany Lions to make their first career start in 2021. • Tallied a career-high 4 tackles in the final regular-season game against Michigan State. COZIAH IZZARD R-So. | 6-3 | 296 • Appeared in 13 games last season, including seven starts. • Finished with 21 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks in 2021. • Made his first career start against Illinois and totaled a career-high 5 tackles against the Illini. FATORMA MULBAH R-So. | 6-3 | 305 • Earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2021. • Appeared in six games last season, totaling 4 tackles. PJ MUSTIPHER Sr.+ | 6-4 | 329 • Named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches in 2021. • Was voted a team captain and made six starts before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 6 against Iowa. • Totaled 21 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a sack before getting hurt. JORDAN van den BERG R-Fr. | 6-3 | 269 • Transferred from Iowa Western Community College in June 2021. • Appeared in four games and was named the scout team's defensive player of the year by the coaching staff. • Tallied 5 tackles, including a tackle for loss against Arkansas in Outback Bowl. DEFENSIVE END ZURIAH FISHER R-So. | 6-3 | 260 • Is expected to miss the 2022 season due to an injury he suffered in spring practice. • Appeared in eight games last season, making 4 tackles. ADISA ISAAC R-Jr. | 6-4 | 244 • Missed all of 2021 with an undisclosed injury • Appeared in all nine games in 2020, totaling 13 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2 quarterback hur- ries. • Has totaled 27 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks for his career. RODNEY McGRAW R-Fr. | 6-5 | 271 • Was redshirted in 2021. • Totaled 91 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and 9 sacks his senior year at Elkhart (Ind.) High. NICK TARBURTON R-Sr. | 6-3 | 260 • Played in all 13 games in 2021, including eight starts. • Had the most productive season of any return-

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