Penn State Sports Magazine
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Site Lines C O M M E N T S F R O M T H E L I O N S D E N A T B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C O M FEBRUARY 2023/VOL. 38, NO.6 MANAGING EDITOR Matt Herb CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Mark Panus, Chris Riffer WEBSITE PUBLISHER Sean Fitz WEBSITE EDITOR Nate Bauer STAFF WRITER Greg Pickel RECRUITING REPORTER Ryan Snyder FOOTBALL ANALYST Thomas Frank Carr CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Carlson PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Althouse, Bill Anderson, Steve Manuel, Mark Selders COVER PHOTO Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics DESIGN Jeanette Blankenship, Chris Miller F F F PUBLISHER Stu Coman BUSINESS MANAGER Linda Autry ADVERTISING SALES/MARKETING Michelle DeLee-Hamilton 877-630-8768 CIRCULATION MANAGER Sarah Boone CUSTOMER SERVICE Cathy Jones, Laura Thornton, Crystal Clayton 800-421-7751 BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED (USPS 742-550) is published monthly, except June, by Coman Publishing Company, 905 W Main St, Ste 24F, Durham, NC 27701-2076. A one-year (11 issues) subscription is $59.00. First-class, digital and foreign rates available on request. Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27701 and additional mailing offices. Printed by The Papers, Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections/changes to BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription informa- tion call 1-919-688-0218 or write BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Dur- ham NC 27702. W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ON THE BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER IN PENN STATE FOOTBALL HISTORY … Although we have had a lot of great defensive players over the years at Penn State, my top vote getters would be Mike Reid, LaVar Arrington, Jack Ham and Courtney Brown. Any one of these players could take over the game as major disrupters to opposing offensive play. My best single memory of a player who actually almost single- handedly shut out the opposition was LaVar in the Alamo Bowl against Texas A&M. — Jerademan I sure liked Paul Posluszny. The others were before my time, but Poz was the full package. For natural ability and game-wrecking potential, Poz and Tamba Hali/Courtney Brown are near the top of my list. — Skeller It is a toss-up for me. Bruce Clark was absolutely the best defensive tackle I have seen play at PSU. The man was physically dominant, and you knew he was going to be special when he played as a freshman. PSU hasn't had a defensive tackle anywhere near Clark's caliber since he graduated. Shane Conlan epitomized what it meant to be a Penn State linebacker. The guy was the complete package. Tough as nails against the run, great in pass coverage, and great at blitzing. Also, Conlan played with a mean streak and played great in big games against power programs like Alabama, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Miami. — Blair10 I was young when Mike Reid was dominating but have seen several highlight films where his quickness jumps off the film. Bruce Clark and Matt Millen were dominant my freshman year, and one or the other was typically double teamed. Their senior years (with some possible bumps and bruises and Millen's dustup with Joe Paterno) were some- what disappointing. At their best, though, they were impressive. Shane Conlan had to have been one of the best big-game players (along with Curt Warner) that Penn State had on either side of the ball. He was matched up against the best runner in the Orange Bowl game against Oklahoma and the best receiver in the Fiesta Bowl against Miami. — NavyBlue My dad watched PSU from the 1950s though his death last year. He always said, without hesitation, that Mike Reid was the best defensive player ever at PSU. — PSUreal91 ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PENN STATE'S OFFENSE IN 2023 … I think there's a solid possibility that the offense evolves next year with a new quarterback, and we see more Air Raid concepts being implemented than we've done the last two years. With that being said, I'm not sure the traditional Z, X and slot positions will matter as much. I could see us moving guys around to exploit matchups, especially if KeAndre Lambert-Smith gets stronger. Either way, the receivers room looks a little better with the addition of Dante Cephas. — TomPSU823 I'm excited to see how KeAndre Lambert-Smith is used with a quarterback who is much better at throwing downfield. Add in KLS's strong end-of-the-season finish, and I'm hoping he takes a big jump next year. With a strong running game, excellent tight ends and a QB that can throw it all over the field, PSU should be tough to stop. — DC89 ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF PSU'S OFFENSIVE LINE … There's more talent there, and [more] experience than we've had in a while, but everyone except for Olu Fashanu has areas they need to improve upon. The good news is that the more legit options we have, the more likely a few guys bubble up to the surface to give us our best starting five in a long time. Exciting stuff. — PSURam I'm excited about the possibilities for our offensive line. I'm excited for the possibilities of the offense in general. We have playmakers at every position. In my opinion, our weakest position is our five-star quarterback. Not his arm, but his experience reading defenses. I hope I'm wrong. Worst case (and not a bad one) — give the rock to Nick Singleton or Kaytron Allen and have them run behind Olu and Landon Tengwall. — Jason1743 Starting roles are not going to be guaranteed going forward. [Offensive line coach] Phil Trautwein is getting and developing quite a bit of talent. This upcoming 2024 recruiting cycle is going to be very interesting to fol- low. — Poncho570 4 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 Linebacker Shane Conlan was a consen- sus All-American in 1986 and the defen- sive MVP of Penn State's 14-10 victory over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS