Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1495456
2 2 A P R I L 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M were similar," Franklin said. "I think the differences between Drew and Beau may be a little bit more dramatic." Sizing Up The Defense On the opposite side of the ball, the concerns are most acute in the middle of PSU's defensive front. The Lions have seven scholarship defensive tackles prac- ticing this spring, and none of them are named PJ Mustipher. Except for the second half of the 2021 season, which he missed with a leg in- jury, Mustipher was a powerful force for the Lions the past three years, both as a 320-pound run-stopper and as an inspi- rational team leader. Now that Mustipher has graduated, the defensive tackle corps is looking thinner in every sense of the word. Not only are their numbers down, but the re- turning tackles are smaller than would be considered typical for a team that aspires to compete at the Big Ten's highest level. Only two of Penn State's defensive tack- les are currently listed as weighing more than 300 pounds. Redshirt freshman Kaleb Artis is 315 pounds, while redshirt senior Dvon Ellies is 302. After those two, the bulkiest Penn State tackle is junior Coziah Izzard at 291. Three of the team's seven scholarship tackles weigh 275 pounds or less. Will that turn out to be the Achilles' heel for a defense that appears to be well stocked with playmakers at linebacker and in the secondary? Franklin doesn't think so. He noted that five of the re- turnees have substantial experience. Redshirt senior Hakeem Beamon started 12 games last season, while Ellies and Iz- zard have been major contributors the past two years, combining to see action in 48 games with eight starts. In addi- tion, sophomores Jordan van den Berg and Zane Durant played in all 13 games last year. "We feel good about the depth that we have there," Franklin said. "You would like more, but we've got guys who have played a decent amount of football." Penn State ranked 17th in the FBS last season against the run, allowing 111.2 yards per game. A year earlier, with Mustipher missing for the final seven games, the Lions ranked 67th, surren- dering an average of 152.7 yards on the ground and finishing 7-6. With Big Ten East Division rival Michigan ascendant thanks to a ground game that produced 418 yards against Penn State last year, the need to be stout against the run could not be more ap- parent. Committed To Improvement The ultimate goal this spring is to use all 15 sessions productively, including the last one, the Blue-White Game, which is set to kick off at 2 p.m. April 15 in Beaver Stadium. The spring game has had its critics over the years. Joe Paterno used to talk peri- odically about changing it into something more akin to a scrimmage, while his suc- cessor, Bill O'Brien, appeared to actively dislike the game, decrying it as a less- than-optimum use of the team's limited practice time. Franklin doesn't see it quite that way. He said he appreciates the opportunity to assess how his players perform in front of an audience, and how his staff fares when the head coach steps aside and the as- sistants are given a chance to supplement the coordinators' play-calling. "We're one of the unique places in that we're going to have more people at our spring game than most people have for a regular game in the fall," Franklin said. "Whenever we can create a spring game atmosphere, we want to do that for the fans, but I also think there's value. There's value for me in seeing the guys play in front of the fans and with the media there and with everybody's eyes on them. Some guys rise to the occasion, and some guys feel the pressure and anxiety from that. "There's also some value in [looking at] my coaching staff, too. I like to break the coaching staff up. I like to give opportu- nities for other guys on the offensive and defensive side of the ball to call a game. … I think that's a really good professional development opportunity." Although Penn State was still a few hours away from opening its offseason drills when Franklin met with reporters in March, he was already imagining the nar- ratives that will emerge from the spring game and the limited portions of practice that Penn State opens up to the media. Eventually it will all coalesce into another batch of predictions and polls, which will precede PSU's opener against West Vir- ginia on Sept. 2 by a few weeks and may or may not be more accurate than the ones that were issued in January. "You guys will be talking about the 2023 Penn State Football Schedule April 15 BLUE-WHITE GAME* 2 p.m. Sept. 2 WEST VIRGINIA TBA Sept. 9 DELAWARE TBA Sept. 16 at Illinois TBA Sept. 23 IOWA TBA Sept. 30 at Northwestern TBA Oct. 14 MASSACHUSETTS TBA Oct. 21 at Ohio State TBA Oct. 28 INDIANA TBA Nov. 4 at Maryland TBA Nov. 11 MICHIGAN TBA Nov. 18 RUTGERS TBA Nov. 25 at Michigan State TBA * Exhibition Drew Allar is looking to take charge of the quarterback position this offseason after playing in 10 games as a true freshman last fall and completing 58 percent of his passes for 344 yards and 4 touchdowns. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE