Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537537
A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 81 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / S P E C I A L T E A M S / / / / / / / teams this year with all those guys back, and Lustig in Year 2, and me and him having a better feel for each other." At least once last season, Penn State did win a game thanks to its special teams. Kicker Ryan Barker, a redshirt freshman at the time, sent home a 36- yard field goal in overtime at USC — his fourth make of the afternoon, along with 2 PATs — to lift the Nittany Lions to a 33- 30 win, their sixth consecutive victory to start out the campaign. Six weeks later, another critical spe- cial teams play virtually assured Penn State of a win at Minnesota. Turning to Luke Reynolds to execute a fake punt on fourth-and-1 from their own side of the field late in the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions saw their brinksmanship rewarded when the freshman tight end bolted 32 yards, effectively ending the game. Still, when asked this spring to assess his kicking units, Lustig leaned into the idea that there's ample room for im- provement. "From a big perspective, what are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? What can we build upon? What do we have to prevent as a weakness?" Lustig said. "We have a lot of opportunities to get better. At the end of the day, it's all about the opportunity to just continue to get better." Franklin's lukewarm appraisal of last year's performance was perhaps more reflective of the return game than any other aspect of the special teams. The Nittany Lions averaged 21.2 yards on kickoff returns and 5.9 on punt runbacks, ranking seventh in the Big Ten in the for- mer category and 16th in the latter. Both Franklin and Lustig believe PSU has the potential to raise those numbers this year. One of the team's bigger offseason ad- ditions was receiver Devonte Ross, who arrived from Troy via the transfer por- tal. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior was mostly known for his pass-catching abilities during his time with the Trojans, but he also doubled as a punt returner for head coach (and former Penn State assistant) Gerad Parker. Ross recorded 10 attempts for 154 yards last fall, including a 77-yard return for a touchdown at Iowa in September. In his standout performance against the Hawkeyes, Ross showcased his game-breaking ability against a Big Ten opponent that the Nittany Lions will face in 2025. While many observers have speculated about what Ross will bring to the offense, Lustig has been focused on his potential as a specialist and has liked what he's seen so far. "We're super excited," Lustig said. "One of the games that stood out to us was him competing against Iowa. What a game he had there. He had a punt return for a touchdown. "He's made some plays. … I think you have to build some courage as a punt re- turner, and having that experience and doing it on a big stage and making some big plays certainly is going to be valuable for him." Ross finished the 2024 season with a 17.1-yard average on 9 punt returns. By pairing that experience with his natural ability, Lustig sees an opportunity for Ross to impact both the return and pass- ing games this season. "He's got wiggle. He's a smaller guy, but he reminds me of Tez Johnson from Oregon," Lustig said. "He's an explosive kid. We can get the ball in his hands in space — on special teams, on offense. He's going to make some plays." Following a season in which five play- ers were tapped to return punts, with the team's longest return covering 23 yards and none producing touchdowns, Penn State is hoping that Ross can make an impact in the kicking game. Ross is hoping so, too. One of the rea- sons why the Nittany Lions' transfer pitch appealed to him was that he saw an opportunity to present himself as the kind of well-rounded playmaker that NFL teams covet. Ross knows that prov- ing himself as both a punt returner and receiver can significantly boost his value. "I've been working at punt returns since I've been in college. It's been good," he said. "I'm building great habits in practice reps, making sure I'm taking every rep I have seriously with my tech- nique, getting to the ball, making sure I'm under the ball squarely." It's a significant shift from the circum- stances Lustig encountered upon his ar- rival at Penn State in January 2024. Dae- quan Hardy had moved on to the NFL, leaving a vacancy on the punt-return unit. Ross won't be awarded the job out- right; he'll be one of several players vy- ing for opportunities in preseason camp, with junior Zion Tracy, redshirt fresh- man Tyseer Denmark and redshirt ju- nior Kaden Saunders also hoping to make their mark on special teams. Between them, Tracy and Saunders handled 19 of Penn State's 23 punt-return attempts last year. Armed with a better understanding of his players' potential, Lustig is looking for continued improvement this year. Frank- lin, for one, is confident it will come. "In Year 1, you're starting with algebra, and then it's geometry, and then by the end of the year, you're hoping that you're on to trigonometry," he told his radio show audience this past spring. "Then typically in Year 2, you have the ability to maybe start on geometry and work for- ward. You're just so much further ahead with the discussions that you're able to have. The dialogue is just very different." "With Coach Lustig, the foundation is there in terms of how we operate and what we want to do, the stress and the pressure that we want to put on people. Those things are valuable. We're just way ahead of where we were this time last year. And obviously, there's a ton of value in that." ■ "He's got a lot of wiggle. He's a smaller guy, but he reminds me of Tez Johnson from Oregon. He's an explosive kid. We can get the ball in his hands in space — on special teams, on offense. He's going to make some plays." L U S T I G O N D E V O N T E R O S S