Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 4 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M pen in the storm that Campbell and his team have spent eight months preparing for. Beginning with Marshall at Beaver Stadium on Sept. 5, breaking only once until the regular season concludes at Maryland on Nov. 28, Penn State is go- ing to be challenged repeatedly. "When it gets tough, when you have a bad fourth quarter, bad half, maybe you have a bad game, how do you re- spond? How do you come back? How do you learn and not flinch, waver, not divide?" Campbell said. "How do you stay together through this? Those are the things that we're building toward. "I would not tell you it's created by any stretch of the imagination right now. We've got to prove it. We've got a lot of work to do." The work isn't complete, nor will it be by the time the games arrive. But when they do, the team that takes the field will be eager to accept the challenges and determined to meet them. With a largely new coaching staff in place and more than half of its roster comprised of players who are in their first year in the program, Penn State is one of the nation's biggest unknowns this season. With so much uncertainty, there are plenty of sto- rylines that will bear watching in preseason practice. Here are four that had our full at- tention in the first few days of practice. 1 Caleb Bacon's move to defensive end is based on trust It wasn't necessarily a surprise to see the redshirt senior linebacker getting reps at defensive end when camp opened on Aug. 5, but it was a bit of a revelation that he was with the group full-time. The red- shirt senior was a linebacker at Iowa State, but with senior Kooper Ebel and redshirt junior Tony Rojas holding down the Mike and Will spots, respectively, Bacon's not- quite-permanent move makes sense. "He certainly has the ability to slide back and play Mike or Will linebacker," head coach Matt Campbell said. "He's great in coverage, a smart football player. We felt like we gave him so many reps at line- backer, we'd be missing the boat not to start him off in fall camp on the edge." Campbell approached Bacon with the idea earlier this summer. The 6-foot-4, 242-pound defender trusts that his head coach knows what's best. While he's still listed as a linebacker on the team's official roster, all his reps came at defensive end in the first few days of preseason practice. "When he first told me that, it kind of threw me off," Bacon admitted. "But I knew that this is why I came here, to follow Coach Campbell. I know he always has the best intentions for me. He even told me that he felt like this would have been a good move a couple of years ago if the dominoes really fell in the right spot to do that. It's really just [a matter of] trusting in him and what he's seen out of me in the last couple of years." 2 Linebacker Alex Tatsch is champing at the bit The doctors and trainers might say oth- erwise, but Tatsch believes he is ready to play. After suffering a devastating knee injury in practice leading up to the Pin- stripe Bowl last December, the sophomore linebacker has been working off to the side during practice, but he's hungry for the real thing. "I'm very close," Tatsch said. "I couldn't put a number on it, but I'm right there. I'm ready. They're holding me back still. I want to get out there. I feel like I was ready to go three months ago. It's a slow process, and I know I've got to be careful, but I'm ready for football. "They're very professional in the training room. Our training staff is very good. The way they attack it is the right way. I'm just trusting in them." Redshirt junior linebacker Tony Rojas has taken the same steps and seems to be back in good form. Rojas had a two-month head start, and he's laid out a blueprint for Tatsch. "I've just kind of followed his footsteps through this whole thing, watching him rehab, how he's attacking it," Tatsch said. "It's been a good example for me to look forward to and see his process. He's been a professional, locked in. It just makes it easier for me." 3 Are we overthinking the hybrid de- fense? The theme of the first couple of days of practice on the defensive side of the ball was multiplicity. The Nittany Lions have moved plenty of players around the back seven in similar, but not all equal, roles. It's been a process. "You're trying to balance out the meet- ings, the walkthroughs," safeties coach Deon Broomfield said. "I think it just takes a little bit more effort and being more intentional to make sure they're getting the reps they need at multiple positions, seeing things they need to see from for- mations and plays. You're trying to really structure that evenly so you know they're prepared at multiple positions." Broomfield highlighted senior nickel Zion Tracy and junior safety Marcus Neal Jr., and he also alluded to the eventual return of redshirt senior Jeremiah Cooper from a knee injury that ended his final season at Iowa State after just four games. But he also indicated that the puzzle may not be quite Four Preseason Storylines Redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Manske served as Rocco Becht's backup at Iowa State last season and will likely do so again this fall at PSU. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS