Blue White Illustrated

Tim Owen THIN BLUE LINE he grainy video shows Donovan Smith sliding to his le1, ramming into Syracuse's Jay Bromley and driving the 6-foot-4, 293-pound defensive tackle shoulder-.rst into the MetLife Stadium turf, helping to create an opening that Bill Belton scoots through for a 10-yard gain. Scroll down a ways and you'll .nd the short clip repeating endlessly on Smith's Twitter feed, along with an even blurrier piece of footage of the massive Penn State o/ensive tackle laying out a Kent State defender on a screen pass. The videos were uploaded and .rst tweeted by o/ensive line coach Herb Hand, who posted them last month in honor of National Pancake Day, a fake holiday de- signed to boost foot tra0c at IHOP that Penn State later repurposed for the bene.t of its football program. Smith noticed the clips and was happy to share them with his own Twitter followers. As well he should be. Listed at 6-foot-5, 335 pounds, he is not the kind of guy you want to tangle with if you're a defensive lineman. He's started 20 games the past two seasons, and the tapes only hint at why Hand is so enthused about his potential. Now that he's preparing for his junior season, the T | S P R I N G F O O T B A L L R E P O R T PSU looks to bolster its shorthanded oensive front this spring DEPTH DECISIONS Smith, below right, gives the Nittany Lions a bit of stability in their rebuilt of- fensive front. To help boost their numbers, the coaches moved two players from the defensive line, below left. SOUND ADVICE Hand, right, works with the offensive line dur- ing the first day of spring practice on March 17. Elsewhere in Holu- ba Hall, Hackenberg, left, took his first snaps of the spring. Tim Owen Matt Herb Tim Owen Patrick Mansell

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