Blue White Illustrated

preseason practice, when freshmen Marcus Allen, Christian Campbell, Koa Farmer, Grant Haley, Amani Oruwariye and Daquan Worley begin working out. QUOTABLE Shoop on the style of de- fense he wants Penn State to play: "It's an 'in your face' kind of defense that's going to challenge every throw. That's who we are. I think Adrian Amos has as unique a skill set as I've ever been around. If he makes the commitment to do it, he could be the best defensive back or safety in all of college football next year. Ryan Keiser is an extremely great player with a great story. He's that proverbial quarter- back [in the secondary]. And Jesse [Della Valle] is a guy who's played every position, too. He's the Pirates utility guy and can bat anywhere in the order. To see Trevor Williams get an interception was good today. Jordan Lucas, we know he's going to play well. The guy who I think stepped up over the last two weeks was Da'Quan Davis. He has light feet, loose hips and made some good tackles, so it was very positive to see him progress." SPECIAL TEAMS GOOD NEWS By all accounts, senior place-kicker Sam Ficken had a terri;c spring. At hal=ime of the Blue-White Game, he was named the recipient of a new award recognizing the squad's out- standing special teams player – no surprise given that Franklin had given him props at almost every media availability of the past few months. While he missed an extra point in the Blue-White Game due to an errant snap, he should bene;t this fall from the return of his trusty holder, Keiser. Ficken's late-season slump last year co- incided with a hand injury that forced Keiser to relinquish his holding duties. BAD NEWS Projected starter Chris Gulla had an up-and-down a=ernoon in the Blue-White Game, averaging 39.2 yards on 12 attempts. He didn't face any pressure, as both the kicks and returns in the scrim- mage were uncontested. The Nittany Lions are hoping to improve their punting game a=er ;nishing with a net average of 35.4 yards last season, 10th-best in the Big Ten. It looks as though they've still got some work to do over the summer. QUOTABLE Hu<, Penn State's special teams coordinator and running backs coach, on the sta<'s approach to the kicking game: "Special teams, people say, is one- third [of football]. It's a big part for us. It's just as important to us as o

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