Blue White Illustrated

more leverage because you're going against double-teams and powers and zones and stu<." As he prepares for the season ahead, Zettel sounds like a man who has found more than just a home on the ;eld. "Being a starter, I feel a lot more con;- dent in myself, plus the coaches feel more con;dent in me, so I just started not wor- rying about stu< that doesn't really matter. I can just go out and play football," Zettel said. "Being a backup, it wasn't a bad thing. I felt like I contributed a decent amount to the team and I wasn't ready to start. "Now I feel like I am, so I'm excited." ■ >> A 6-foot-4, 313-pounder from Gal- loway, N.J., Johnson said he takes inspi- ration from his predecessors, particu- larly Jones. When Johnson showed up on campus in 2012, Jones took him un- der his wing, referring to him as his "little bro." The two shared a passion for basketball – both played the sport in high school before deciding they had brighter futures in football – and they embraced their roles, Jones as the men- tor and Johnson as the protégé whose job was to soak up all of his teammate's advice and inspiration. It's been plenti- ful. "He tries to motivate me to try and beat his numbers and all that. I think that's great motivation, especially with us being so close," Johnson said. "I'm glad that he's motivating me, and push- ing me to be a better player. I hope I beat his numbers. It would be a great accom- plishment to be on that list of great D- tackles." Johnson doesn't flinch when asked what his goals are for the coming season, but he added that he doesn't feel bur- dened by the weight of high expecta- tions, his own or other people's. "I'm just out there trying to play the game of football," he said. "There's no pressure. Every game, I just play to the best of my ability and push myself to be better and make plays." – M.H. >> KEY PERSONNEL DE: Deion Barnes*, Brad Bars, Torrence Brown, Curtis Cothran, Carl Nassib, C.J. Olaniyan*, Garrett Sickels, Evan Schwan; DT: Tarow Barney, Parker Cothren, Austin Johnson*, Antoine White, Tyrone Smith, Anthony Zettel* LOSSES Kyle Baublitz*, Derek Dowrey, Brian Gaia, DaQuan Jones* RISING STAR A number of promis- ing newcomers will see action for the first time this season, but the one who appears poised to make the biggest impact from the outset is Barney, a 6- foot-1, 289-pound transfer who brings two seasons of juco experience and who was on campus this spring after enrolling in January. Barney en- joyed a breakthrough sophomore sea- son at Northwest Mississippi Com- munity College, playing nearly every down and totaling 9.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. The Lions are moving Zettel inside, where he will likely start alongside Johnson. But you can never have enough depth in the middle of the line, and if he's as powerful as we've been led to believe – James Franklin called him "freakishly strong" this spring – Barney will make an impact. BIGGEST LOSS Jones was a first- team All-Big Ten performer in 2013, leading the Nittany Lions with 11.5 tackles for loss before becoming a fourth-round pick of the Tennessee Ti- tans. And while Jones' departure was no surprise, the Lions were rocked by the exit of longtime assistant coach Larry Johnson, especially after he landed at Ohio State. NUMBERS GAME The Nittany Li- ons' 28 sacks ranked fourth in the Big Ten last season. The three teams ahead of them in the standings – Ohio State, Nebraska and Michigan State – all played at least one more game than Penn State did. OUTLOOK This is probably the deepest area on Penn State's team, although deep is a relative term these days. The line had enough talent on hand this spring that it could afford to lend Dowrey and Gaia to the of- fensive line, moves that will almost certainly turn out to be permanent. With Barney and White in the mix at defensive tackle, the Lions appear to be two-deep at those critical posi- tions. At the end spots, they have two very good players in Barnes and Olaniyan. The latter had a breakout year in 2013, totaling a team-best five sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Barnes slipped a bit statistically, finishing with only two sacks and four tackles for loss, but he showed two years ago in winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors that he's a potential star. What's more, the Nittany Lions have two promising freshmen in Sickels and Cothran who are eager to get their careers started this fall. All told, this is a solid unit, maybe the team's best. – M.H. DEFENSIVE END NO NAME YR HT WT 86 C.J. Olaniyan Sr. 6-3 252 90 Garrett Sickels Fr. 6-4 246 DEFENSIVE TACKLE 98 Anthony Zettel Jr. 6-4 274 93 Antoine White Fr. 6-1 286 DEFENSIVE TACKLE 99 Austin Johnson So. 6-4 313 91 Tarow Barney Jr. 6-1 289 DEFENSIVE END 18 Deion Barnes Jr. 6-4 255 31 Brad Bars Sr. 6-3 263 * Starting experience in 2013

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