Blue White Illustrated

Don't get the wrong idea. C.J. Olaniyan may be feeling a bit of "extra pressure" – his words – to perform well in his final season with the Penn State football team, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Said the senior defensive end, "I like the pressure to go out there and do whatever I need to do on the [playing] field, on the practice field." Olaniyan is getting ready to follow up a breakout junior season in which he won honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. He's hoping that he has a future in pro football, and while lots of college players share that goal, Olaniyan's motivation comes from a very specific source: his 1- year-old daughter, Nahla. "It's not just about me," he said. "I have to think about my family as well. As far as my daughter, my fi- ancee, and me personally, family means a lot to me. I put my fam- ily on my sleeve every time I'm out there." Nahla was born in April 2013, the day aCer the Blue-White Game. Olaniyan played in that game, then drove home to his native Michigan for her birth. To that point in his football career, he was a promising but largely unproven player for the Nittany Lions. A four-star recruit coming out of Mott High in War- ren, Mich., he had played in 16 games during his first two seasons of eligibility and had even made a start against Tem- ple as a sophomore. But heading into the 2013 season, he was garnering far less at- tention than the player on the opposite side of Penn State's defensive line. Deion Barnes had been the Big Ten's Defensive Freshman of the Year the season before and was being hailed as the next big star in a long line of great Penn State defen- sive linemen. But with Barnes forced to overcome of- fensive schemes designed to neutralize him, Olaniyan turned out to be a force for Penn State, leading the team with five sacks and finishing second with 11 tackles for loss. This season, having already collected his degree in criminology, he is poised for even bigger things. James Franklin is hoping that he will team with Barnes to give the Nittany Lions' pocket-crushing power at both defensive end spots. What the first-year coach has seen in practice so far has been encouraging. "He's a mature guy, a steady guy, and he's the same guy every single day, which is important to me," Franklin said. "We talk about that as a coaching staff, about coming out and being the same guy every day from an energy and en- thusiasm standpoint. That's what you want from your players. You don't want high days and low days. You want those guys to come out and work every single day, and C.J. is a really good example of that." Olaniyan was voted one of Penn State's defensive captains this season along with fellow senior Mike Hull, an honor that he said "means a lot to me." He's not likely to be the loudest player in Penn State's locker room, but his maturity and per- spective have made an impression on his fellow players. "I just try to be there for my team- mates," he said, "whether it's emotion- ally or spiritually, trying to get them going out there in practice, try to moti- vate them and try to lead by example, not just by saying it." His approach has also made an impres- sion on his coaches. Said Franklin, "I'm very, very proud of him. I got a chance to meet his fiancee and got a chance to meet his daughter. I think that's changed his life, knowing that he's not just playing for himself, and not just playing for the Penn State fans and Penn State commu- nity, but also for his daughter. From talk- ing to our academic people, that's had a profound impact on him." M A T T   H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A U G U S T 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 11 Bringing the heat C.J. Olaniyan is determined to build on a successful junior season Steve Manuel HIGH PRESSURE Olaniyan pursues Blake Bortles during last year's game against UCF.

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