Blue White Illustrated

S E P T E m B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m 10 R Y A N   J O N E S | B L U E W H I T E c O N T R I B U T O R Austin Johnson was so close he could – well, he couldn't taste it, not quite. But he saw it, crystal clear, for one wonder- ful, slow-motion second. The end zone. So close, and yet… "I saw green grass," Johnson said. "And then five people jumped on my back." It wouldn't have been a fat-guy touchdown, because Johnson really isn't a fat guy. But for the briefest mo- ment in the second quarter of Penn State's 48-7 pounding of UMass on Saturday, it looked like the 6-foot-4, 312-pounder was going to offer the 99,155 in attendance that rare treat: a defensive tackle carrying the ball into the end zone. Instead, the redshirt sophomore was tackled a?er a seven-yard return, giving the Lions the ball at the UMass 20 and setting up Bill Belton's second TD run two plays later, giving Penn State a 20-0 lead that would never be threatened. "It would've been cool to score," Johnson said a?erward, almost bashful in the retelling. "That was my first chance to do that in college. But I'm glad I recovered and we scored in the next couple of plays." Johnson said he scored as a defender earlier in his playing career, and he knew how close he came Saturday a?ernoon. It started when Mike Hull forced the fumble, setting up a simultaneously very long and very short few seconds. "When something like that happens, it's like everything happens in slow motion," Johnson said. "I came around and saw the ball, and I was like, there it is. I looked up, saw nobody in front of me, I'm like, I got this. I'm gonna score… "And then everybody was on top of me." The kicker? It wasn't a UMass player who did the most to slow Johnson down. "The first person I ran into was Deion Barnes," Johnson said with a smile. "Deion was trying to block." Guys like Barnes aren't really cut out for blocking, and so Johnson will have to wait for another chance at unexpected glory. Is our running game beginning to come alive or was it just UMass? No doubt progress was made today, ex- ecuting and gaining confidence. But, it's really hard to tell because we did it against UMass. But, whatever. This was an important step forward. NittanyJGK Anthony Zettlel is the most disrup- tive PSU defensive lineman I've seen since Courtney Brown. Haynes and Odrick were incredi- ble, but Zettel has been off the charts. Not sure how it will translate to the pros, but I've been blown away by him. DC89 4-0 with no real injuries at all. Couldn't have asked for much more. theXbomber Is anyone concerned with the de- fensive scheme the secondary is in? Looks like we are giving up a lot of ground. Would man-to-man be better option? Just saying. 20InchGuns Sickels looked pretty good. He played a lot in second half and got good pressure. I thought Barney looked OK also. wplion Are we in the top 25 now? twilsonpsu Curtis Cothran, No. 52, is going to be a monster! Grove Lion Saw some nice things, and it can't hurt confidence, even if it is UMass. One thing I liked: running the wildcat with two running backs and a read option. PennStateTurf2002 CARRYING THE LOAD Johnson re- turns a sec- ond-quarter fumble re- covery for seven yards. Steve Manuel FROM THE WEB ONLINE REAcTION TO PSU'S LATEST GAmE SURPRISE, SURPRISE Defensive tackle Austin Johnson gets a chance at unexpected glory

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