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and-comers – redshirt freshman Koa Farmer perhaps? – stepping into a key role outside. "When you look into the spring, it's going to be great competition at the middle linebacker spot with Troy Reeder and Gary Wooten, who played well against Michigan State actually, and maybe a guy like Ben Kline," Shoop said prior to the Pinstripe Bowl. "Our sta> really doesn't know enough about him, but everybody continues to say to me, you're going to really like him and like his style." Given all the changes that are set to take place, it's reassuring to note that Shoop has been though all this before. When he was at Vanderbilt, the Com- modores weathered their personnel loss- es quite nicely, ranking in the nation's top 25 in total defense all three years of his tenure. As Bell said recently, "Shoop always has something up his sleeve." 2 How can the Nittany Lions replace two defensive ends this spring? The answer here might not be quite as complicated as one would think. No doubt, the Lions will feel the sting of Olaniyan's graduation and Barnes' decision to leave a year early for the NFL. Olaniyan provided maturity and leadership, while Barnes received hon- orable mention All-Big Ten honors last season a?er =nishing with 44 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. But on the defensive line, the perform- ance of the ends is directly linked to the performance of the tackles. And the Li- ons are very solid in the middle. Johnson and Zettel are both returning a?er en- joying superb seasons in 2014, and there's been a lot of buzz about Parker Cothren's continuing development. What's more, both Tarow Barney and Antoine White appear ready to take the next step, so the middle of Penn State's defensive line is shaping up quite nicely. Among the defensive ends, Garrett Sickels is the guy with the biggest impe- tus to make a similar step in his career. Although he will only be a redshirt sophomore this fall, he played in 13 games and =nished with 11 tackles, three tackles for loss and a pair of sacks in the rotation at defensive end. Not far be- hind, former walk-on Carl Nassib has made signi=cant improvements in the weight room, while Curtis Cothran, Evan Schwan and Torrence Brown all have an opportunity to see their playing time expand if they can each take the next step. It bears mentioning that Penn State's inexperience on the defensive line is not like its inexperience on the o>ensive line, where last year players were forced into important roles before they had gotten the requisite game action. On the defensive front, Penn State has been ro- tating Schwan, Sickels, Cothran and Nassib for at least a season and in some cases more. Those players have been groomed for more prominent roles, and now their opportunity is at hand. Clearly, the Lions won't have the peace of mind that comes with the return of established players such as Barnes and Olaniyan. But with a number of talented and experienced players returning, these positions are not the team's biggest con- cern this spring. 3 What will Penn State's of- fensive line look like in spring practice? The line will look very di>erent in 2015, no doubt about that. But in terms of solving the problem that hobbled the o>ense last year – a dearth of experience at nearly every position up front – the Nittany Lions are not out of the woods just yet. Entering spring practice last year, new o>ensive line coach Herb Hand faced a huge challenge. He had only 10 o>ensive linemen to work with – both scholarship and walk-on – and the number dwin- dled even further when the team's most senior lineman, Die>enbach, went down with an ACL injury. Needing to convert two defensive tackles over to the o>ensive line, the Nittany Lions truly had no wiggle room or choice but to play Donovan Smith at le? tackle with his 20 returning starts, and then line up Derek Dowrey and Bri- an Gaia at guards, Wendy Laurent at center and Brendan Mahon at right tackle. Meanwhile, Angelo Mangiro and Andrew Nelson both battled injuries, and Anthony Alosi was removed from the team for disciplinary reasons. Call- ing it an "all hands on deck" crisis was an understatement. P R E V I E W

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