Blue White Illustrated

Thompkins and McSorley missed the spring game with minor injuries, but are expected to be ready to go this fall. It really is an impressive group of play- ers. On defense, there are two areas of need at which players with freshman and sophomore eligibility made tremendous strides in spring practice. I'm referring to the defensive end spots and the sec- ondary. With C.J. Olaniyan graduating and Deion Barnes forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL Dra9, it seemed likely that Penn State's defensive line would be signi7cantly weakened, even with two legitimate All-Big Ten candidates re- turning at defensive tackle in 79h-year senior Anthony Zettel and redshirt jun- ior Austin Johnson. But coming out of spring practice, the Lions appear to be in very solid shape up front. That's largely due to the emergence of Nassib in spring practice. A number of Penn State beat writers have identi7ed Nassib as a potential breakout performer in 2015, noting that he has made huge gains since arriving as a little-known walk-on in 2011. But there's plenty of talent at both of these positions, with Sickels ready to step into a starting role, redshirt junior Evan Schwan having made major strides and younger players such as redshirt sopho- more Curtis Cothran and redshirt fresh- man Torrence Brown getting set to make an impact. It's not outlandish to suggest that Penn State's defensive ends could perform at a higher level than they did last fall even with Olaniyan and Barnes having departed. "There is no doubt whatsoever that we made our biggest improvement on de- fense this spring at defensive end," Shoop said. "You just have to be pleased with the progress Carl, Evan and partic- ularly our underclassmen made throughout spring practice. I think most of our questions at defensive end were resolved in spring practice, but there is still plenty of room for improvement this fall." Another area where players with soph- omore and freshman eligibility made ex- ceptional progress this spring was in the secondary. As evidence, consider Shoop's comments regarding the move of senior Jordan Lucas from cornerback to strong safety. "I think Jordan Lucas is a guy who could play corner here and at the next level, as well," the Lions' sec- ond-year defensive coordinator said. "I think he has a chance to be special at safety." Shoop seems to be in agreement with Franklin about Lucas, plus he just loves the way sophomore Marcus Allen per- formed last fall at free safety. Allen, de- spite starting only the last six games at free safety in place of the injured Ryan Keiser, 7nished tied for third on the team with 58 tackles. Shoop expects Lucas and Allen to be a force at safety this fall, adding that they "should give us as good a group as there is in the Big Ten." The move of Lucas to strong safety would have never taken place without the development of Haley, sophomore Christian Campbell and redshirt fresh- men Amani Oruwariye and Daquan Worley at cornerback this spring. Said Shoop, "I'm very con7dent in our cor- nerbacks." Oruwariye, who played the 7eld cor- nerback position when Penn State de- ployed its 4-2-5 defensive setup in the Blue-White Game, really impressed cor- nerbacks coach Terry Smith this spring. "It is a di8erence between night and day with the way Amani has physically matured since he has arrived on cam- pus," Smith said. "He's now a man, but he still has the athletic ability to play at cornerback." Penn State has assembled an impres- sive group of freshmen and sophomores on defense. Headlining the group are Sickels, Cothran and Brown at defensive end, Haley, Campbell and Oruwariye at cornerback and Troy Apke at free safety. And let's not forget about Jason Cabinda at the Will outside linebacker position. The development of those players is just what the doctor ordered for a Penn State team that would like nothing better than to take part in a battle of unbeatens at Ohio State on Oct. 17. ■

• Cover