Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/541265
be successful. There's no more trying to get people to buy into it. It is what it is. For example, last year Mike Gesicki was like 235 pounds and he had never blocked in his life. He had never put his hand on the ground in his life, and now you're trying to get him to block. And he can do everything right, but he was still 235 pounds. Now he's like 255 pounds. Not only does he have the mentality to do it, he's got the physicality to do it. Adam Breneman is kind of a wild card, because to be honest we haven't seen a whole lot of him since we've been here. He's a guy who everybody loves from a leadership and mentality standpoint. He's also a big guy at 255 pounds, so he's kind of the wild card and an interesting one if we can get him back right. I'm just waiting to see that thing play out. Brent Wilkerson is another guy who hasn't factored in who has had some in- jury issues. He's another guy that would be nice to have, an older guy. He's also an interesting guy because you look at him and he doesn't look that big, but he's 255 pounds, too. And then, obviously, Kyle Carter. Kyle is the wily vet who's been around for a long time now and you'd love for him to put it all together his senior year. He's got very natural ball skills. He's got a re- ally good understanding of how to get open. He's got to become a more consis- tent blocker. I do think [his overtime touchdown] in the bowl game can help him in terms of understanding that he is the playmaker he views himself to be and can get him back to being that guy. The offensive line you've mentioned consists of Andrew Nelson at right tackle, Brian Gaia at right guard, An- gelo Mangiro at center, Brendan Ma- hon at left guard and Paris Palmer at left tackle. You're counting on them at this point. Is that fair? Yep. But we're excited about Chance Sorrell, Brendan Brosnan, Chasz Wright and Noah Beh, and even the Sterling Jenkinses of the world. Here's another situation where we've got a full unit of scholarship backups. It's crazy to think of last year where there were no options. There were no backups. I mean, it's crazy to think of. We're two-deep in scholarship players this year. I know it sounds ridiculous to say, but we are. And I think those guys have shown some flashes. I don't know if any of those young guys at this point – Sorrell, Brosnan, Wright, Beh, Jenkins – are really ready to chal- lenge any of those guys. I would say that [graduate transfer] Kevin Reihner is in position to do that. I would say Derek Dowrey's in position to do that, but I re- ally wouldn't say that about the rest of them at this time. After camp we may feel differently. The only position where probably you could make that argument is left tackle, with Palmer and Sorrell and Brosnan and Beh. But [overall] we're in much better shape. If you really sit down like I have and think about it without the emotion of the season, it makes sense to me. Look- ing back at it, I get it. I get it. It wasn't fun going through it, but as long as we take the right perspective and don't use it as an excuse but instead as an oppor- tunity for growth, I truly think it could make us better. The sanctions worked. People would say that we overcame the sanctions, and in a lot of ways we did. But to say they didn't have a dra- matic impact on our program? I don't think people have really spent the time studying the challenges that we had. And you think about what [Tom Bradley] did, you think about what Billy [O'Brien] did, you think about what Larry [John- son] did, in a lot of ways it's miraculous. It's exciting now that we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and work our way out of it. We're not out of it yet. But we're working our way out of it. On the defensive line, you've got standouts in Austin Johnson and An- thony Zettel. I think we saw last year the difference between the offensive and defensive lines and how they an- chor each side of the ball. You look at Zettel, Tarow Barney, A.J., Parker Cothren, and the addition of An- toine White – I mean, that's pretty good now. Those are five guys who would play for a lot of people. And A.J. and Zettel have shown that not only are they two of the better guys in the country, but they complement each other so well. You've got one massive guy who runs better than people realize and is just so power- ful at the point of attack, and then you have the other guy who is just so disrup- tive and quick. They complement each other really, really well. And then you have Parker Cothren, who had a really nice year last year and is going to be more experienced. You had Barney, who had a nice year and is going to be more experienced. They're all over 300 pounds. And then you've got Antoine White, who we couldn't block on the scout team last year. They're all 300- pound guys. So I'm excited about that group, I really am. Does that extend to the ends as well? In the spring it didn't. That was one of our concerns, and I think that was a concern of the fans and the media. You know, you take C.J. Olaniyan and Deion Barnes, and it seems like they played here for 15 years. Those guys are leaving. But Carl Nassib played a lot of reps last year and was productive. Evan Schwan played a decent amount and was pro- ductive. Curtis Cothran didn't play a whole lot but he may be our most talent- ed guy in terms of athleticism and body type. This spring, you had Nassib, Schwan, [Garrett] Sickels – who I think played at a high level – and the addition of Cothran and Torrence Brown, who are young, exciting players. I think our D- line as a whole will be better than last year. And that's important, because I think our D-tackles will be special. Where the drop-off is going to be is in experience, but with athleticism? I think we're more athletic. 2 0 1 5 P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L