Penn State Sports Magazine
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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L > > team heading into its Big Ten opener against Rutgers, he's a two-time honor- able-mention All-Conference selection, and he's started all but one game the past three seasons, playing in every single game of his collegiate eligibility. Penn State is counting on Lucas to use his considerable abilities to keep one of the nation's top pass defenses intact from a season ago. In 2015, the Nittany Lions finished ninth in the country in passing yards allowed (178.2 per game) and, even more impressive, were second in pass- efficiency defense with a mark of 101.14. At the time, Lucas was leading a young and inexperienced group of cornerbacks while Adrian Amos was providing senior leadership for a similarly fresh group of safeties. With Amos off to the NFL – he was drafted in the fifth round by the Chicago Bears this past May – Lucas has transitioned to safety, with Trevor Williams stepping in to lead the cornerbacks. It was an ob- vious move for Penn State's coaching staff, one that cornerbacks coach Terry Smith endorsed even though it cost him his most experienced player. "Without Jordan, you lose a great leader, you lose a great player, you lose a guy who was such an impact guy for us," Smith said. "But the beauty of it is that he's moved into that [new] spot and he pretty much has followed the same path as Adri- an, playing corner first and moving into safety. He's going to be the unequivocal leader of the secondary. He brings valuable experience and hopefully he will keep us playing at a high level like Adrian did." Lucas certainly meets the physical spec- ifications. He stands 6 feet, 200 pounds and has already displayed an ability to mix it up with the big boys in the trenches when the Lions need him to help stop the run. His run-support skills, combined with his proven ability to defend against the pass, have made him an invaluable asset to Penn State's defensive coaches. "If you don't have the body that can with- stand that, you'll fall apart after a few games. Lucas is a physical player and he's got a thick build to him. He's built for that," Smith said. "He can play any of the four secondary positions and then he can play our nickel or dime package as well. He's got a great body and a great mindset for the game." Although his body and mind were both fully prepared for the change in positions, Lucas did have one area that still needed work: leadership. He had always been vocal but he needed to be vocal and pos- itive, and he needed to make that adjust- ment during the off-season even as he was continuing to develop a re- lationship with yet another new coaching staff. Team sports re- quire faith. Players have to accept the decisions their coaches make so that they can execute what is supposed to be a streamlined plan of attack. For Lucas, that meant following through on de- cisions that he didn't always agree with, and it was a chal- lenge. But he said his evolution the past six months has been dramatic. "It's just my attitude toward things. I feel like I'm more optimistic. As far as the program goes, I've bought into every- thing," he said. "There's no questioning anything, there's no questioning my ability, no questioning any coach's ability. Every- thing is trust and relationships and as a team, we've all bought in. "What is tough is realizing when you're wrong. That's when the maturity part and the growing up comes in. Everybody has that. Whether it's at a workplace, whether it's in school with your teachers, whether it's with a coach or whether it's with your BIG HITTER Lucas chases down a receiv- er during Penn State's season opener against Temple. Photo by Steve Manuel