Blue White Illustrated

Penn State starts to answer some tough questions this spring PHI L 'S CORNER tice sessions in nearly half a century in which Joe Paterno wasn't in charge of the Nittany Lions. But it was also a transitional stage for the team itself. New head coach Bill O'Brien had some serious personnel issues to deal with as he got settled in at the Lasch Building. The Nittany Lions will enter their F upcoming opener against Ohio Uni- versity Sept. 1 with only nine starters returning from the 2011 season. Five starters on offense return: center Matt Stankiewitch, quarterback Matt McGloin, running back Silas Redd and wide receivers Justin Brown and Devon Smith. On defense, only four starters are back: tackle Jordan Hill, end Sean Stanley, inside linebacker Glenn Carson and outside linebacker Gerald Hodges. When you take a close look at the depth chart, it's easy to see that this team went into spring practice fac- ing some very serious personnel is- sues on both offense and defense. The three areas on offense that pre- sented the biggest concerns were the line, tight end and running back, while the defense had major questions at the end positions. Let's take a closer look… OFFENSIVE LINE It appeared O'Brien and offensive line coach Mac McWhorter would have their hands full trying to find four new starters. Gone from the 2011 starting lineup were guards Johnnie Troutman and DeOn'tae Pannell and tackles Chima Okoli and Quinn Barham. The players who were projected to take their places didn't have one 8 J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 2 or Penn State, this spring was a season of transition, and not just in the obvious way. Yes, these were the first spring prac- start between them during the 2011 season. In fact, when Penn State wrapped up spring practice with the Blue-White Game, only one poten- tial 2012 starter other than Stankiewitch had started a game during the previous two seasons. That player was redshirt senior right tackle Mike Farrell. Farrell replaced Okoli at tackle against Indiana in 2010. Given Penn State's inexperience, one would think the line would still be priority No. 1 coming out of spring practice. That still may be the case, but I got the distinct im- pression that both O'Brien and McWhorter felt much better about the prospects of the offensive line at the conclusion of spring practice. For most of practice, and especial- ly the final 10 days, Penn State seemed to be set at four of the five positions. Stankiewitch was the first-team center, with redshirt jun- ior John Urschel at right guard, red- shirt sophomore Miles Dieffenbach at left guard, and redshirt junior Adam Gress at left tackle. The only starting position that ap- peared to be up for grabs was the starting right tackle position, where redshirt freshman Donovan Smith was battling Farrell. The projected starter who made the most headlines during spring practice was Gress. O'Brien and McWhorter were pleased with the advances he made in his technique, and also with the physical improve- ment he showed after a few months in Craig Fitzgerald's weight pro- gram. "You can see where Fitz and his assistants and his program have had a direct effect on guys already like Adam Gress," O'Brien said. "Right now, you can see that the of- fensive tackle for us has had a heck of a winter and has already changed his body." Gress entered spring practice standing 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, up from his listed weight of 303 pounds last year. "You go from looking one way to looking more like a V-shape," O'Brien said. "And that is what you're looking for in your linemen." Fitzgerald said Gress transformed his body into that of an NFL line- man. His improvement, coupled with the strides his fellow linemen have made, have raised hopes that Penn State's new-look line will have a chance to outperform last year's much more experienced unit. Even with a veteran offensive front, the Nittany Lions struggled to move the ball consistently in 2011. They finished 10th in the Big Ten in total offense (342.5 yards per game), eighth in rushing offense (165.4 ypg) and ninth in passing offense (177 ypg). The Lions averaged only 4.2 yards per rushing attempt, in part because the line didn't domi- nate the line of scrimmage. That may change this fall, as Penn State is getting set to start two of its most physically imposing offensive tackles in Gress and the 6-5, 315- pound Smith. Despite the lack of starting experi- ence at guard and tackle, it's realis- tic to think Penn State can come out of its nonconference schedule in September with its most physically dominant offensive line since 2008. TIGHT END The lack of experience at this position was just as obvious go- ing into spring practice as the short- comings on the offensive line. The only true tight end to start a game in 2011 – Andrew Szczerba – was denied his bid for a sixth year of eli- gibility, leaving junior Kevin Haplea as the only tight end on Penn State's spring roster who caught a pass last fall. Haplea had three catches for 21 yards and one touchdown. All told, the Nittany Lions' tight ends totaled only 15 catches for 122 yards and just one touchdown last season. However, the lack of game experi- ence on Penn State's roster this fall doesn't mean the Nittany Lions' of- fense won't be more oriented toward the tight end. In Haplea, redshirt junior Garry Gilliam, January en- rollee Jesse James, redshirt fresh- man Kyle Carter and redshirt junior walk-on Matt Lehman, Penn State has four or five tight ends with the physical ability to not only fit into O'Brien's offensive philosophy but also to create major matchup prob- lems for opponents. In the Blue-White Game, four tight ends totaled six receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown. "Sure, we have a good group of tight ends," O'Brien said following the game. "They're all learning a new system." But O'Brien made it perfectly clear that he wants a balanced passing game, one that isn't dependent ex- clusively on the tight ends. "We spread the ball around in this offense," he said. "We'll spread the ball to the tight ends, the receivers, the backs. Hopefully, it will be very balanced." Coming out of spring practice, the situation at tight end looks much brighter than it did at the beginning of drills on March 26. That's be- cause Gilliam is healthy, James has been more than a pleasant surprise, and Haplea has matured physically. The Lions' offense will not dupli- cate what O'Brien did with his tight ends in New England, but as the of- fensive statistics from the Blue- White Game indicate, Penn State's tight ends will be an integral part of the offense this fall. RUNNING BACK When it was decided that redshirt junior Curtis Dukes would not participate in spring practice, senior Derek Day became the only running back on Penn State's spring roster other than Redd with more than five rushing attempts during the 2011 football season. Day carried seven times last W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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