Penn State Sports Magazine
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M A T T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M S E P T E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 9 TARGET ACQUISITION The Lions have amassed a formidable collection of talent at wide receiver Sure, it was only a scrimmage. But just because there wasn't a raucous crowd looking on or an ESPN audience tuning in doesn't mean that it didn't count. In a world as competitive as the one that the Penn State football team inhabits, some- one is always keeping score. So when the Nittany Lions' first-team offense, trailing by five points, faced fourth-and-goal on the final play of an- other a8ernoon spent sparring with the first-team defense, DaeSean Hamilton was eager to leave the field victorious. "It was the last play of the game," the vet- eran receiver recalled, "and we ran a little option route in the slot. I won on my de- fender, and we ended the practice that way. I was really happy." The defender in question was senior safety Malik Golden. He and Hamilton had been engaged in battles throughout preseason camp – "Great battles," Hamilton said – and their matchup on the goal line was evidently among the more contentious of the month leading up to Penn State's opener against Kent State. "He didn't talk to me for a few days a8er that," Hamilton said, flashing a sly smile. "It's [because of] all the competi- tiveness. Basically, we've just been going at each other all camp long." Now that camp is over, those battles are against opposing secondaries, and the Lions are expected to win their share. Maybe more than their share. The re- ceiver corps has been hailed as one of the best in the Big Ten and perhaps even one of the best in the country, ranking fi8h in Fox Sports analyst Bruce Feldman's sur- vey of the nation's top units. Why so high? Just look at the person- nel. Hamilton, a redshirt junior, is start- ing for the third consecutive season and is closing in on 1,500 career receiving yards. Junior Chris Godwin finished sec- ond in the conference and 24th in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 1,101 re- ceiving yards during a breakout sopho- more season and is on this year's Bilet- nikoff Award watch list, while junior Saeed Blacknall is a former four-star re- cruit who averaged a team-high 31 yards per catch a year ago. And those are just the starters. The Nit- tany Lions have also amassed a group of promising freshmen and sophomores who offer both game-breaking speed (DeAndre Thompkins, Brandon Polk) and impressive size (Juwan Johnson, Irvin Charles). "We don't just have talent, but we have depth and talent," first-year offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead said before the start of the season. "I'm not just looking at the guys who are penciled in to be starters, but their backups as well. ... We have outside receivers with Saeed and Chris, and then our slot receivers with DaeSean and some of the other guys. They're just prototypes for the system, so certainly with their athletic ability and playmaking skill, we're looking for big things from the receiving corps this year." Some big things have already hap- pened. In the opener against Kent State, Thompkins made a great leaping catch, tumbling over backward with the foot- ball in his arms for a 43-yard gain to set up a field goal. The long completion brought a roar from the home crowd, but it didn't catch anyone on the Penn State sideline off-guard. Said Godwin, "We had all seen those things [from Thomp- kins] in camp. It's just a matter of [fans and media] seeing it now. It's not really very surprising. He's a great player and has a lot of speed and it showed." Under Moorhead's direction, the of- fense frequently features Godwin all by himself opposite Hamilton and Black- nall. "We're really comfortable in that set," Godwin said. "It's how Coach Moorhead wants to do things. It's how he always did things in the past. It's defi- nitely something we're really comfort- able with and hopefully something we'll see moving forward." The set will give Godwin a chance to reprise a marvelous sophomore season, in which he displayed a talent for out- dueling defensive backs for jump-balls and also for dragging defenders down- field after the catch. Becoming only the third Penn State wideout to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a season, he won second-team All-Big Ten recogni- tion. As long as the Lions' young quar- terbacks are able to put the ball where he can get it, he's a strong candidate to equal or surpass his 2015 honors this fall. Hamilton, meanwhile, has had to make a bit of an adjustment. A8er lining up on the outside the past two seasons, he's now in the slot. It's not entirely new, as he did see occasional action as a slot re- ceiver previously, but the move to a full- time role required him to add weight. During the off-season, he gained about 5 pounds and is now listed at 211. By deploying one of their more accom- plished pass-catchers against an array of linebackers and safeties, the Lions are hoping to create mismatches that will lead to yardage and points. For Hamilton, it means "keeping my versatility up, but adding a little bit of muscle to it." For the people charged with covering him, it means trouble. "You're going against guys who aren't really used to covering," Hamilton said. "[Safeties] are the more aggressive guys who are looking to come in and stop the run, especially in the Big Ten, which is a run-heavy conference. "Then going against linebackers, being able to take advantage of that mismatch [is important], because they definitely don't cover a lot, especially against wide receivers. It's really just putting my ad- vantages [against] everyone else's weak- nesses, so it really has played out in my favor. It's been a good move."