Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/727005
S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 9 Penn State wasn't able to finish off its comeback against Pitt, but there is no question in my mind that the entire football program on both offense and defense is moving in the right direc- tion. I want to highlight several individual performances from the game last Sat- urday. This team is, in my opinion, closer than many people may think to being competitive against every oppo- nent on its remaining schedule. Even with the inconsistent performance I saw against Pitt on both sides of the ball, I'm not prepared to change my preseason prediction that Penn State will finish this season with an 8-4 record. With that being said, let's talk about some positive individual performances. 1. I know I've said numerous times over the past three months that Fox Sports named Penn State as having one of the five best receiving units in the country for the 2016 season. With the way the wide receivers and tight ends played against the Panthers, I'm more convinced than ever that that evalua- tion is on the money. One of the biggest positives to come out of the game was the performance by DeAndre Thompkins. The redshirt sophomore came into the game against Pitt with just one career reception, but there had been a lot of buzz about his performance throughout the off-sea- son, with some insiders reporting that he was the most improved receiver on the team. I think that improvement was evi- dent in his effort against Pitt. It was the type of breakout performance I had been hoping to see from Thomp- kins. He had three catches for 87 yards, and they came at critical mo- ments in the second half. Everyone knows about his spectacular one- handed catch at the 3-yard line late in the fourth quarter, but his 34- and 13- yard receptions on key third- and fourth-down plays kept scoring drives alive. I believe Thompkins is starting to show that he can become a go-to receiver in critical situations, the kind of receiver who can stretch the field vertically. He has four receptions for 130 yards through two games, which works out to a gaudy 32.5 yards per catch. Thompkins seems to be rising up the ladder and appears to be on his way to reaching his potential as a re- ceiver in Joe Moorhead's offense. 2. I predicted in early August that tight end Mike Gesicki was poised for a breakout season this fall. After a solid performance in the Nittany Lions' opening game against Kent State, Gesicki followed up with an even better showing against Pitt. He had four catches for 47 yards vs. the Panthers, and he could have had even more. Every time Trace McSorley threw the ball downfield, Gesicki was wide open. As solid as he's been as a pass-catcher the past two games, if you watch the film closely, you have to be impressed with the improvement in his blocking. It's the aspect of his play that has caught my attention. In the opener against Kent State, Gesicki threw the block that allowed Saquon Barkley to scamper 29 yards. Against Pitt, there wasn't one particular block that caught my attention, but when I watched the tape, I was truly surprised with the consistency Gesicki had with his trap blocks going down the line from his H-back position. 3. You knew from the day he signed his letter of intent in February that Blake Gillikin would challenge for the starting punter job in preseason prac- tice. He ended up winning that job, and he certainly hasn't disappointed anyone on Penn State's coaching staff with his performance so far. Gillikin averaged 47 yards on six punts against Kent State and followed that up with a 46.6-yard average against Pitt on five attempts. What has impressed me most about Gillikin's punting is the four-second- plus hang time he has gotten and his ability to place the ball inside the oppo- nent's 20-yard line. The perfect exam- ple of that was his first punt of the day against Pitt, which was downed on the 1-yard line by Koa Farmer. 4. The past two seasons, Penn State's punt returners developed a reputation as fair catch specialists. But sophomore John Reid is making that description a thing of the past. Reid's 59-yard punt return in the sec- ond quarter against Pitt kick-started Penn State's offense. I'll just go ahead and say it: Reid has the potential to be- come Penn State's best punt returner since either Derrick Williams or Bruce Branch. 5. Finally, let's tip our caps to OLB Manny Bowen. His performance wasn't as eye-catching as those listed above, but with Jason Cabinda out of the lineup for possibly the next two or three games, and with Brandon Bell most likely moving into one of the two box linebacker positions, Bowen will fill an important role for a linebacking unit that lacks depth and can't seem to stay clear of injuries. In August, I saluted Bowen as my breakout player on defense. I'm not prepared to say that he played up to that level in the first two games against Pitt and Kent State, but he has shown some real potential. Despite the loss to Pitt, I'm excited about the potential and the type of pos- itive impact Thompkins, Gesicki, Gillikin, Reid and Bowen can have on this team in its remaining games. Individual performances offer hope in wake of hard-fought loss to Panthers PHIL'S CORNER