Blue White Illustrated

and knock a guy out. If they do it, won- derful. But really, all I want is for them to be down there in the hole. They need to be reading it just like [everyone else]. And if they see a hole open, get up in the hole and slow the guy down, make him restart his feet, make him stutter his feet, grab him and drag him until the rest of the guys can get there. I've just seen too many times, the kicker kicks off, jogs down, the guy comes through and they're sprinting trying to make the tackle. And they very rarely make the tackle. It's just common sense to me to have the guy down there." What makes Julius unique is that he does appear to have an aggressive men- tality. He wants to make the stop, even if that approach makes him a target of would-be blockers. Two of those blockers recently took things too far, as Min- nesota's Jaylen Waters and Maryland's Isaiah Davis were tossed from games for taking illegal shots at the Penn State kicker. Both times, he pulled himself up off the turf and resumed kicking. Julius is also known for his physique. Lewis described him as "a nose tackle that can kick," and there was a time not so long ago when that wasn't far from the truth. Julius was listed on Penn State's preseason roster at 271 pounds, a sub- stantial increase from his listed weight of 259 last season. Earlier this month, the reasons for those fluctuating numbers became clear. Julius opened up about the struggles he'd en- dured trying to control his weight, reveal- ing on Facebook that for more than a decade, he had been suffering from a binge eating disorder. He said that team doctors had noticed a change in both his weight and his demeanor in the spring, and he was referred to McCallum Place in St. Louis, Mo., a center specializing in the treatment of eating disorders. He spent three months there before returning to Penn State in August. "I have no one to thank except for Coach James Franklin and my training staff and doctors that stuck with me throughout this whole process," Julius wrote on Facebook. "They all noticed that I was not myself and that I needed exten- sive care such as the program in St. Louis that I attended this summer. I love Penn State and everything about this program and school and continue to do what I can to bring not only respect but honor to the name that so many before me sacrificed to create." Julius is down to 258 these days, and while he might not call to mind Mike Sin- gletary, he still packs a wallop. As team- mate Shareef Miller noted recently, "I would say he's the hardest hitter on the team." In the end, that might be the best way to sum up Penn State's overall performance on special teams this season: impactful. And in contrast to recent seasons, that impact has been mainly positive. ■ UQWVJDGPFYQQFYQTMUEQO 1WT2GPP5VCVG%QNNGEVKQPKUCXCKNCDNGCV UQWVJDGPFYQQFYQTMUEQO'PVGTEQWRQPEQFG 2'0056#6'CVEJGEMQWVHQTCFKUEQWPVБ 7+(35,'( 67$576($5/< U[QWTJQWUGRCKPVGFPCX[CPFYJKVG! &Q[QWVJKPMQHVJG0KVVCP[.KQPUCU[QWTHCOKN[! 1WT2GPP5VCVGRTQFWEVUJCPFETCHVGFKPVJG JGCTVNCPFQHVJG7PKVGF5VCVGUCTGLWUVVJG VJKPIHQT[QW 8KUKVUQWVJDGPFYQQFYQTMUEQOVQDTKPIJQOG CWPKSWGRKGEGQHQWT2GPP5VCVG%QNNGEVKQP CPFUJQY[QWT0KVVCP[.KQP2TKFGБ , 1WT2GPP5VCVG%QNNGEVKQPKUCXCKNCDNGCV UQWVJDGPFYQQFYQTMUEQO'PVGTEQWRQPEQFG 2'0056#6'CVEJGEMQWVHQTCFKUEQWPVБ U[QWTJQWUGRCKPVGFPCX[CPFYJKVG! &Q[QWVJKPMQHVJG0KVVCP[.KQPUCU[QWTHCOKN[! 1WT2GPP5VCVGRTQFWEVUJCPFETCHVGFKPVJG JGCTVNCPFQHVJG7PKVGF5VCVGUCTGLWUVVJG VJKPIHQT[QW 8KUKV UQWVJDGPFYQQFYQTMUEQO CWPKSWGRKGEGQHQWT2GPP5VCVG%QNNGEVKQP CPFUJQY[QWT0KVVCP[.KQP2TKFGБ , U[QWTJQWUGRCKPVGFPCX[CPFYJKVG! ,

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