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in Athol Springs, N.Y. O'Brien said Lynch's signing was critical given the physical toughness of the Big Ten. "Akeel is the type of running back who will come in and be ready to play in that type of conference, that physical style of play," he said. "We feel like we definitely added to our depth there." At fullback, Michael Zordich re- turns for his senior season. Zordich only rushed for 30 yards last season, but the Lions didn't rely heavily on their fullbacks for rushing yards. Be- tween them, Zordich and Joe Suhey had only 29 carries. WIDE RECEIVER New receivers coach Stan Hixon has said he's looking for "game- changers [who are] going to change the game in a positive way." The guy who played that role for the Nittany Lions for the past three seasons – Derek Moye – is gone after rising to fifth place in school history in career receptions (144) and third place in career yardage (2,395). Who's going to replace him? The obvious choice is Justin Brown. Brown was one of the bright spots in Penn State's postseason, catching a 69-yard touchdown pass in the Tick- etCity Bowl that briefly had the Nittany Lions thinking comeback. Elsewhere, the receiver corps is longer on potential than on productiv- ity. Devon Smith caught 25 passes last season, but the Lions' other regular contributors – Shawney Kersey, Cur- tis Drake, Brandon Moseby-Felder and Allen Robinson – had only 17 catches between them in 2011. They're all back, and so is Bill Belton, who, like Drake, saw action as a quarterback in the Lions' wildcat offense. Redshirt freshman Matt Zanelatto also figures to play this fall. In addition to the returning wideouts, it's likely that 2012 recruit Eugene Lewis will get a chance to contribute as a true freshman. On signing day, Hixon called Lewis "a great, great athlete," explaining that he had gotten an opportunity to evaluate the Ply- mouth, Pa., prospect while watching him play basketball a few times in Jan- uary. "He's 6-2 already, probably in the 200s," Hixon said. "I think that he has the [necessary] body size right now and the quickness and athletic ability. You can really see it on the basketball court, how it transfers to the football 28 M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 2 John Beale field, and I think he has a chance to help us out. Sometimes you'll have a freshman come in who's skinny and needs to get in the weight room, but with his body and his athletic ability, he's ready to go right now." Also on the staff's to-do list: find a tight end. O'Brien's NFL game plans of- ten highlighted the tight end, partic- ularly Rob Gronkowski. But while that might open some doors in recruit- ing, it doesn't address the team's im- mediate needs. The four tight ends list- ed on the TicketCity depth chart com- bined for 15 catches, and 12 of those were by Andrew Szczerba, who was de- nied his bid for a sixth season of eli- gibility. OFFENSIVE LINE The Nittany Lions are los- ing four starters, so new offensive line coach Mac McWhorter will have to hit the ground running. The Nittany Lions weren't one of the Big Ten's more con- sistent rushing teams this past season, finishing eighth in the conference in yards per game (165.4) despite the presence of Redd. Last year, Joe Pater- no expressed some misgivings about how the backups had looked to that point in practice. Now, those guys are the projected starters. The one position that appears set is center, where Matt Stankiewitch is re- turning for his senior year. Another senior, Mike Farrell, finished the 2011 season ranked second on the depth chart at both tackle spots, so he'll like- ly be the starter at one of them next fall. At the opposite tackle spot, Penn State has two juniors who haven't seen much action yet: Eric Shrive and Adam Gress. The player to watch might well be a redshirt freshman: Donovan Smith. By all accounts, the 6-foot-5, 313-pounder looked great in practice last season. He was listed third on the postseason depth chart at left tackle, and the coaching staff reportedly considered playing him before eventually deciding that a redshirt would be best. Depart- ing guard Johnnie Troutman was im- pressed not just with Smith's physical ability, but with his attitude. "He's a tall kid, he's got long arms and he's aggressive," Troutman said. "Even though he might not know what he's doing at times, he's still ag- gressive. You can learn the system, but you can't teach aggressiveness and toughness." DEFENSIVE LINE Everybody at Penn State breathed a sigh of relief when longtime assistant Larry Johnson revealed he was going to stay on as defensive line coach. Johnson was reportedly being courted by both Maryland and Ohio State, and it didn't take much imagi- nation to see his possible move to Columbus as a doomsday scenario for the Nittany Lions – not just on the field but in the living rooms of prospects W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M EYE ON THE BALL Hodges had a breakout junior season, leading Penn State in tackles with 106. He was ef- fective in pass- ing situations, breaking up four passes and in- tercepting an- other.

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