Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79325
Temple's visit to Beaver Stadium on Sept. 22 and a White Out for the prime time game against Ohio State on Oct. 27. Donations will be solicited at the first of those games for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. The university is also planning to stage its usual Football Eve celebration Aug. 31 at the stadium, with appear- ances scheduled by O'Brien, his players and coaches of Penn State's other var- sity teams. If it's a more somber affair than anyone anticipated a few months ago, well, it's still likely to draw in the vicinity of 20,000 fans, as was the case in previous years. And it beats the alternatives. When SMU received the death penalty in 1987 and '88, the school built its homecoming weekend around soccer. Provided Penn State meets the NCAA's benchmarks – it has hired former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell to head up its compliance effort – it won't have to start planning Cross Country Eve. The Nittany Lions are still playing football. Beaver Stadium's turnstiles will con- tinue to spin, and those plain Penn State uniforms (or maybe a not-so- plain facsimile) will continue to appear on TV on Saturday afternoons. Those turnstiles will start revolving on Sept. 1. The question is, how fast? As interesting as the numbers on the scoreboard will be when Penn State opens its season against Ohio, the numbers at the gate may prove even more significant. Will the energy of the July rally translate into a full house for the opener? O'Brien has emphasized that prospects will have the opportunity to play in front of 108,000 strong, and there will likely be plenty of national media on hand to document the first game of his head coaching career. As an expression of Penn Staters' solidarity, it could help set the tone for what is likely to go down as the most challenging period in the school's football history. With the season about to get under way, Penn State officials are hopeful. "I'm getting a lot of emails from people saying we're going to really stimulate, we're going to buy a lot of tickets to come to these games," Joyner said. "It's like we're waking up a sleeping fan base." LETTERMEN RETURNING Adrian Amos*, Jake Fagnano, Ryan Keiser, Stephon Morris*, Stephen Obeng- Agyapong, Malcolm Willis LETTERMEN LOST Drew Astorino*, D'An- ton Lynn*, Chaz Powell*, Nick Sukay* RISING STAR Amos shined in his only start as a true freshman, holding Iowa's talented receiver Marvin Mc- Nutt to four catches for 73 yards. BIGGEST LOSS It's hard to single out one guy here. The four players Penn State lost to graduation combined to make 49 of a possible 52 starts last season. NUMBERS GAME Penn State's 14 inter- ceptions were third-most in the Big Ten in 2011. OUTLOOK Bill O'Brien said in the spring that the Lions had sufficient front-line talent in the secondary but lacked depth. It was hard to ar- gue with that assessment. Then the talent pool got even smaller when potential starting cornerback Der- rick Thomas left school in June for what were described as personal reasons. In addition, converted wideout Curtis Drake was dis- missed for academic reasons. So, what's left? The starting cornerback spots appear to be in capable hands, even after the NCAA stepped in to declare everyone a free agent. Amos is a star-in-the-making, and Morris, with 13 career starts to his credit, is the team's most experi- enced defensive back. But behind them, there's hardly any experi- ence. The safety spots are even less settled. Malcolm Willis has gotten some reps at free safety, having made six starts in his career; he was a busy man in the TicketCity Bowl last January, making a ca- reer-high eight tackles. But at strong safety, Fagnano has played mostly on special teams. Obeng- Agyaong has more experience but hasn't been able to lock up the po- sition. It wouldn't be surprising to see a freshman or two break into the lineup here. LEFT CORNERBACK NO NAME YR HT WT 12 Stephon Morris Sr. 5-8 186 39 Jesse Della Valle So. 6-1 190 3Da'Quan Davis Fr. FREE SAFETY 10 Malcolm Willis 23 Ryan Keiser 2 Jake Kiley 5-11 172 Jr. 5-11 209 So. 6-1 200 Fr. 6-0 170 STRONG SAFETY 27 Jacob Fagnano Sr. 6-0 206 7 S. Obeng-Agyapong Jr. 5-10 207 1Jordan Lucas Fr. RIGHT CORNERBACK 4Adrian Amos 16 Devin Pryor So. 6-0 6-0 188 205 So. 5-10 169 15 Patrick Flanagan So. 5-8 158 PHIL SAYS This area is easily Penn State's biggest concern on defense. Morris and Amos are solid. In fact, Amos appears to have All-Big Ten potential. After those two, however, there are major concerns. The only backups at cornerback are former walk-ons Devin Pryor, Patrick Flanagan and Jesse Della Valle, plus incoming freshmen Da'Quan Davis and possibly Jordan Lucas. The situation at safety is just as worrisome. Willis and Obeng- Agyapong are the projected starters, with former walk-ons Fagnano and Keiser expected to supply depth. True freshmen Jake Kiley and Lu- cas are also part of the mix at safe- ty and could be relied upon early. With so little depth, the key to the success of the secondary is the de- velopment of the incoming fresh- men. * Starting experience in 2011