Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79325
PHIL'S CORNER Despite its off-season setbacks, Penn State has the potential to shine F ourteen players have left Penn State's football program since the beginning of March. With a num- ber of key players gone, are the Nit- tany Lions still capable of producing an eight-win season or better? It's possible, but only if some of the team's top underclassmen play up to the potential they've displayed during off-season practice. In addition, depth has to be established on both offense and defense, and the Nittany Lions need to avoid injuries, particularly in the already thinned-out secondary. During the spring, I firmly believed Penn State's secondary had the op- portunity to surprise the national col- lege football pundits, but all that changed with the departure of cor- nerbacks Derrick Thomas and Curtis Drake. Drake was quite possibly the best pure athlete on the team. Now, cornerback Adrian Amos has to stay healthy, build upon his fresh- man performance from 2011 and be- come a force in the secondary. Not only is he expected to be the starter at boundary cornerback, but he could also become one of the most physical- ly dominant cornerbacks to play at Penn State in the past decade. "I take pride in my physicality on the field," Amos said. "Just being physical, jamming receivers, and coming up and making tackles. I ben- efitted from [playing] at 210 pounds. That helps me play the physical style I play on the football field." It also makes Amos more valuable to the team because it gives him the ability to play a number of positions, including free safety. "I really don't know if I'm going to have to play cornerback or safety," Amos said. "It really doesn't matter to me. I can play corner or I can play safety. It's all the same to me. You have to come up and make tackles at cornerback or safety. It's all about what the team needs – that's what I'm going to do." A healthy Amos will be one of the keys to Penn State's success on de- fense this fall. Larry Johnson's line will play its role, too. Traditionally, Johnson likes to use a two-man rotation at all four defen- sive line positions. He never wants his linemen to play more than about 55 plays per game. The good news for the Lions is that even though they lost Devon Still to the NFL, they appear to have the nec- essary depth to utilize Johnson's ro- tation strategy, particularly at defen- sive end. Penn State will enter the season six-deep at defensive end, and four of those players have at least three years of remaining eligibility. Redshirt freshmen Deion Barnes and Anthony Zettel, plus redshirt sophomores C.J. Olaniyan and Brad Bars made tremendous strides in spring practice and summer work- outs. Barnes in particular had one of the best spring practice sessions of anyone on defense. "With each practice session this spring, Deion showed improvement," said Sean Stanley, a likely starter at defensive end. "In the final scrimmage before the Blue-White Game, Deion was one of the most dominant defen- sive linemen on the team." Johnson even indicated that Barnes might have the potential to provide the best outside pass rush on the team. The key will be for him to de- velop more consistency. "He is poised to challenge for a starting job this fall," Johnson said. "He has the potential to become phys- ically dominant, and he just might be our most athletic defensive end." Barnes' counterpart is Zettel, who could become Pete Massaro's No. 1 backup at strongside defensive end. "Until Kyle [Baublitz] physically ma- tured this spring and summer, we weren't sure where Anthony would fit in this fall." Johnson said. "He has the quickness and athletic ability to play defensive end and the power and in- tensity to perform at defensive tackle." With Baublitz now measuring 6- foot-5, 287 pounds, and senior James Terry backing up DaQuan Jones at nose tackle, Zettel appears perfectly suited to play strongside defensive end. In fact, I believe Massaro, Jones, Stanley and Jordan Hill, backed up by Zettel, Terry, Baublitz and Barnes, will give Penn State one of the best two-deep defensive lines in the con- ference. On offense, the departure of Silas Redd and Justin Brown deprives Penn State of 42 percent of its offen- sive production from the 2011 sea- son. Someone will have to pick up the slack. Sophomore running back Bill Belton might have to take some of that load, and his transition from wide receiver to tailback is critical to the success of Penn State's offense. His running style fits Bill O'Brien's of- fense, and he has the speed and elu- siveness to provide the Nittany Lions with a home run threat. "When we came in seven months ago and started winter workouts, we evaluated [Belton] right off the bat," O'Brien said. "We saw really good feet. We saw good hands, good vision and a really instinctive football play- er, so we felt the best thing for us to do was to play him at running back. "That's what we decided to do, and he's gotten better." With Redd gone, "it's the next man up," O'Brien said, "It's Belton's time