AT LOOSE ENDS
Experienced backups and rising stars vie to fill a pair of vacancies at DE
B L U E - W H I T E G A M E P R E V I E W
D
efensive end Torrence Brown took
stock of his position group as Penn
State reconvened for spring practice in
March. Gone were the most recent main-
stays of the group, Garrett Sickels and Evan
Schwan. Sickels opted to leave early to pur-
sue a pro career, while Schwan has likewise
been making his case to NFL scouts a>er
starting 12 games in his senior season.
Before Sickels and Schwan, Penn State's
defensive front boasted such standouts as
Deion Barnes and Carl Nassib. They're
gone, too, and the exodus of so many out-
standing defensive ends in recent years
has thrust Brown into a new role heading
into his redshirt junior season. He's
played in 27 games the past two years, and
even though he's made only four starts,
Brown is the group's most veteran player
and, by extension, its de facto leader.
With only seven defensive ends on hand
this spring, the responsibility for main-
taining high standards for the group has
landed in his lap.
It's a role that the Tuscaloosa, Ala., na-
tive has been waiting to o=," Brown said. "Those guys were
great leaders, great players for Penn State,
and I just want to be a great leader and a
great player to follow up and lead the
young guys so they can come up and do
the same thing when it's their time."
Where Sickels and Schwan le> o= was
unquestionably signier
