Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/847744
P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> buy in and believe him. That's just kind of how he is, and that's a great quality. BWI What is it about him that makes him as successful as he's been? PRY Jason is incredibly determined. He will not be denied. I think he gets the most out of his abilities. He is in the best shape of his life right now. He's very ma- ture as a football player, studies the game, he gets it. He's super confident. He's just got a high level of all those in- tangibles that you want a leader on de- fense to have, especially at middle linebacker. I think as he's grown over the years, he really embodies as much as anybody I've had what a Penn State line- backer is. He's tough, he's physical, he sells out, he plays with a motor, and he does anything we ask of him for the football team. He's in a great place right now to play his best football. BWI Jason talks about Mike Hull all the time, and Mike had a lot of tackles his senior season. Do you design the defense to funnel to him? PRY We have all summer and all [pre- season] camp to figure out where our strengths are really. These guys have a lot of growing to do these next couple of months, and camp is so important to the development of guys. But I think Jason, he's ready to be a complete linebacker and play his best football. He's one of those guys you hate to take off the field. He's a durable guy. He's had his injuries, but he's a guy who can play hurt and play through some pain. He's just got a high level of all the different things that you want. I don't know that he has an elite quality, but he has a very high level at a lot of different things. BWI Jake Cooper has been snakebitten, so I was surprised to hear you mention him as having to play. PRY Jake's been kind of an enigma. He does some things really well, but there were some real weaknesses in his game, and I think he's at a point where he's ready to play his best football. He's ready to be the linebacker that he can be, take some big steps that way. He's had an in- jury that he's overcome, he's gotten big- ger, he's gotten stronger, he's learned the defense, and I think he's as hungry as he's ever been to show people that he can play linebacker here. BWI The Big Ten Network says your secondary is the best in the conference, even though you had a loss there. Can you evaluate that group? PRY At three of the four spots you have proven guys, and I think that for what we ask Marcus Allen to do, he's one of the best in the business at that. He has just a ton of experience. We're going to try to do a little bit more with him. Grant Haley elevated his game down the stretch last year. He's a very confident and experienced player. And then the guy who hasn't played quite as much be- cause of injuries is Christian Campbell, but to be honest, you could take Chris- tian, John and Grant and put them in a hat and you're going to go to battle with LETTERMEN RETURNING 24 DE Torrence Brown, Ryan Buchholz, Shareef Miller DT Tyrell Chavis, Curtis Cothran, Parker Cothren, Kevin Givens, Robert Windsor LB Manny Bowen, Cam Brown, Jason Cabinda, Jake Cooper, Koa Farmer, Jarvis Miller, Brandon Smith CB Christian Campbell, Grant Haley, Amani Oruwariye, John Reid SAF Marcus Allen, Troy Apke, Ayron Monroe, Nick Scott, Garrett Taylor LETTERMEN LOST 9 DE Evan Schwan, Garrett Sickels DT Antoine White LB Brandon Bell, Von Walker, Nyeem Wartman-White CB Kyle Alston, Jordan Smith SAF Malik Golden STARTERS RETURNING 7 >> Marcus Allen (14 starts in 2016), Manny Bowen (12), Jason Cabinda (9), Curtis Cothran (8), Parker Cothren (13), Grant Haley (11), John Reid (14) OTHERS WITH STARTING EXPERIENCE 10 >> Troy Apke (2 career starts), Cam Brown (2), Torrence Brown (4), Christian Campbell (4), Jake Cooper (3), Koa Farmer (2), Kevin Givens (6), Nick Scott (1), Brandon Smith (2), Robert Windsor (1) STARTERS LOST 4 >> Brandon Bell (10), Malik Golden (13), Evan Schwan (12), Garrett Sickels (12) D E F E N S E F A S T F A C T S POINTS/GAME 25.4 (8th Big Ten; 47th FBS) YDS/GAME 367.9 (8th; 37th) RUSHING YDS/GAME 151.3 (8th; 48th) PASSING YDS/GAME 216.6 (11th; 50th) PASS EFFICIENCY 124.2 (9th; 44th) FIRST DOWNS/GAME 19.6 (9th; 79th) 3RD-DOWN CONVERSION PCT. 38.4 (9th; 52nd) 2016 STATISTICS