Blue White Illustrated

le9 guard, Connor McGovern at center, Brendan Mahon at right guard and Chasz Wright at right tackle – is the biggest and most physical o8ensive front in modern Penn State football his- tory. It averages 6-5, 328 pounds per man and is more athletic than some people may realize. But the 7nal ingredient that makes this unit Penn State's best since the NCAA sanctions were imposed in July 2012 is the healthy return of 79h-year senior right tackle Andrew Nelson. Nelson saw his 7rst action in the second game of the season against Pitt. He played on four o8ensive series, with his 7rst appear- ance coming during the 7rst quarter on a six-play, 62-yard drive that gave the Lions a 14-0 lead over Pitt. DEFENSIVE LINE With the improved play of Tyrell Chavis and Robert Wind- sor, Penn State appears to have a 7ve- man rotation at defensive tackle that is comparable to last season's talent pool. Through the opening two games, Chavis had three tackles for loss, while Windsor had 1.5. That's an enormously important defensive category. Parker Cothren and Curtis Cothran are the starters, with Kevin Givens and Windsor the 7rst backups. Chavis and redshirt freshmen Ellison Jordan and Antonio Shelton are listed third. Cothren, Cothran, Givens, Windsor and Chavis all receive equal repetitions in game situations. Shareef Miller, Torrence Brown and Ryan Buchholz may not have as much game experience as Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan had going into the 2016 season. But with the depth that redshirt freshmen Shane Simmons and Shaka Toney provided as situational players, the defensive line's performance in the opening two games this September matched, in my mind, last year's accom- plishments. Through the Akron and Pitt games, Penn State had totaled 23 tackles for loss and eight sacks. LINEBACKER Even with the inexperi- ence at the OLB positions, in particular with Koa Farmer, Cam Brown and Jarvis Miller, defensive coordinator Brent Pry has to feel more secure about the situa- tion here than he did a year ago when Jason Cabinda, Brandon Bell and Nyeem Wartman-White were all injured. Cabinda, Farmer and Manny Bowen entered the Nittany Lions' game with Georgia State as the team's second-, third- and 79h-leading tacklers among the starters. That's all that needs to be said here. SECONDARY When John Reid went down in spring practice with what will almost certainly turn out to be a season- ending knee injury, I thought it was un- likely that it would be business as usual in the secondary. But the Nittany Lions looked very good against Akron and Pitt. This is the best and most athletic group of cornerbacks I've ever seen at Penn State, and I can back that up 100 per- cent. In the 7rst two games of the season, Grant Haley, Amani Oruwariye and Christian Campbell combined for nine passes defended and two interceptions. As a team, Penn State was credited with 15 passes defended in those games, a quarter of its total from 14 games last season (60). Safety Marcus Allen was leading the team through two games with 15 tackles, including a negative-yardage stop that produced a safety against Pitt. Troy Apke had an interception and was Penn State's sixth-leading tackler with eight stops, and his backup, Nick Scott, was tied for third with 10. For me, it's a to- tally unexpected performance from the secondary. SPECIAL TEAMS Thompkins was the Big Ten's leading punt returner heading into the Georgia State game, averaging 22.6 yards per attempt. Blake Gillikin was averaging 44.9 yards per punt with zero net return yards, and Penn State's kicko8 return unit ranked 7rst in the Big Ten with seven touchbacks and a kicko8 average of 63 yards. Everywhere you looked, no matter what the position, there were signs of progress coming out of Penn State's nonconference games. That's why I be- lieve the Nittany Lions have the poten- tial to enter into another golden era in the years to come. ■

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