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got to play as a fifth-year guy," Mc- Gloin said. "I've got to play as an ex- perienced guy. I've got to know what the team needs. I've got to step up and make plays." That is exactly what McGloin did throughout the first part of the sea- son. "Matt's done a really nice job of coming in at halftime and staying re- laxed and calm and taking the coach- ing from Charlie and myself," O'Brien said. "He understands the things we say at halftime. ... He understands it's a 60-minute game. He's grown up a lot." O'Brien and his staff have also been able to find ways of effectively using players who were relative unknowns going into the 2012 season. In 2011 Allen Robinson totaled only three catches for 29 yards. But through six games this season, he was leading the Big Ten with 41 catches for 524 yards and seven touchdowns. Tight end Kyle Carter flew under the radar coming out of spring practice. In fact, during the Penn State Coaches Caravan in May, O'Brien wondered why no member of the media had asked about him. It was because no one knew what the coaches had in store for the redshirt freshman from Bear, Del. In the first half of this season, Carter totaled 23 catches for 279 yards and a touch- down. The list continues with walk-on tight end Matt Lehman, who transferred to Penn State from Division II Shippens- burg. Lehman had 12 catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns in the first six games of the season. No tight end on the current roster caught even one ball during the 2011 season, but through the first half of this season they had made 40 catches for 465 yards and three touchdowns. Compare those numbers to last year's. In '11, Penn State's tight ends totaled just 15 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown. There are others who are making an impact for the first time at Penn State: running back Zach Zwinak, who is Penn State's leading rusher with 320 yards on 68 carries and three touchdowns; defensive end Deion Barnes, who leads the Nittany Lions in tackles for loss with five; strong safety Stephen Obeng- Agyapong, who is the Lions' eighth- leading tackler with 22 stops; and outside linebacker Mike Hull, who is Penn State's seventh-leading tackler with 24 stops. All told, 14 players on Penn State's official three-deep depth chart are ei- ther playing a new position this sea- son or weren't on the depth chart in 2011. That speaks well of the coach- ing staff and its ability to assess tal- ent and put players into positions where they can succeed. In addition, I believe that two of O'Brien's schematic adjustments have played a big role in the team's suc- cess: the "NASCAR" no-huddle offense and the "Roadrunner" defense. The impact of the NASCAR offense was clearly demonstrated in the Nit- tany Lions' dramatic comeback against Northwestern. In putting to- gether three late touchdown drives, Penn State ran 33 plays for 186 yards and controlled the clock for nearly 12 minutes in the fourth quarter. It oper- ated almost exclusively out of the no- huddle, an offensive strategy that helped Penn State run 99 plays in the game and control the ball for more than 39 minutes. "I feel very comfortable with the no- huddle," McGloin said. "The whole of- fense does. We've run it very well." O'Brien seems to agree with Mc- Gloin's assessment. "It was effective," he said. "It has been pretty much all year. It is some- thing that we continue to work on. There are a lot of things we can im- prove on in the NASCAR package that we run. Up-tempo is good. Our play- ers seem to enjoy it. They enjoy it in practice. They look forward to the up- tempo game plan every week." On defense, the Roadrunner fea- tures Hull at linebacker in place of Glenn Carson, while Adrian Amos moves to the free safety position with freshman Da'Quan Davis taking over at Amos's boundary cornerback spot. SEE CORNER PAGE 60 Prospector's Awaw arr d -Winning Barbecueiinning g Barbecue is BACK at Bea aver St ad Prospector's Awa with new menu items and new combin bina tions of your f favorite tailgate party py p packs! bigger & better than ever er! a Stop b We will deliver orrders of $100 or more to your tailgate. off $100 or more to your tailgate. der your Te Located Dirrectly Acrross frrom the Museum Entrance to Be Stop by for Grab and Go Favorites or Pre-Orobyy ffor Grab and Go Favorites or Pre-Ord r your Tailgate Partty Wee will deliver o ders o Loca ed Di ectly Ac oss f om the Museum Entrance to Beaaver tadium! er StS adium! Taailgate Party Packs!y Packs! ver Stadium! adium! the two best barbecue restaurants have combined forces to meet all of your game day tailgating needs! 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