Outback Bowl '11: Florida 37, Penn State 24

(Photo: Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel)

The Gators slammed the door shut on what could have been a very nice season finale. It's time to move forward, on to signing day, spring practice, summer camp, and the 2011 season. But first, let's do a quick review of the game.

What to like. What to hate. What to not freak out about.

Right now...

Ogbu, Royster, Wiz named 2010 All-Big Ten

Evan Royster was one of three Nittany Lions
to earn All-Big Ten honors for 2010.
(Photo: Mike/LBU)

In its poorest showing in years, Penn State can claim a mere three players selected to the 2010 All-Big Ten teams. Ollie Ogbu and Evan Royster both earned second team honors, while Stefen Wisniewski, who earlier today earned first-team All-America honors from the AFCA, landed on the Big Ten's first team.

Wisniewski isn't a surprise, since he was named All-America. Ogbu doesn't really come as much of a shock either, as he was easily the most consistent defender on the team this season. But seeing Evan Royster garner second-team honors this season was a bit unexpected.

Review: Penn State 35, Northwestern 21

The highlights, and lowlights, from Penn State's 35-21 over Northwestern.

Evan Royster rumbled for 134 yards
against the Wildcats. (Photo: Mike/LBU)

My sincere apologies for not posting this sooner. I had a run-in with some of Pennsylvania's bountiful wildlife on the way up for the game. So my entire Monday was shot dealing with insurance and the collision shop. Everything is fine, so I'm happy. But posting things like this so late bugs the hell out of me.

It was one of the more memorable games I've witnessed in person. From the lowest point in the first half, to the wild second half, there was no shortage of excitement for both sides. So, what was there to like, or dislike, about the game? This...

Review: Penn State 33, Minnesota 21

Silas Redd put on a show for Penn State fans, piling up
73 yards for the Nittany Lions against Minnesota.
(AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

Rah Rah!!! The Nittany Lions won a Big Ten game!

Ok, enough of that. It wasn't pretty, but it was convincing in the end. Reeling from two embarrassing performances, Penn State went on the road and did what it had to do. Minnesota may be the worst team in the conference this season. It doesn't matter. Wins are wins, and Penn State sure needs a few more before the season is done.

The defense bent plenty, but never broke enough to lose the game. In fact, it was a few big defensive stops, efficient passing, a strong running game [gasp!] in the second half, and special teams that propelled Penn State to the victory in Minneapolis. Now, I may be crazy here, but doesn't that sound an awful lot like the Penn State teams of old?

Here the roundup from Saturday.

Preview: Temple at Penn State

THIS WEEK		NR AP / 3-0, 0-0 MAC	@		#24 AP / 2-1, 0-0 BigTen
9/25, 3:30 p.m. ET, BTN		Wk 3 - W, 30-16 vs UConn			Wk 3 - W, 24-0 vs Kent
Full Game Preview / Staff Predictions / Penn State Depth Chart

Evan Royster in a slump?
The Temple run D might be just the cure...

Penn State enters the final non-conference game of this season, as the Nittany Lions play host to in-state foe Temple. If this game were played three, four or five seasons ago, it would be a laugher for Penn State fans. But head coach Al Golden is brewing up something special in Philly--a winning football program. The Owls could reach consecutive bowl games for the first time since... ever!

This game is far from a cakewalk for Penn State. So, let's get to it...

Spring Football: First Team offense, defense revealed

Quarterback Kevin Newsome (12) will start 2010 spring practice as Penn State's No. 1 signal caller.

Three days ago, Penn State quietly kicked off its first practice of spring football. As you'd expect, it's tough to gauge much of anything from only the first practice. Still, we got our first glimpse of what this team has to build upon. Probably the most visible and entertaining tidbit to emerge from Holuba Hall was the sighting of the Nittany Lions' first team offense and defense. Let's take a look.

OFFENSE

Quarterback: Kevin Newsome

This seems like a no-brainer, but don't be fooled into thinking Newsome has this race in the bag. Joe Paterno is notorious for leaving an unsettled quarterback controversy as is until late summer.

Running Back: Evan Royster

No surprise here. Royster has the chance to become Penn State's all-time leading rusher, needing 480 yards to bypass Curt Warner's mark of 3,398, set in 1982.

Fullback: Joe Suhey

No surprise here, either. Suhey is a great fullback, very versatile. Could use a little more power, but that's a topic for another day.

Tight End: Andrew Szczerba

This could get interesting by the summer. Szczerba opened plenty of eyes with a great performance in last year's Blue White Game. But this will be the first of many wide-open races this spring, with Szczerba competing against Mark Wedderburn, and eventually freshman Kevin Haplea, who's just over a case of mono.

Wide Receivers: Derek Moye, Graham Zug, Curtis Drake (slot)

First thing you'll notice is no more Chaz Powell; we'll get to him in a minute. But this is a very expected starting group for the beginning of spring. Drake took on a greatly increased roll towards the end of last season, particularly on end-arounds and other tricky plays. Moye and Zug are obvious.

Left Tackle: DeOn'tae Pannell

Since we just covered the offensive line issues going into this spring, it's not a surprise seeing Pannell on the blind side.

Left Guard: Johnnie Troutman

Though he had some troubles last season, Troutman was the most consistent player here. Not a shocker by any means.

Center: Stefen Wisniewski

Would be like Royster not starting at running back.

Right Guard: Lou Eliades

Next to Wiz, Eliades is the only returning offensive lineman to have started all 13 games last year.

Right Tackle: Adam Gress

This one is a bit of a surprise, though we've heard great things about Gress coming out of winter workouts. With Eric Shrive most likely not far behind, this position will be a potential hot spot the rest of spring.

DEFENSE

Chaz Powell (2) started his Penn State career as a safety, before switching to receiver in 2008. But, injuries in key spots this spring will force the redshirt junior to shift yet again. (photo: Mike Pettigano)

Defensive Ends: Jack Crawford, Eric Latimore

Latimore must have beat out Kevion Latham and Sean Stanley. Can't say I'm terribly surprised here. But I might have been if anyone other than Latimore was listed opposite Crawford to start the spring.

Defensive Tackles: Ollie Ogbu, Devon Still

Like the ends, the tackles on defense are the expected starters. Ogbu is the veteran, while Still has plenty of talent and experience to step right in without hesitation.

(Just a quick note before we look at the first-team linebackers. It looks like Mike Mauti is begin held back a little bit this spring, after his ACL tear last summer. Don't read too deeply into this. With Mauti still finishing up the recovery, the following lineup is about as non-controversial as we could expect this early...)

Fritz OLB: Bani Gbadyu

The redshirt senior has been a regular in the lineup (as a backup and starter) since 2007, so we know exactly what we're getting here.

Mike ILB: Chris Colasanti

The staff went with experience. Colasanti has been around a long time, working hard to get his shot. This is it, as he's a senior.

Sam OLB: Nate Stupar

There was talk that Stupar didn't play so well when in the lineup last year, but it was due to injury, not talent. I like Stupar here, especially coming off the edge on blitzes.

Cornerbacks: Chaz Powell, Stephon Morris

We expected Morris. But the Powell move is interesting. He actually came to Penn State as a highly-touted safety, so the whole defensive backfield thing isn't strange to him. However, could this be directly related to Drew Astorino's injury? After all...

Free Safety: D'Anton Lynn

... we have Lynn officially moved to Astorino's old spot. I wouldn't argue if this is a temporary first-team lineup. There's nothing negative about Lynn playing safety. It's just that it opens all sorts of questions about what happens after Astorino returns.

Strong Safety: Nick Sukay

Sukay, for all his first-year miscues, has really taken command as Penn State's strong safety. It's his to lose.

Thoughts...

How much will this lineup change? Oh, a whole lot, even between now and the Blue-White Game in four weeks. If anything, it does have quite a few interesting tweaks for us to ponder until then. More reports will come out as spring practice continues. But finally having something substantive from Penn State football to wrap our minds around is always welcome.

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Blue-White Countdown 2010: Defensive Line

Previous entries...
1: Special Teams
2: Defensive Backs
3: Linebackers Penn State defensive end Jack Crawford (81) emerged as the Lions' best pass rusher in 2009. Can he keep it up in 2010?

We continue our weekly countdown to the 2010 Blue-White Game. In today's edition, we'll go over the defensive line. Penn State's defensive line coach, Larry Johnson, Sr., has done a tremendous job every year, building one of the most consistently-great units in the nation. In the next four weeks, I'll go through all the major positions, trying to give the most reasoned explanation of who we could see come out big, and why.

Recent History

Michael Haynes, Jimmy Kennedy, Tamba Hali, Scott Paxson, Jay Alford, Maurice Evans, Aaron Maybin, and Jared Odrick.

Since 2002, Penn State has produced eight first-team All-Big Ten defensive linemen. The above list doesn't include the dozen or so other all-conference defensive line selections, including second-team and honorable mentions.

Under Johnson, the Nittany Lions never rebuild it's defensive front--they simply reload, season after season. Last season was no different, as Penn State finished the season as the Big Ten's best scoring defense (12.2 ppg) and red-zone defense (67%), second-best rush defense, third-best pass defense, and tied Wisconsin for the most sacks (37) in the conference. Since every defense is only as strong as its line, those record-setting stats can only be attributed to the strength of the Penn State defensive line, even after losing two first-team ends, Maybin and Evans.

The 2010 season should be no different, even with the loss of Odrick, probably one of the best defensive tackles Penn State has produced in the last decade. Young guns are ready to step in, while the few veteran starters are ready to provide leadership to a unit that thrives in tough situations.

Defensive Ends

Heading into the Blue-White Game, Penn State returns all but one starter (Jerome Hayes) from 2009. But even Hayes didn't start full-time, as he started six of the last seven games, part of seven starts for the season. There is no doubt that an enthusiastic leader like Hayes will be missed. But with such indisputable talent returning, the fifth-year senior's departure will be easier to bear.

No.	Name	Pos.	Elig	Ht/Wt	High School	Coach
32	Dakota Royer	LB	FR		Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central
44	Kevion Latham	DE	rJR	6-2/254	Greensboro, N.C./Page	Kevin Gillespie
51	Jonathan Stewart	DE	rJR	6-2/248	North Huntingdon, Pa/Norwin	Daniel Conwell
56	Eric Latimore	DE	rJR	6-6/270	Middletown, Del./Middletown	Mark Delpercio
59	Pete Massaro	DE	rSO	6-4/247	Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown	Ray Gionta
81	Jack Crawford	DE	JR	6-5/256	Longport, N.J./St. Augustine	Dennis Scunderi
84	Kyle Baublitz	DE	FR	6-5/255	York, Pa./Central York	Brad Livingston
89	Garry Gilliam	DL	rFR	6-6/245	Carlisle, Pa./Milton Hershey	Bob Gayer
90	Sean Stanley	DE	SO	6-1/232	Rockville, Md./Gaithersburg	Kreg Kephart

Jack Crawford and Eric Latimore combined for 18 starts last season, with Crawford missing only one (Michigan) official start. Latimore's starts were in place of Hayes, which would lead to the assumption that Latimore will get the full-time starting spot in 2010. That might not be a lock, however, since Penn State likes to rotate one end position, while leaving the stronger player--in this case, Crawford--in a constant full-time role. Crawford had 5.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss in 2009, and will be the leading defensive end this spring and in the fall. Only a junior, Crawford is being talked about as the next great end at Penn State.

Behind Crawford and Latimore--sometimes more "in place" of Latimore--will be junior Kevion Latham and true-sophomore Sean Stanley. Both players saw significant time in 2009, as backups to the three starters. The two combined for 6.5 TFL and 3.5 sacks. Stanley's biggest game came against Illinois, forcing a fumble deep in Illini territory. The sophomore, who played in 11 games last season, is easily the most explosive underclassman defensive end, while Latham has much more experience as a junior, seeing action in 18 games over two seasons.

There are also two wild cards going into the spring session--freshman Dakota Royer and sophomore Pete Massaro.

You probably know Massaro as the player who tore his ACL in the 2009 Blue-White Game, an injury which many feared would really hurt the defensive ends' depth last fall. That turned out not to be the case, as it allowed other players like the ones I mentioned above to gain valuable playing time. But by all accounts Massaro is back this spring and ready to roll. The coaching staff really likes his attitude.

Royer graduated high school early to enroll in January. This allows him, along with six other early-enrollees, to participate in spring practice. Royer grabbed the attention of recruitniks everywhere when he jumped straight up out of a four-foot pool. He was recruited out of high school as a defensive end/linebacker hybrid, and I wouldn't doubt if Penn State signed him for that very role. Hayes played the hybrid position with great success the last three seasons (when he wasn't injured).

Defensive Tackles

Almost any other team in the FBS (I-A) would have never been able to sustain the kind of losses Penn State has had to at the defensive tackles position over the last three years. For on and off the field issues, THREE tackles with starting experience have left the team since the summer of 2008. Abe Koroma, Phil Taylor and Chris Baker have all been either excused from the team, or punished enough to force a transfer. These were hardly scrub teamers. All three started games at one point, and all were emerging as sure-fire all-stars when they were sent on their way elsewhere.

But none of that hurt Penn State. In fact, it only removed distractions from the team, and possibly improved the product on the field, particularly in terms of attitude and consistency. In 2009, Jared Odrick and Ollie Ogbu combined for 25 starts (Ogbu didn't start the Capital One Bowl), leading a defense that was as good as any in the nation.

This spring Penn State won't face such an uphill battle on the interior defensive line. Odrick is the only departure, while the other starter, Ogbu, returns.

No.	Name	Pos.	Elig	Ht/Wt	High School	Coach
41	J.R. Refice	DL	rFR	6-0/267	Jessup, Pa./Valley View	George Howanitz
47	Jordan Hill	DT	SO	6-1/305	Steelton, Pa./Steel	Rob Deibler
55	Tom McEowen	DT	rSR	6-4/288	Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy	Mark Schmidt
71	Devon Still	DT	rJR	6-5/294	Wilmington, Del./Howard	Dan Ritter
72	James Terry	DT	rSO	6-3/303	New Castle, Del./Brandywine	Steve Dent
75	Evan Hailes	DT	FR	6-1/290	Chesapeake, Va./Oscar F. Smith	Richard Morgan
85	Ollie Ogbu	DT	rSR	6-1/285	Staten Island, N.Y./Milford Academy	William Chaplick
94	Mikel Berry	DL	rSO	6-2/259	Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington	Mike Golden
99	Brandon Ware	DT	rSO	6-3/341	Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg	George Chaump

There's little mystery with Ogbu, who perfectly complemented Odrick the last two seasons. But the only other defensive tackle to see significant playing time last season, or at least get noticed by the average viewer, was junior Devon Still. Still actually started the Capital One Bowl, while seeing action in all 12 regular season games. He had two sacks last year, in back-to-back games against Michigan and Northwester. Still's sack of Mike Kafka knocked the senior Wildcat quarterback out of the game, virtually ending any chance Northwestern had of pulling the upset. Still was one of the top defensive end prospects coming out of high school in 2007, but his impact on Penn State was delayed by injuries in 2007 and 2008. But now, he's fully healthy and ready to go. I completely expect Still to start the season aside Ogbu.

Behind Still and Ogbu, there are about three more defensive linemen who could vie for regular playing time in 2010. Penn State loves to work with a five-man, sometimes even a six-man tackle rotation. This ensures the players are kept fresh through the entire game. Of course, Still and Ogbu will get the majority of snaps this fall.

Sophomores Mikel Berry and Brandon Ware both top 300 pounds, possess great talent, but haven't impressed the coaching staff enough to break the two-deep since arriving on campus. Neither traveled with the team to Orlando this January, while earlier in the season, it was speculated that Joe Paterno had issues with Ware not trimming the required weight. But that's all in the past now, and reports have said how these two players have really turned things on this winter. With a good spring, they have the chance to be Penn State's solid second-team tackle set going into the Blue-White Game.

The only other senior this season beside Ogbu is Tom McEowen. McEowen has battled injury most of his career, and it was speculated that he might not return for his final season of eligibility. But he's back this year. McEowen has been a very hard worker for the Nittany Lions, an attribute that's always rewarded by Joe Paterno and Larry Johnson, Sr. Don't be surprised to see him get a good chunk of playing time this fall, especially if we see him in the two-deep for the Blue-White Game.

Two younger tackles could make a splash this spring, as true sophomore Jordan Hill and true freshman Evan Hailes are definitely factors to consider. Hill played in the final eight games in 2009, finishing with 12 tackles and a TFL. Hailes could be this season's impact freshman up front. True freshmen rarely see action, particularly when you have such a deep crop of linemen as Penn State does this spring. But Hailes is enrolled for this semester, and has a big opportunity to impress the coaching staff over the next five weeks of spring practice. I'm not convinced he will redshirt this fall.

Next week: Offensive Line

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