QUARTERBACK
- Anthony Morelli. 2005 stats: 13-20,
155 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs. New starter.
Anthony Morelli is a one-time ND recruit who
has bided his time at Penn State and now has the starting quarterback job all
to himself. The junior's calling card is his strong
arm, perhaps the strongest of any quarterback ND faces this year; when he was a
freshman, he was once inserted into a game when the Lions needed to throw a
long Hail Mary pass. The big question on Morelli is
how he'll adapt to the mental aspect of the game in terms of reading defenses
and recognizing blitzes. His two years studying the position certainly help,
but the Notre Dame game will mark his first road game as the starter. Still,
his strong
performance at the PSU spring game has Nittany
Lion fans optimistic. Depth: Morelli barely
got in games himself last season and his new backup hasn't seen any action at
all. Sophomore Paul Cianciolo hasn't thrown a
pass in a game and frankly had a pretty awful spring game to boot. Pushing him
for the backup spot will be redshirt freshman Kevin Suhey and hopeful quarterback of the future, freshman Pat
Devlin.
RUNNING
BACK - Tony Hunt. 2005 stats: 174 attempts, 1080 yards, 6 TDs. Returning starter.
Another tough, move-the-pile running back, Tony Hunt is the type of
player who defines "workhorse". Big and strong at 230 pounds, Hunt
will wear down a defense and his 6.0 yards per carry average from last year is
very impressive. He also pulled in 20 receptions and was the team's leading
receiver in 2004, so he has the hands to be a receiving threat. Depth: Austin
Scott hasn't quite lived up to his billing, but is still a dependable
running back and a solid backup for Hunt. Like Hunt, Scott is a tough runner
who rushed for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns in last year's Orange Bowl when Hunt
was injured. Rodney Kinlaw adds another
experienced running back to the mix and is a bit quicker than both Hunt and
Scott. Starting fullback Brandon Snow is one of the better fullbacks
that the Irish will face and while he doesn't get to run the ball much, he's a
fantastic blocker.
WIDE
RECEIVER
Derrick Williams. 22 receptions, 289 yards, 1 TD. Returning starter.
Deon Butler. 37
receptions, 691 yards, 9 TDs. Returning starter.
Jordon Norwood. 32
receptions, 422 yards, 0 TDs. Returning starter.
The Nittany Lion receiving corp
is led by a trio of sophomores who were all thrust into action last year. Derrick
Williams (left), the consensus #1 recruit out of high school, was becoming
more and more dangerous until he broke his arm and was forced to miss the rest
of the season. This season he'll probably the be the
#1 option on offense due to his playmaking abilities. Look for him to get a few
carries out of the backfield too. Former walk-on defensive back Deon Butler
helped replace Williams when he was hurt was and wound up leading the team in
receptions.
TIGHT END
Patrick Hall. 2 receptions, 6 yards, 2 TDs. New starter.
Senior Patrick Hall played quarterback and inside linebacker in high
school, was shifted to outside linebacker, then fullback, then defensive end at
PSU before finally landing at tight end. He had a pretty efficient stat line (2
catches, 2 TDs) from last year and should see his
numbers grow now that he is the new starter. At 6-2, 250 pounds, Hall is solid
at both blocking and catching passes and his QB background will probably help
him be effective in Nittany Lion offense. Depth:
Jordan Lyons is a former QB that most likely will be used as a receiver when
he's out on the field.
OFFENSIVE LINE
LT - Levi Brown. (#3
T) Returning starter.
LG - Gerald Cadogan.
New starter.
C - A.Q. Shipley. New starter.
RG - Robert Price. New starter.
RT - John Shaw. New starter.
Levi Brown (left) is one of the top tackles in the country and probably
the best the Irish will face this season. Massive at 6-5, 328 pounds, Brown
will be a force on running and passing plays. The rest of the line is a big
question mark. There are four new starters with only one collegiate start to
their name. Robert Price started the first game last year, but lost his
job by the second. Both A.Q. Shipley and John Shaw finished up
last season practicing at defensive tackle, so they also are without the
benefit of getting reps at offensive line last year. Shaw in particular is the
biggest question mark on this young line. Depth: If Price loses his
starting gig again, sophomore Greg Harrison will probably be the guy to
take it.
DEFENSIVE
LINE
Jim Shaw. 6 tackles,
1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 PBU. New starter.
Ed Johnson. missed
2005 due to suspension. New
starter.
Jay Alford. (#9 DT) - 37 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 11.5 TFL, 2 PBU, 1 FR, 1 FF.
Returning starter.
Josh Gaines. - 9 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 1
PBU. New starter.
The Nittany Lion defensive line was hit hard by
graduation, and there are rumors they might switch to a 3-4 to take advantage
of their talented linebackers, but Coach Paterno
insists they will likely stick with the traditional 4-3. One player sure to
start on the line is returning veteran Jay Alford (left), one of the
better defensive tackles in the country. A 2nd-Team all-conference player last
year and three year starter, Alford will have to adjust to more attention from
opposing offensive lines as the star of this year's line. Joining him in the middle
is Ed Johnson, who missed last year after being expelled from school for
the summer and fall 2005 semesters. He played in every game his sophomore and
junior year while making 6 starts so he's a somewhat experienced new starter. Jim
Shaw is a transfer from Rice and a big player for defensive end. In fact,
he started at defensive tackle for a game last year. He will be very solid
against the run and could give quarterbacks a hard time if he's able to bull
his way into the backfield. The replacement for All-American Tamba Hali for now is sophomore Josh
Gaines, who at over 260 pounds sounds more like a run stopping type than a
pure pass rusher. Depth: If State wants to get more speed off the edge,
they might turn to talented freshman Maurice Evans. Jared Odrick, Tom McEowen,
and Aaron Maybin are other freshman
possibilities to see the field early. The main backup in the middle is the
large Steve Roach, the team's only 300+ pound tackle, with sophomore Elijah
Robinson also providing depth.
LINEBACKERS
Dan Conner. (#4
- OLB) 116 tackles, 3 sacks, 11 TFL, 3 PBU. Returning starter.
Tim Shaw. (#14 -
ILB) 76 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 6.5 TFL, 2 PBU, 2 FF. Returning starter.
Paul Posluszny.
(#1 - OLB) 76 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 5.5 TFL, 8 PBU, 1
FR. Returning starter.
I think it's fair to say that this not only the best linebacking
unit that the Irish will face, but also the best corp
of linebackers in the nation. There is talent, experience, and depth at every
position. Because of this, there are rumors they might shift to
a 3-4 defense in order to get more linebackers on the field. Paul Posluszny (left) is the star of the group and after
winning the Butkus Award last year should be no
stranger to any Irish fan. From his outside linebacker position, he can stop
the run and defend the pass. The only real question is how he'll return from a
vicious knee injury suffered in the Orange Bowl last year. For what it's worth,
he says he's back 100%. The other outside linebacker, Dan Connor, is
burgeoning star who is extremely fast and made a big impact at the starting
outside linebacker spot after being suspended for the first three games last
year. In the middle is Tim Shaw, a load at 237 pounds who is very tough
against the run and able to exploit an offense that pays too much attention to Posluszny and Connor. Depth: Tyrell Sales
started the first three games when Connor was suspended and now provides some
experienced depth at the outside spots. When Posluszny
went down with the knee injury, Sean Lee stepped in and did a very solid
job. He will be expected to do the same again this year if Paul can't go for
some reason. If the Nittany Lions go to a 3-4, expect
Lee to be the 4th linebacker on the field. Young players Dontay
Brown and Jerome Hayes don't have much experience, but are still
considered talented players waiting in the wings.
DEFENSIVE
BACKS
CB - Justin King. (#10 - CB) 11 tackles, 2 PBU. New starter.
CB - Tony Davis. 4 tackles,
1 INT. New starter.
FS - Donnie Johnson. 8 tackles, 1
INT, 2 PBU. New starter.
Hero - Nolan McCready.
9 tackles, 1 INT, 1 FF. New starter.
There might not be a more athletic cornerback on the schedule than Justin
King (left). An all-everything recruit, King played corner and wide
receiver last year but now will focus exclusively on corner and while he's
still an inexperienced sophomore, King will draw the opponent's toughest
receiver. The other corner, Tony Davis, takes over the starting job
after being a backup under Alan Zemaitis and will
probably be picked on until he proves he can slow down his man. Hero-back Nolan
McCready and free safety Donnie Johnson
also rise up to the level of starter after being backups the past few years.
Johnson did play as the nickel back at times last year so he does have more
experience than the other new starters in the secondary. Depth: Listed
as a co-starter with McCready at the hero position is
sophomore Anthony Scirrotto. He played in 11
games last year, but still will be pretty inexperienced if he grabs the
starting job. Lydell Sargeant
played wide receiver last year as a freshman but has since been moved to
corner, where he will back up Justin King. An extremely fast redshirt freshman, Knowledge Timmons, is only 3rd on
the depth chart now, but might rise as the season progresses.