As we head toward the kickoff of summer and Memorial Day weekend, we will begin taking a closer look at the 2009 Nittany Lions, focusing on players who may play a big role come September.
With that in mind, in today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll feature cornerback D’Anton Lynn, who may very well be ready for a starting spot in the secondary, debate a little about Penn State’s schedule and feature another member of the Class of 2009.
Let’s start with Lynn.
D’Anton Lynn could be the starting corner come fall.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Lynn: It’s Time
According to cornerback D’Anton Lynn, it’s time.
Time to step up and make plays.
Time to be a leader on defense.
In short, it’s time to start.
When Penn State begins its 2009 campaign on Sept. 5 against Akron at Beaver Stadium, Lynn doesn’t want to be on the sidelines. He wants to be on the field.
If he’s healthy, A.J. Wallace will be starting at one of the cornerback slots. That means either Knowledge Timmons or Lynn will be starting at the other corner.
Lynn is hoping he’s the man.
“I expect to start,” Lynn said. “Right now, it’s me and Knowledge competing for that other cornerback spot. We’ll see how that goes.”
According to Lynn, he’s had a good spring. Things are coming easier to him this season, which is a good sign.
“It’s gone really good so far. Stuff is coming a lot easier for me in the spring than it did in the fall. The reads, the speed of the game, everything,” Lynn said. “At first there was a huge learning curve. To come in here and cover these Division I athletes, make reads and stuff like that, it was a big adjustment.”
To fully understand Lynn’s story, one needs a little background.
Just getting Lynn to come to Penn State was a task in itself.
Then-secondary coach Brian Norwood was recruiting Lynn. After giving Penn State a verbal commitment, Norwood bolted for the defensive coordinator post at Baylor.
Just like that, Lynn began to have doubts if Happy Valley was the place for him after all.
Did he have second thoughts?
“I did,” Lynn said. “After Brian left, I took my official visit to Texas Tech and Oklahoma. I told the Penn State coaches about it. I even took an unofficial to Baylor.”
Norwood’s departure hit Lynn pretty hard.
“It was pretty tough. If he hadn’t been recruiting me, I don’t think I would have taken the trip here in the first place,” Lynn said. “When he left, it was kinda tough. I was trying to decide ‘should I really still be going here or not?’”
Realizing that Lynn’s verbal was in jeopardy, Penn State scurried to secure him.
Norwood’s replacement, Kermit Buggs, then began recruiting Lynn.
“After that, coach Buggs started recruiting me. It was like he came down every single week after coach Norwood left. It made me feel wanted. It made me feel real good,” Lynn said.
After that, Lynn never had another doubt.
Once he got on campus, Lynn began working hard. His routine consisted of practice, watching film and working out.
“I had to do a lot of work in the weight room. I gained almost 20 pounds. I have no idea how I gained that much weight. Winter workouts were real intense and I got so much stronger. I naturally gained the weight. I wasn’t even trying to. It just happened,” Lynn said.
Right now, Lynn stands 6-foot-1 and weighs in at 200 pounds. He’s much more muscular than he was during his days at Celina High School, where he helped his squad to a 21-14 win over China Spring in the Texas State 3A Division Championships on Dec. 22, 2008.
In that game, Lynn fractured his scapula while making a tackle on the first play of the contest. Still, he played through the pain and was able to handle China Spring’s top receiver.
According to Lynn, the games are completely different. The collegiate game is much, much faster than high school, he said.
“It’s the speed of everything. How fast plays develop. You’ve got quarterbacks throwing balls to receivers before they come out of their break. You have to react much faster in college than you do in high school,” Lynn said.
While he’s still a young player — he’s just a sophomore — Lynn has turned heads this spring. He’s making other members of the defense sit up and take notice.
Defensive end Jack Crawford has been impressed with what he’s seen thus far.
“He’s an outstanding player. I think he surprised a lot of people with how athletic he is. He is ridiculously fast. If you watch his high school highlight tape, then you’d have an idea of how he played throughout the spring,” Crawford said. “He hasn’t lost a beat. He runs with the ones in spring practice and he just continues to perform. He won’t take a play off, he doesn’t complain, he’ll just go perform.”
That’s the kind of stuff the coaching staff loves, so don’t be surprised to see Lynn in the starting lineup come Sept. 5.
In fact, he’s planning on it.
“First game, it’s going to be real exciting,” he said. “Playing before all those people is going to be real exciting. I’ll be nervous before the game, but after that first snap it all goes away.”
Debate Rolls On
My column last week included a piece about why Penn State and Pitt should play. Based on the amount of e-mails I’ve received, this is still very much a hot topic. If a handful of the e-mails are any indication, some of you misunderstood my point.
I’m not talking about a two-year home-and-home series with the Panthers. I think these teams need to play EACH and EVERY year. There is no reason not to. It needs to happen. Sure, the series with Notre Dame was fun (albeit two blowouts) and the series with Alabama will be fun, too.
There is no excuse, in my book, why Penn State can play Temple or Syracuse or some other scrub team but can’t work Pitt into the schedule.
In my mind, it’s all about the rivalry. It’s not about the money. The ADs at both schools need to get together and make it happen.
No excuses.
Darrell Givens was a nice pickup for the Nittany Lions’ Class of 2009.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Class of 2009: Darrell Givens
The Nittany Lion coaching staff was hopeful.
Rated as the No. 29-overall cornerback in the country by Rivals.com, Lackey’s Darrell Givens was high on the Nittany Lions’ wish list heading into the 2009 recruiting season.
Givens dashed those hopes early when he became the ninth commitment of rival Ohio State’s class of 2009 in April during an unofficial visit.
Less than a month later, Penn State’s coaches were delighted to find out that Givens had changed his mind.
In State College for the 11th annual NIKE Camp held at the Nittany Lions’ practice facilities, Givens became their fifth commitment for the class of 2009 when he made his decision to play for Penn State instead of the Buckeyes.
“I mean, Ohio State and Penn State are both great schools, and they both have all of the intangibles that I’m looking for in a program, it’s just that I feel like I can get on the field earlier at Penn State by just doing more research and looking at depth charts,” Givens said. “Going into Penn State, they have three corners on the depth chart that will be there when I get there, so that was a big thing.”
Givens’ teammate at Lackey, Malcolm Willis, had already committed to Penn State, but had no impact on the change of heart, according to Givens. That said, once he made up his mind to become a Nittany Lion, Givens went full bore after other athletes being recruited in the metro Washington D.C. area, to much success.
In his senior season, Givens was named first team all-Beltway, first team all-county and was invited to play in both the Crab Bowl — Maryland’s intrastate all-star game — and the ESPNU All-American Game in early January.
Statistically, Givens racked up 57 tackles (33 solo) and two interceptions on the defensive side of the ball while catching 18 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown in limited action on offense.
Chris Morelli is the award-winning editor of Blue White Illustrated, a weekly publication devoted to Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Sports Central,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com. This column does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of BWI’s writers or publisher.