By Joe Juliano, The Philadelphia Inquirer –
The chaotic offseason for Penn State football continued Sunday when the Nittany Lions lost wide receiver Justin Brown to Oklahoma.
Brown is the ninth player lost by Penn State since the NCAA’s imposition of crushing sanctions against the program resulting from former assistant Jerry Sandusky’s conviction of sexually abusing boys.
Now Bill O’Brien, the first new coach to conduct preseason practice at Penn State since 1966 — the first day of practice for this season is Monday — has a tall order to keep the team together. He must find replacements for key players who transferred to other schools since the sanctions, which included a four-year bowl ban and a reduction of 10 scholarships per year for the next four seasons, were announced by the NCAA two weeks ago.
Already without his No. 1 offensive stalwart in tailback Silas Redd — he transferred to Southern California on Tuesday — O’Brien learned this past weekend that Brown, the leading returning receiver from 2011, had accepted an offer from Oklahoma. Brown is the only senior among the nine players who transferred.
Under rules revised by the NCAA to accommodate Penn State players, all nine are eligible this season.
Brown, who is from Wilmington, Del., caught 35 passes for 517 yards and a touchdown last season. An inviting target given his 6-foot-3, 210-pound size, Brown also was Penn State’s most experienced punt returner.
With Brown’s departure, Penn State has lost 14 scholarship players, including four for disciplinary reasons and one for a medical issue, since O’Brien took over in January.
In a radio interview last week on the “Goon Show,” a Penn State football-themed program, O’Brien said he respected the rights of some players to leave but added, “The core of this team stuck together.
“You talk about different positions that have left, but nobody talks about the kids that stayed. We’ve got a lot of good football players in the program,” he said.
Still, O’Brien, who brought a wealth of knowledge from the New England Patriots where he was offensive coordinator, has to come up with new starters at two key skill positions for an attack that underperformed last season. Redd and Brown combined to generate more than 40 percent of the yards gained in 2011 by the Nittany Lions.
Sophomore Bill Belton, a Winslow Township (N.J.) High School graduate who has never played a down at running back last season, is the No. 1 tailback for now. The five players listed at the wide receiver positions with Brown on the post-spring depth chart have 17 career receptions combined.
The inexperience puts added pressure on senior Matt McGloin, who was designated by O’Brien as his No. 1 quarterback after spring practice ended. McGloin started 10 games the last two seasons, while Rob Bolden started 16 over the same span. But Bolden was demoted to third string after the spring and transferred to LSU last week.
In addition to Redd and Brown, the offense lost another major contributor in kicker Anthony Fera, who moved on to Texas. Fera handled extra points, field goals, punts and kickoffs last season for the Nittany Lions, and O’Brien will need two, or possibly three, specialists to replace him.
The offensive line has just one returning starter in center Matt Stankiewitch, but O’Brien said an upgraded weightlifting and conditioning program will benefit an inexperienced group of linemen.
Defensively, the core players that remain are led by senior linebacker Michael Mauti, perhaps the team’s most vocal and outspoken leader. Mauti and end Pete Massaro, a Marple Newtown (Pa.) High graduate, are coming back from torn ACL injuries.
The Lions lost a potential starter at middle linebacker when Khairi Fortt transferred to California and must shore up depth there. The team also is thin in the secondary, a major focus in the preseason.
With 29 preseason practices allowed by the NCAA, O’Brien will schedule the first week of training camp around the close of Penn State’s second summer session and final exams. The first two-a-day practice will take place on Saturday.
Players may still transfer up until the Sept. 1 season opener against Ohio, but O’Brien said he expects anyone who reports for Monday’s opening day of practice to stick around. And after seven months of talking about his program, he can’t wait to get started with actual coaching.
“I’m looking forward to talking football and going out on the field and coaching football,” he said. “I’m always looking forward to getting on the field.”
Nittany notes
O’Brien received more bad news Sunday when wide receiver William Fuller of Philadelphia Roman Catholic High switched his commitment from Penn State to Notre Dame, according to multiple recruiting web sites. The 6-1, 170-pound Fuller, rated as a four-star recruit, was one of six high school stars who reaffirmed their commitment to Penn State on July 28. But he had a change of heart after visiting Notre Dame during the weekend. Tight end Adam Breneman, another Penn State committed, tweeted best wishes to Fuller, saying, “Definitely not an easy choice to make as a teenager.” … Rutgers coach Kyle Flood made it official Sunday that freshman defensive tackle Jamil Pollard of West Deptford High, N.J., has joined the Scarlet Knights. Pollard transferred from Penn State.