Friday, July 28, 2006
Penn State lost six of its seven starters off the offensive line.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Levi Brown is realistic about the formidable task facing Penn State's offensive line.
Brown, a second-team All-American tackle, is the only returning member of Penn State's line. As a team captain, it will fall on him to help the other four starters on the line form a cohesive unit and help the Nittany Lions' offense click.
"It's not just going to happen. It takes time," Brown said. "You've got to learn you assignments, learn blocking techniques and things like that. It will come."
Much maligned in the early part of 2005, the offensive line was a big reason for the Lions' 11-1 season, Big Ten conference title and Orange Bowl victory.
Six of seven starters are gone from a unit that allowed 14 sacks, good for 11th in the nation, and cleared the way for an average of 212 yards rushing.
Now, the Lions have just one offensive lineman who has started a college game.
Take practice seriously
Brown says it's important for the newcomers to take practice seriously.
"Go all-out in practice, because that's the only way you can simulate game speed ... to go against the defense full speed," Brown said. "Just do everything you do full speed and put the extra time in, because the more time you put in the better you'll be."
That focus has been pervasive in the Penn State camp, co-captain Paul Posluszny said.
The Butkus award winner, who was held out of practice for most of the spring while recovering from a knee injury, said he's completely healthy and ready for fall drills to start.
From what he's seen, the team is ready to go, too.
"All the offensive linemen are doing well because you have Levi Brown and A.Q. Shipley pushing them," Posluszny said. "The DBs are doing well because you've got a guy like Donnie Johnson, Justin King, Nolan McCready who will push the whole group. That's really helped out.
"If you look at the individual units of the team, they're pushing themselves as a group."
Similar game plan
This season's offensive game plan will be much like last season's.
While new quarterback Anthony Morelli might lack the same elusiveness that helped Michael Robinson succeed, the plays haven't changed.
And as for the impact of changing a quarterback, Brown didn't seem worried.
"For a lot of those guys, it's their first time playing for a quarterback," Brown said. "They don't really have that much experience, so they didn't have the chance to play for Michael."
Brown says the task of adjusting to game speed could take some time.
It did for the previous group of players -- almost two years.
But coming off a conference title and BCS bowl victory, Penn State isn't expecting an easy start.
"This year is going to be one of the toughest years," Brown said. "Everybody's going to be gunning for us. We have the championship on our back and a bulls-eye on our chest."
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