Up front on D, PSU starts with big Os

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Joe Paterno has always liked native New Yorkers, so he couldn’t resist a special nickname for barrel-chested defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu.

“Ollie Ogbu, my Staten Island Ferry?” the Brooklyn-born Paterno asked rhetorically this week about the junior from another borough of New York City. “Ogbu is hustling, playing well. He’s a good kid.”

No. 5 Penn State’s linebackers might get the headlines, but Sean Lee & Co. can’t make plays unless the guys up front are occupying blockers.

Ogbu and fellow tackle Jared Odrick have been doing their jobs quite well for the Nittany Lions (2-0).

Ogbu has nine tackles so far this season, including three for losses. He does more of the grunt work up the middle, whereas Odrick, a senior, plays a tackle spot in which the Nittany Lions’ system allows him to make more plays.

Odrick should cause headaches for Temple when the Owls visit Beaver Stadium on Saturday.

“Odrick is the one that runs that show for him,” Paterno said. “He keeps Ogbu under his wing.”

Odrick is fourth on the team with 10 tackles — a relatively high number for a tackle in two games — along with 2.5 tackles for losses and one sack. Standing 6-foot-5 with long, muscular arms, the potential All-American is often double-teamed by opponents.

That doesn’t always help.

“If they’re double-teaming up front, it opens up one guy on the defensive side of the football and it’s usually me,” said middle linebacker Josh Hull. “So it allows me to flow free to the ball and make plays.”

Odrick is pretty good at making plays on his own, routinely shedding blockers to get to opposing quarterbacks or take down tailbacks before they burst through a hole.

A three-year starter, Odrick is a big reason why the Nittany Lions have been so stingy against the run — allowing 46.5 yards per game so far.

He doesn’t smile much after games, sporting a brooding look that lends itself to Odrick’s quiet, intense postgame demeanor.

Odrick gave fans a scare last week when he angrily jogged off the field late in the second quarter against Syracuse favoring his left arm — though he returned in the second half with a black bandage to protect a minor elbow injury.

Quarterback Daryll Clark, who practices against Odrick every day, calls the tackle a passionate player.

“Something goes off in his head when a play must be made,” Clark, an Ursuline High graduate, said. “Usually when that happens, he’s in the backfield sacking the quarterback or stuffing the run.”