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Heacock holdovers dominate depth chart for PSU game
By JOE SCALZO
YOUNGSTOWN
YSU coach Eric Wolford may have brought in a lot of new faces since December, but his first depth chart is full of familiar ones.
Nineteen of the 22 starters for Saturday’s opener at Penn State were recruited by Jon Heacock.
Of the three newcomers, two were Division I transfers: sophomore WR Juilian Harrell (Miami, Ohio) and junior nose tackle Andrew Johnson (Bowling Green). The other is a true freshman, freshman fullback Mark Brandenstein, who likely won’t see a lot of action since the fullback isn’t utilized much in the Penguins’ spread offense.
Other first time starters on offense include redshirt freshman quarterback Kurt Hess, sophomore right tackle D.J. Main, junior wide receiver Josh Lee and redshirt freshman tight end Carson Sharbaugh, who will start in place of juniors David Rogers (five starts at TE last year) and Andy Colegrove (seven starts).
Senior wide receiver Dominique Barnes is the only offensive returnee to have started every game last year.
Much of the offensive line remains the same. Sophomore left tackle Andrew Radakovich (eight starts) and senior left guard Eric Rodemoyer (eight starts) stay at their primary positions, with senior Justin Rechichar (one start at center, three at left guard) getting the nod at center and senior Bobby Coates (six starts at right tackle) moving to right guard.
On defense, senior defensive end Luke Matelan, junior defensive end Stephen Meadows, senior safety Andre Elliott and senior cornerback Brandian Ross are all back after starting every game last fall.
Senior Torrance Nicholson, who started one game at tackle last fall, is the other starter on the line.
Junior John Sasson will start at the Mike (middle) linebacker spot, where he started four games last fall. Junior Deonta Tate will start at the Will (weakside) spot after starting four games at the Mike last year. Junior David Rach (one start at Will) will start at the Sam (strongside).
Na’eem Outler, who started all but one game at the Will as a junior last fall, was kicked off the team this summer while Taylor Hill (who would have been a sophomore) will be academically ineligible this fall after starting all 11 games at the Sam last year.
At the other corner spot, junior Randy Louis gets the nod after getting one start last fall. And at the other safety, Nick Gooden (four starts) will return.