Blue White Illustrated

October 2021

Penn State Sports Magazine

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I njuries kept Nick Tarburton from being on the field as much as he wanted to be during his first three seasons at Penn State, but the redshirt junior defensive end from Green Lane, Pa., is so far happy and healthy in 2021 and ready to make a bigger impact. The 6-foot-3, 255-pound defender was always going to have a role in posi- tion coach John Scott Jr.'s rotation this fall, but he's now the starter opposite senior end Arnold Ebiketie. Junior Adisa Isaac was knocked out of action for the foreseeable future, and probably the season, before the first snap of training camp was even taken. "I'm a big Nick fan," defensive coor- dinator Brent Pry said. "He's had some unfortunate circumstances with some injuries over the years that kept every- one from knowing what we know about him. He's not just a very good defensive end prospect, but he's one of the best leaders in our unit. We're looking for a big season out of Nick." It didn't take long for Tarburton to show why so many within the program recited his name when asked during the offseason to list this year's poten- tial breakout players. He recovered a fumbled exchange by Wisconsin quar- terback Graham Mertz in the season opener to end a potential Badgers scor- ing drive at the Penn State 8-yard-line, and he ultimately finished his first game as a collegiate starter with two tackles and a pass breakup that was nearly an interception. "The motor plays that he makes, tackling guys and stuff like that — he's had a great impact, and it's been incred- ible and great to see him bounce back," Scott said. Tarburton was ranked as a four-star linebacker recruit coming out of Pen- nridge High, but it didn't take long for him and his coaches to realize his col- 3 0 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 NICK OF TIME After an injury-plagued apprenticeship, Nick Tarburton is ready to take his place on the Lions' defensive front G R E G P I C K E L G P I C 9 2 @ G M A I L . C O M Tarburton had only two career tackles heading into his redshirt junior season, but he's already made a big splash this fall. His fumble recovery at Wisconsin was one of the game's most important plays. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL

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