Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1445781
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 2 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M around with the whole receiver group out there. "I heard him speak more in pre-practice than I think he did the whole year. He's com- ing out of his shell, and he's a wonderful young man. I really appreciate both of those guys." A Potential Difference-Maker On the opposite side of the ball, the Lions got a lift in the bowl game from another player who will have a chance to make a big impact in 2022: defensive end Smith Vilbert. Vilbert started the game in place of Arnold Ebiketie, who opted out, and finished with three sacks to tie an Outback Bowl record. It was the first career start for Vilbert, who will be a redshirt junior this coming fall, but if his maturation into a difference-making defensive end took a few years, there's a good reason for that: He didn't actually play that much football growing up. A native of Haiti, Vilbert started out playing soccer, and then tried basketball after his family relocated to the New York area when he was in elementary school. He briefly tried football as a freshman at St. Joseph Regional High in Montvale, N.J., and then gave it up the next year. He tried again as a junior but returned to the hardwood as soon as basketball season started. It wasn't until his senior year that he got serious about football. The result: 45 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, nine sacks and a Non-Public Group 4 state champion- ship for the Green Knights. His off-the-charts athleticism allowed Vilbert to succeed at the high school level without much experience, and Penn State signed him knowing that he would need more refinement if he was going to excel at the Big Ten level. Vilbert made an impression as a true freshman, winning the scout team's De- fensive Player of the Year award. But he only saw action in six games his first two years on campus, totaling one assisted tackle and a quarterback hurry. This past season, he saw action in 10 games before earning the opportunity to start the Outback Bowl after Ebiketie bowed out. Following his three-sack afternoon against Arkansas, Vilbert said it felt good to validate all the faith that his teammates and coaches had shown in him. "At practice, they can see how con- sistent I've been," he said. "And it felt good that Coach Franklin believes in me enough to keep me out there. "Most of the guys knew it was my first time starting. I went out and did the best I could do." Vilbert's teammates said his perfor- mance in the bowl was an extension of what he's been doing behind the scenes since his arrival. Jesse Luketa, a part-time defensive end whose exit has opened the door for Vilbert to play a much more expansive role in 2022, said that he has the poten- tial to be one of the game's great defen- sive ends. "This is exactly who Smith is going to be moving forward," Luketa said. "He's an extremely talented player, and he's finally going to be able to display that. He can be as dom- inant as anyone in the country." No one would like to see that more than Franklin. The Nittany Lions need to fill two holes at defensive end with Luketa and Ebiketie both gone. Between them, those two play- ers were responsible for 26.5 of Penn State's 84 tackles for loss and 10 of its 26 sacks. The Lions do welcome back senior Nick Tarburton, who made eight starts at defensive end this past season, and they are expecting redshirt junior Adisa Isaac to be healthy after missing the entire 2021 cam- paign with an undisclosed injury. But it takes more than two defensive ends to keep the pressure on opposing quarter- backs, and Vilbert's emergence could help turn up the heat. After the game, Franklin acknowledged that the 6-6, 263-pounder made a prom- ising debut as a starter, but he added that there's a lot more work to be done. "It's going to be really, really important that he continues to grow and develop," Franklin said. "Coming to Penn State, he was a new-to-football guy, being mainly a basketball player. We're excited about his development. That will be something to build on for sure." Signs Of Hope With seven starters having opted out, the Outback Bowl felt more like the first game of the 2022 season for Penn State than the last game of 2021. That may not be an entirely comforting thought given the final score. At times, you had to squint to see signs of hope for the future. But they were there, and the team's rising stars are eager to showcase their breakout potential in the months and years ahead. "We're just going to step up where we need to step up," Washington said. "We just have to come in, focus every day and build on it each day." ■ Up until Penn State's matchup against Arkansas, Vilbert had played sparingly in his college career. But the redshirt sophomore defensive end started against the Razorbacks and fin- ished with three sacks to tie an Outback Bowl record. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL