Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1445781
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 2 9 OPENING SHOT THRILL OF THE CHASE Penn State had six holes to fill in its starting defensive lineup thanks to a series of opt-outs that thinned the depth chart ahead of the Out- back Bowl on Jan. 1. The Nittany Lions lost to Arkansas, 24-10, in part because the manpower shortage took an increasingly heavy toll as the game went on. But while the loss to the Razorbacks brought a disappointing end to Penn State's season, there were some hopeful signs for the future, notably the performance of redshirt sophomore defensive end Smith Vilbert. Making his first career start after NFL-bound senior Arnold Ebiketie chose not to play, Vilbert tied an Outback Bowl record with three sacks. "He was just so locked in," fellow defensive end Nick Tarburton said. "He knew it was his opportu- nity this week, and he took to it, did everything he could. I'm just so happy for him. He played awesome." A relative newcomer to football — he was fo- cused primarily on basketball up until his senior year of high school — Vilbert had played sparingly to that point in his college career, seeing action in just six games his first two seasons and making three tackles in 10 games during the 2021 regular season. However, the coaching staff had long been ex- cited about his potential, and his showing against Arkansas offered a tantalizing hint at what could lie ahead for the 6-foot-6, 263-pound defensive end. As a team, shorthanded PSU was able to keep the Razorbacks mostly under wraps in the first half, holding them to 172 total yards and seven points. But in the third quarter, Arkansas turned K.J. Jefferson loose on a succession of quarterback keepers, and the 245-pound sophomore found ample running room. Jefferson gained 104 of his game-high 110 rushing yards in the second half, taking advantage of a Penn State defense that coach James Franklin conceded had grown more and more fatigued as the game went on. "Nobody wants to hear me say that," Franklin said, "but was it a factor in the game? Yes. Obvi- ously, we had a depth situation, and we had guys who played a bunch of football today who really hadn't played a bunch of football all year long. I wasn't going to bring it up, but it was a factor." PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL