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As a senior in high school, Drew Astorino figures he weighed about 165 pounds. Maybe 170 at one point.
At 5-foot-10, he didn’t get much attention from colleges at General McLane High School in northwestern Pennsylvania. Until Penn State came in with a scholarship offer shortly before national signing day in 2007, Astorino was headed off to play at Kent State.
Two years later, and not only is Astorino starting for the Nittany Lions, but he may be the steadiest member of a 2009 secondary that features four new starters.
Last season as a redshirt freshman, Astorino played a significant role on defense, taking over the nickelback role and playing in every game of the season.
He came up with 39 tackles and two interceptions and made a memorable hit in the Rose Bowl, stopping the decidedly bigger Anthony McCoy – USC’s tight end – in his tracks and driving him backward.
It was a takedown that would have made his father, Edinboro wrestling coach Gary Astorino, proud.
“I had to prove myself,” Astorino said. “I’d hear about how small I was, or how slow I was. How I could never play here. But my dad caught up to me and said, ‘Play as hard as you can … really throw your body into every hit.’”
Now at free safety, Astorino forms the new defensive backfield along with Nick Sukay at strong safety and Knowledge Timmons at cornerback.
Senior A.J. Wallace could be at the other corner spot, but is working his way out of coach Joe Paterno’s doghouse and may only play sparingly against Akron. Sophomore D’Anton Lynn would take his place.
The new group will be put to the test right away against an Akron offense that features experienced starters at quarterback and all three starting receiver positions.
“They’ll be challenged because this is a really good offensive football team,” Paterno said. “You got nine of 11 kids back, got the quarterback back, they’ve got their wideouts back. They’ve got a big offensive line, which is very active, all of whom played last year.”
Quarterback Chris Jacquemain and receivers Andre Jones, Deryn Bowser and Jeremy Bruce combined for 140 receptions, more than 1,800 yards and 12 touchdowns last year.
This offseason, the Zips added former Pitt and Stanford coach Walt Harris to the coaching staff as the passing game coordinator. Also aboard as offensive coordinator is former Miami (Ohio) coach Shane Montgomery.
Head coach J.D. Brookhart, who served as offensive coordinator at Pitt under Harris, likes the early returns from his new staff.
“I think it’s been outstanding. The experience between those two is pretty overwhelming,” Brookhart said. “The concern I had initially was the chemistry, but it’s been great. They are two very good professionals, and what they bring is a wealth of experience. It’s a huge value to our offense.
“Walt spent a lot of time with Chris Jacquemain and all our quarterbacks, helping fine-tune them. He really understands what it takes to bring success to that position, and I think you’ll see improved players.”
And possibly some new wrinkles. With the amount of experience returning, Akron has the luxury of going no-huddle to try and fluster Penn State’s new starters in the secondary.
Astorino and company, however, take solace in the fact that they’ve been going up against the Big Ten’s top quarterback from a year ago in Daryll Clark as practice for their first game together.
“We’re going against one of the best quarterbacks in the country every single day,” Astorino said. “It’s a good feeling to get that stiff competition in practice, so it’s not a big surprise when we go out on the field.
“We’ve been making good progress, we’ve been clicking and we can show what we’ve been working on this Saturday.”
UP NEXT
Akron (0-0)
at No. 8 Penn State (0-0)
Noon, Saturday, Beaver Stadium
Big Ten Network
(Ch. 38, Service Electric)