Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

DETROIT — Koa Farmer has already made the switch. Fellow safety Malik Golden deadpanned that he was a defensive tackle and a linebacker when he first started playing football as a kid.

Penn State has to consider pretty much any possibility at linebacker this week as the Nittany Lions try to move on from a 49-10 steamrolling by Michigan.

Nyeem Wartman-White is out for the season along with reserve Jan Johnson. The timetable for injured starters Jason Cabinda and Brandon Bell remains unclear. Walk-on Brandon Smith will be available again next week, but that still leaves the Lions with sophomores and freshmen to choose from.

James Franklin was in as much disbelief as anyone about the situation. In a nine-minute post-game press conference, the Lions coach repeated some form of “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it” three times.

“We’re just going to have to keep moving guys,” Franklin said. “Right now, we’re going to have a hard time practicing with the number of guys that we have. So we may have to continue moving guys in different positions.”

Farmer had bounced back and forth between safety and linebacker during his three years and was a natural choice to move again.

“As far as that transition, I’ve been playing it for a pretty long time,” Farmer said. “So it wasn’t a hard transition at all.”

True sophomores Manny Bowen and Jake Cooper figure to remain as starters for now. But at what spots will they play?

Penn State can either plug Smith back into the middle between Bowen and Cooper — the alignment used to open the Michigan game — or they could see about working in a higher upside player like Farmer or true freshman Cam Brown, who had 10 tackles against the Wolverines.

But that would require Cooper to start in the middle, which is where he ended up on Saturday after injuries to three players and one injection forced him into that spot.

“He’s had some reps there (in practice),” Franklin said of Cooper. “But obviously not to the degree he took there (Saturday). We need to continue to give him the opportunity to get more reps in practice and get more confident at that position and calling the defense.”

Well, there’s that

Farmer managed a bit of a laugh on an otherwise miserable day when considering the possibility of Joey Julius taking some reps at linebacker himself.

For the second time this season, Penn State’s burly kicker laid out an unsuspecting return man on a kickoff. The first time was a 155-pounder from Kent State. On Saturday, it was Michigan star Jourdan Lewis.

Apparently people really love tackles by kickers, because the highlight actually led off the late night SportsCenter.

At least Lewis himself had a sense of humor about it. The cornerback took to Twitter on Saturday night to bust the chops of fellow All-American Jabrill Peppers, who pulled a noticeable olé on Julius as he charged past him to make the hit.

Lewis must have still been feeling some pain to his body — or his pride — the next day, because he brought it up again on Sunday morning.

“I got hit,” Lewis wrote, “by a nose tackle who can kick.”

Decision doubts

Though it hardly mattered in the final outcome, Franklin made a head-scratching choice early in the third quarter on Saturday.

With the game at least theoretically still in doubt, Franklin sent his field goal unit out on fourth-and-goal from the 2 while trailing 28-0. As the play clock wound down, he rushed down the sideline to call a timeout — only to trot Tyler Davis out again afterward to kick it, keeping the deficit at four scores.

Aside from the questionable call not to go for it, the end result from using the the timeout to prevent a penalty was a 21-yard kick instead of a 26-yard try.

“That was not a good decision on my part,” Franklin said. “Second-guessed ourselves there and thought maybe we should go for a touchdown, but it’s still a lot of time left in the game. And I didn’t want to take the penalty and take us out of the situation of going for a touchdown.

“But then we had a discussion and everybody felt like we needed to take the points at that point. Lot of time left. If you’re going to kick the field goal, obviously should’ve taken the penalty and kicked the field goal. I second-guessed myself there going for a touchdown to try to get back in the game.”

Up next

It hasn’t always been pretty, but Minnesota will come to Happy Valley on Saturday with an undefeated record. It will be the Big Ten opener for the Golden Gophers, who held off Colorado State 31-24 this past week after edging Oregon State 30-23 and hammering FCS Indiana State 58-28.

Kickoff will be 3:30 p.m. at Beaver Stadium with the Big Ten Network carrying the broadcast.

Though quarterback Mitch Leidner is the most recognizable name on the roster, the Gophers have gotten it done on the ground so far, averaging 228.3 rushing yards through their first three games while running for 11 touchdowns.

That will likely be the game plan again vs. the Lions’ battered linebackers and a run defense that ranks 104th in the nation thanks to huge games by both Pitt and Michigan.

Jake Cooper (33) and Cam Brown (31) will figure into Penn State’s beleaguered linebacker corps moving forward, but at which spots?
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_AP469179355822016925114558675.jpg.optimal.jpgJake Cooper (33) and Cam Brown (31) will figure into Penn State’s beleaguered linebacker corps moving forward, but at which spots? Tony Ding | AP photo

By Derek Levarse

[email protected]

Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse